9/11 Asthma Claims: WTC Health Program Certification and VCF Compensation

Who qualifies for 9/11 asthma compensation?

Anyone diagnosed with asthma following presence in the covered 9/11 areas, at the Pentagon, or in Shanksville, Pennsylvania during the covered periods may qualify for VCF compensation. This includes area workers, residents, students, teachers, first responders, cleanup and recovery workers, volunteers, and surviving family members of those who died from 9/11-related asthma.

Free medical care runs through the WTC Health Program, which covers Manhattan south of Houston Street, routes of debris removal (responders only), and any block in Brooklyn within 1.5 miles of the former World Trade Center site. Compensation runs through the VCF, which covers Manhattan south of Canal Street plus routes of debris removal.

If you were between Canal and Houston Street, you may still qualify for both. Daily life in Lower Manhattan rarely stopped at Canal Street, and presence can be established with documentary proof and/or witness statements.

Is RADS covered the same way as asthma?

Yes. Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) is listed separately from asthma, and the WTC Health Program covers both. The VCF groups them together ("Asthma/RADS") when it values a claim, so both follow the same award rules.

Asthma is one of the conditions Congress named in the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act when it created the WTC Health Program. RADS and several other airway conditions are named alongside it.

The WTC Health Program's own review of the research treats asthma as the most thoroughly studied 9/11 airway condition. In one study of the World Trade Center Health Registry, 926 of 25,748 New York City workers who had no asthma before 9/11 reported a first asthma diagnosis afterward. That is a three-year risk of 3.6%, which the program describes as 12 times the risk for adults generally.

A second study found that in the four months after the attacks, people with a range of 9/11 exposures were diagnosed with asthma at a yearly rate at least six times the national adult rate. Asthma among responders stayed elevated through 2005, and the program treats new cases as continuing to appear for more than four years after exposure.

Certification does not require proof that 9/11 exposure was the only cause. The legal standard is whether the exposure was substantially likely to be a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to, or causing the condition.

Common asthma symptoms include wheezing, a whistling sound when breathing out; coughing, especially at night or early morning; shortness of breath; and chest tightness.

Other conditions can cause these symptoms too. In asthma they tend to come and go, get worse with colds or triggers such as exercise, allergies or cold air, and be worse at night or in the morning. Any qualified doctor can diagnose asthma, but only the WTC Health Program certifies it as 9/11-related.

Asthma has no minimum waiting period, but it has a maximum time interval: symptoms must have begun within 5 years of your last 9/11 exposure.

What counts is when your symptoms first began, not when you were diagnosed. Someone diagnosed with asthma recently can still qualify if their symptoms started within five years of their last exposure and their medical records show when the symptoms started.

This differs from COPD and the lung scarring diseases, which have no maximum time interval.

The two-year VCF registration deadline runs from the date the WTC Health Program certifies the asthma, not from the date of diagnosis.

How much does the 9/11 VCF pay for asthma?

The VCF lists asthma and RADS among the conditions it presumes less severe. When asthma is mild, or well controlled with over-the-counter medicine, the non-economic loss award begins at $10,000. It increases when recent medical records show the asthma is more serious or limits daily life, up to the $90,000 ceiling for a single non-cancer condition.

The VCF focuses on records from within three years of the claim submission. Breathing test results with the doctor's reading, the medicines needed and how often, and hospital or emergency visits all help show severity.

Does having asthma and other 9/11 conditions raise the award?

Not automatically. The VCF says its non-economic award is not tied to the number of certified conditions. A claimant with several mild conditions can receive less than one with a single severe condition, because the award follows how serious the conditions are and how they affect daily life.

Awards can also include economic loss, such as lost earnings, qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses, and wrongful death compensation in fatal cases. Economic loss is calculated separately from the non-economic figures above. See the VCF payout chart for how awards compare across conditions.

How Baione Law handles a 9/11 asthma claim

Baione Law represents 9/11 asthma claimants at every stage:

1. Free Case Review. The firm evaluates presence in the exposure zone, exposure category, asthma diagnosis, and current WTC Health Program certification status. No cost, no obligation.
2. WTC Health Program enrollment and certification support. For claimants not yet enrolled, the firm assists with enrollment and coordinates medical record submission to WTC Health Program providers for certification.
3. VCF registration and claim filing. The firm registers the claim, files the compensation claim, and prepares supporting documentation including presence, exposure, breathing tests, medicine history, and when symptoms began.
4. Medical records and impact documentation. The firm compiles the medical, economic, and non-economic loss documentation the VCF requires.
5. Award, appeals, and amendments. After the VCF issues an award, the firm reviews it, files an appeal if warranted, and handles amendments for subsequent certified conditions or documented worsening of the asthma.

Attorney fees are capped at 10% by federal statute.