GOP advising Republicans to vote against 9/11 medical coverage bill

Politico's On Congress Blog: House Republicans are advising other Republicans to vote against a bill that would "bolster medical support to Sept. 11 victims. … The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009, sponsored by New York City Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), provides medical monitoring to those exposed to toxins at Ground Zero, bolsters treatment at specialized centers for those afflicted by toxins on 9/11 and reopens a compensation fund to provide economic loss to New Yorkers." The bill would pay for itself by closing a tax loophole on foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries. Republicans say it creates a new entitlement and wastes taxpayer dollars. "The bill, if passed, would reopen the Victims Compensation Fund until 2031 - instead of litigation, victims could try to get money from the fund" (Sherman, 7/28).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.