9/11 Fund Makes First Payments to Sick Responders

$2.78 billion fund set up to compensate them

People who got sick after being exposed to toxic dust following 9/11 are now receiving their first round of payments from a special $2.78 billion fund set up by Congress to compensate them. There have been at least 16,000 applicants, but the first payouts have been offered to a group of 15 first-responders, most of whom are firefighters, with respiratory problems. The payments range from $10,000 to a high of $1.5 million. Sheila Birnbaum, the administrator who oversees the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, said that the people getting the larger awards tended to be younger and to have suffered more severe economic losses. The people offered lower amounts include some who have already received other compensation for their illnesses. Officials don't yet know how many more people will apply for aid or how ill they will be, so they can't yet calculate each person's share. For now, applicants are getting only 10 percent of their award and the remainder won't be paid until after the fund closes to new applicants in 2016. "We think we are off to a good start, and with the help of the lawyers and the claimants, we will be able to come up with a lot more awards in the coming months," said Birnbaum. (NBC)

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