9/11 AID MAY $ICK IT TO US

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07312008..._us_122366.htm

7/31/2008

Federal legislation to help those suffering health problems from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks could cost taxpayers up to $13 billion, The Post has learned.

The bill, which will go before a House hearing today and is strongly backed by Mayor Bloomberg, would reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and would provide funding for medical care for downtown residents and for firefighters, cops, EMTs and construction workers who worked at Ground Zero.

The preliminary estimate of the cost of the measure by the Congressional Budget Office ranged from $8 billion to $13 billion, congressional sources said.

The staggering cost figure hasn't been publicly disclosed yet but was revealed to The Post by sources.

Under the bill, roughly 35,000 people living within 1.5 miles of Ground Zero would be eligible for medical benefits at a projected cost of $3.1 billion. Thousands of first-responders would also receive medical aid at a cost of $2 billion.

As many as 85,000 first-responders could be eligible for medical aid. But the overall cost for their care is less than for residents because most of the first-responders have health insurance that covers a large share of their medical bills, sources said.

The price for reopening the victims' fund was harder to calculate because congressional analysts couldn't predict how many people would apply. They put the cost at anywhere from $3 billion to $8 billion, sources said.

The legislation has the active support of Bloomberg, who last month met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to push for its passage.

If approved, the bill would spare the city from massive liability by letting sick workers, or families of those who died, apply for aid from a reopened and federally financed Victim Compensation Fund.

After the terror attacks, the federal fund paid out $6 billion to families of those who died on 9/11 and another $1 billion to the injured through 2003.

The current bill is far less costly than an earlier version that was estimated at $30 billion.