9/11 compensation fund to slash payments as new claims surgeNY Post, Feb 15, 2019, Rich Calder and Bob Fredericks
A federal fund created to assist victims of the 9/11 terror attacks will slash payments by at least 50 percent as it struggles to deal with a surge of new claims, officials said Friday.
Victims with existing claims will have payments slashed in half while claims filed after Feb. 1 of this year would see deeper cuts of up to 70 percent, they said.
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund special master Rupa Bhattacharyya said the fund received a “record number of claims†last year and that she’s “painfully aware of the inequity of the situation.†“I also deeply regret that I could not honor my intention to spare any claim submitted prior to this announcement from any reductions made due to a determination of funding insufficiency,†she said.
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Bhattacharyya said the reduction in payouts from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is necessary because the $2.37 billion remaining in the $7.37 billion fund is not enough to compensate the thousands of additional eligible victims and family members.
Roughly 40,000 people have already applied to the 7-year-old fund, which covers victims who suffered respiratory problems and other illnesses as a result of being near Ground Zero during and after the 9/11 attacks.
Nearly $5 billion in health benefits has already been distributed to 21,000 claimants.
More:
https://nypost.com/2019/02/15/9-11-compensation-fund-to-slash-payments-as-new-claims-surge/
