Governor Patterson Introduces Legislation to Extend Eligibility for 9/11 Responders

On June 12, 2008, Governor Patterson introduced legislation to expand health care benefits to workers involved in the rescue, recovery, and clean-up at the World Trade Center. Under the new legislation, the “presumptive accidental disability retirement benefit” currently available to only some 9/11 first responders now has been extended to additional first responders. This extension provides benefits to (i) state and county corrections officers and deputy sheriffs; (ii) the non-uniformed first responders who were not required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination; (iii) 911 dispatchers; (iv) first responders who worked for any period of time within the first 48 hours after the first plane hit the World Trade Center; (v) emergency vehicle repair mechanics; (vi) vested members of a public pension system who terminated their employment prior to filing a claim; and (vii) workers who became disabled more than two years after 9/11 but before an extension was granted in the Workers Compensation Law which would have covered them. Furthermore, the registration deadlines for the accidental disability presumption and the Workers Compensation Law extension will be extended from the current dates of June 14, 2009, and August 14, 2008 to September 11, 2010 and the filing date for presumptive accidental disability will be extended from the amended date of June 14, 2009 to September 11, 2010. Furthermore, the registration deadlines for Workers Compensation Law extension will be to September 11, 2010 and the filing date for presumptive accidental disability will be extended from to September 11, 2010.

It is important to take note of the changes because someone who does not qualify for benefits under current law may soon be able to get such benefits. For example, a police officer who responded to the World Trade Center on the day of the attacks or the following day, who did not work for a full forty hours, would now qualify for benefits under the new law. Furthermore, those non-uniformed NYC and State workers at the site who had not been required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination may now qualify for benefits if they provide access to medical records and demonstrate the absence of a qualifying medical condition prior to September 11, 2001.