ALBANY, N.Y., August 23 – Negotiations by the State Insurance Fund, Workers Compensation Board, AFL-CIO, and the Legislature have resulted in three bills providing expanded benefits for rescue workers at the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11, 2001 being signed into law by Governor George E. Pataki.

The new laws remove statutory obstacles preventing ill workers from obtaining workers compensation benefits, offer accidental death benefits to families of Uniformed Service personnel who died from September 11-related illness, and a comprehensive plan to expedite access to health care.

In signing the legislation, the Governor said New York will never forget the heroes of September 11 " the men and women who tirelessly worked at the site of the worlds most horrific terror attacks, to help save lives, recover the remains of loved ones, and begin the rebuilding process in Lower Manhattan. The brave men and women suffering from hidden health issues stemming from September 11 should not be denied benefits because of a statutory time limit that they had no hope of meeting.

He indicated that many who worked on September 11 have developed debilitating illnesses over time resulting from their selfless acts, and they need to know New York will not abandon them. The new laws will open doors for them and remove obstacles to obtaining benefits expeditiously. While we may never be able to fully repay our heroes, this is a significant step in providing for the needs of many as they nurse themselves back to health.

Under one law (S-8348 and A-11944 " co-sponsored by Senator John Marchi, R-C-Richmond; Assemblymen Sheldon Silver, D-New York; and Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, D-New York), the two-year deadline for certain claims will be altered by directing the Workers Compensation Board to apply the standards of Occupational Diseases for claimants who have developed illnesses over time as a result of their services during rescue recovery and clean-up operations following the September 11 attacks. Under current Workers Compensation Law, a worker injured on the job as the result of workplace incident must file a claim within two years of the accident.

Workers who develop illnesses as a result of exposure to harmful elements directly related to their employment are classified as having sustained an occupational illness. The deadline for Occupational Disease is two years from the time in which the claimant knew or should have known that the condition is related to his or her employment, rather than two years from the accident. Often, occupational illnesses do not show up for a long period of time.

This new law eases the two-year statute of limitation for those individuals who became ill after the deadline had passed by designating these claims as occupational illnesses. It further enables claimants whose illnesses developed over time, and whose claims were previously rejected due to the statutory deadline, to seek reconsideration by reopening the claim.

Easier Access to Accidental Death Benefits

Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on September 11, and Pataki signed legislation (A-11255A and S-7885C, co-sponsored by Senator Martin Golden, R-C-Kings; and Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, D-New York) to permit the families of eligible public employees who participated in the rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts, and who died of a disease covered by the presumptions law the Governor signed last year, to apply for accidental death benefits. In the case of uniformed employees of the police and fire departments, such benefits would equate to 100 percent of salary benefits.

This legislation also permits New York City firefighters, police, and other public employees to more easily qualify for disability pension by creating a legal presumption that individuals " who, in the line of duty were involved in September 11-related operations and incurred certain physical injuries or diseases that resulted in a disability " are entitled to 75 percent disability pension.

Further Measures

Additional legislation (A10731A and S7377A co-sponsored by Assemblyman Peter Abbate, D-Kings; and Senator Martin Golden, R-Kings):

Eliminates the statute of limitations on WTC rescue workers who retired and later became disabled by illnesses related to their service to have their retirement status re-categorized as accidental disability. This reclassification would provide more generous benefits if the workers file a sworn affidavit of their participation to the WTC operations by June 14, 2007;

Calls on workers compensation insurers and self-insured employers to exercise an option created and enacted as part of the 1996 workers compensation reforms which enabled insurers to expeditiously pay for medical treatment without prejudicing their right to further litigate a claim or admitting liability to the claim;

Directs the Workers Compensation Board to expand theuse of the MD-1 program created in 2002. The program utilizes Orders of the Chairman to address insurers failure to act in a timely fashion as required by law. The measure will ensure swifter access to medical care for claimants who have not received authorization for non-emergency health care procedures, such as MRIs and surgery. Insurers are expected to provide authorizations or denials within 40 days of a request for medical treatment. This provision will direct the Chairman to authorize procedures when a claimant is left to languish for more than 30 days without a response from the insurer;

Provides immediate relief for workers injured at Ground Zero or related activities by using a portion of the $50 million grant from the federal government to provide benefits to volunteers to pay for medical treatment during the period in which a claimants workers compensation case is being controverted by the insurer.