9/11 COPD and Emphysema Claims: VCF Compensation and Certification

Who qualifies for 9/11 COPD compensation?

Anyone diagnosed with COPD 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 COPD.

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.

What kinds of COPD does the WTC Health Program cover?

The WTC Health Program covers two kinds of COPD. New-onset COPD is COPD that began after 9/11 exposure. WTC-exacerbated COPD is COPD you already had that 9/11 exposure made worse. Both are on the program's list of 9/11-related conditions.

WTC-exacerbated COPD was on the original list Congress wrote into the Zadroga Act. New-onset COPD was added in 2016, after the WTC Health Program found substantial evidence linking 9/11 exposures to COPD that began afterward.

COPD is an umbrella term for several lung conditions that narrow the airways and make it hard to breathe out. The WTC Health Program covers emphysema within its COPD category rather than as a separately listed condition.

When the WTC Health Program added new-onset COPD to its list in 2016, its Administrator found substantial evidence that 9/11 exposures caused chronic inflammation of the airways. That inflammation showed up as lasting breathing symptoms and declining lung function, and in some exposed people it progressed to COPD.

The Administrator found this happened independently of cigarette smoking among the people studied.

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.

COPD may cause no symptoms or only mild ones at first, and symptoms usually become more serious as the disease gets worse. Common symptoms include shortness of breath, especially with activity; an ongoing cough, often with mucus; wheezing; chest tightness; and fatigue.

Symptoms can suddenly worsen during a flare-up, often set off by an infection or by dust or smoke. Anyone with 9/11 exposure who has these symptoms can be evaluated by a WTC Health Program provider. Any qualified doctor can diagnose COPD, but only the WTC Health Program certifies it as 9/11-related.

COPD, both new-onset and WTC-exacerbated, has no maximum time interval. No minimum applies either. A COPD diagnosis can be certified however long after 9/11 exposure the symptoms began.

This differs from asthma and most other breathing conditions, which must have begun within a set time after the last exposure.

To certify COPD, a WTC Health Program doctor confirms the diagnosis with a breathing test (spirometry) that shows airflow limitation that is not fully reversible and meets the WTC Health Program's diagnostic criteria, along with a history of 9/11 exposure.

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

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

The VCF lists COPD among the conditions it presumes less severe. Under VCF policy, when COPD is mild or well controlled with over-the-counter medicine, the non-economic loss award begins at $10,000, and it increases when recent medical records show the COPD is more serious or limits daily life. In Baione Law's experience, COPD non-economic loss awards have generally started at around $20,000.†

† Based on Baione Law's experience with VCF awards. Not a figure published by the VCF.

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.

In rare cases, a lung disease is as severe as lung cancer, for example one requiring a lung transplant or 24/7 oxygen supplementation. The VCF can then compensate its non-economic loss the way it compensates for cancer.

Is emphysema treated differently from COPD by the 9/11 VCF?

Yes, in the VCF's written policy. The VCF lists emphysema among the few non-cancer conditions it presumes severe and debilitating, warranting its $90,000 maximum non-economic loss award for a single non-cancer condition without further documentation. COPD is on the VCF's list of conditions presumed less severe.

The WTC Health Program, however, certifies emphysema within its COPD category. How the VCF values a claim certified as COPD whose records document emphysema is decided on the claim's medical records.

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 COPD claim

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

1. Free Case Review. The firm evaluates presence in the exposure zone, exposure category, COPD 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, imaging, and treatment history.
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 COPD.

Attorney fees are capped at 10% by federal statute.