9/11 Health Programs Faulted

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4994815.html

By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
7/24/2007

WASHINGTON — Federal efforts to coordinate health care programs for sick ground zero workers have been hampered by shaky cost estimates and unsteady spending to keep the programs running, a new report has found.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, on Tuesday released the results of its fifth study of 9/11 health programs, concluding that five years after the attacks the government still doesn't have a consistent set of programs _ or a good sense of what ground zero illnesses will cost.

The agency overseeing 9/11 health issues, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, "does not have a reliable cost estimate of serving responders," the 40-page GAO report found.

NIOSH's estimate of $230 million to $283 million a year "included potential costs for certain program changes that may not be implemented, and in the absence of actual treatment cost data, they relied on questionable assumptions," the investigators said, adding that it is unclear if the true cost will be higher or lower.

Others, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have put the figure at around $400 million a year.

The estimates vary widely based on assumptions about how many workers will join or remain in the program, and how often they receive check-ups or treatment for their exposure to the toxic rubble of the fallen World Trade Center.

GAO also determined "NIOSH has not ensured the availability of screening and monitoring services for nonfederal responders" who live outside the New York City area.

While the government has worked with a national network of occupational health clinics, such work has proceeded in fits and starts as congressional funding dried up, or the work was given to a new private contractor.

The GAO review was requested by New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella as well as Connecticut Rep. Christopher Shays. The lawmakers have been pushing for a greater federal commitment to treating sick 9/11 workers.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which includes NIOSH, responded to the findings in writing, saying that they are working to improve cost estimates but that such figures are "unquestionably imprecise."

The agency also asserted that roughly 60 percent of nationwide, non-federal workers who were at ground zero have been screened, though the GAO investigators said there is no way to verify such a figure.

According to New York City officials, some 400,000 were exposed to ground zero dust, and 71,000 have enrolled in a long-term health monitoring program for people with and without health problems. Most experts believe the number of people still sick years after ground zero exposure is in the thousands.