Once the award is calculated, we send you a letter explaining the breakdown of your award and an option to appeal within 30 days if you believe an error was made in the calculation. longevity raises, overtime, bonuses, differential pay, etc.) Therefore, the VCF may ask you to obtain updated LOAs if they are older than one year at the time of our request. While every individual's claim is different depending on their individual circumstances, this is a standard calculation used for everyone who has an eligible condition to file a claim. If you are receiving Combat-Related Special Compensation or Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, submit a complete history of the amount and duration of benefits received. The VCF is a federal fund authorized by Congress to provide victims of September 11th monetary awards due to losses suffered. For example, if you left the workforce more than one year before the onset of your eligible disability, the VCF will consider the reasons you originally left the workforce and the probability that you would have returned to the workforce were it not for your eligible condition in determining the extent of your earnings and benefits loss. The WTC Victim Compensation Fund has a long historyafter several reauthorizations, the Fund got permanent financing when the Senate almost unanimously voted for its permanent authorization. The following information, which is used to calculate the victims pension. If you do appeal, payment is authorized once a decision is rendered following your appeal. It was determined that the benefit to the claimants of calculating the decedents personal consumption offset as a percent of after-tax individual earnings more than outweighed the potential effect of discounting future amounts by income-specific after-tax discount rates. If you do notrespond to our missing information request after 30 days, we will render a decision based on the information contained in your file at that time. As explainedin Section 5, amendments on deceased claims are not otherwise permitted. Likewise, if the victim was 65 years old or older at the time of death, the VCF generally will not award lost earnings and benefits, based on the presumption that the victim had already reached the end of his or her reasonable work-life expectancy. During the course of an individuals career, the rate of annual real life-cycle growth tends to gradually decline until a peak real earnings level is attained. . To do this, the VCF needs documents describing the pension plan and how the pension would be calculated. Note: If you received a non-economic loss award in VCF1, the VCF will consider the amount previously awarded when determining whether additional compensation is warranted in light of the 2015 reauthorization statutes prioritization mandate and non-economic loss caps. Pain and Suffering Damages From 9/11 | WTC VCF Awards Recent documentation of the medications required to manage your condition and how often you take those medications. Once you receive your award determination, you will need to determine if the out-of-pocket medical expenses you incurred meet the $5,000 minimum threshold and other criteria noted above and are acceptable expenses as described in Acceptable Medical Expenses Claims below. However, the VCF limits the amount a 9/11 attorney may charge a claimant to 10% of the claimant's VCF award. 10. In order to qualify for discrete past lost earnings (i.e., losses incurred before you filed your VCF claim or losses incurred in the absence of a third-party disability occupational disability determination), you must show that you were unable to work, or unable to work at the same level, as a result of an eligible condition and that you incurred losses as a result. Melanoma Skin Cancer 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Law Firm These conditions include rhinitis, sinusitis, rhinosinusitis, tracheitis, laryngotracheitis, laryngitis, nasopharyngitis, and pharyngitis. For example, the VCF will deduct from the award the amount that an FDNY victim receives under a WTC disability pension provided that the disability pension is for an eligible condition. We urge you (and your attorney, when applicable) to consider the collateral offsets that may be applicable to your claim before submission, and consider submitting a non-economic loss only claim in those cases where your earnings-related offsets are likely to exceed your economic loss. 2. If there is an indication that you are receiving, or are entitled to receive, a disability or survivor pension (or if the decedent received a disability pension before death), but you do not submit information necessary to calculate that pension or determine the basis of that pension, the VCF will not issue a full award and may issue only a non-economic loss award or deactivate the claim because, without that information, the VCF cannot determine whether an offset is appropriate and the amount of that offset. If, on the other hand, younotify the VCF of the pending disability application and the VCF defers processing your claim, your claim will be reviewed in a priority order based on the original date of submission of your compensation form once the completed disability application is submitted in a subsequent amendment. PDF Victim Compensaton Fund Frequently Asked Questions The Special Master may reduce the amount of the offset for a pension to take account of self-contributions to that plan over the injured victims or decedents lifetime. Historical earnings: this includes last 5-year total earnings and 3-year average of highest 3 of 5 years, Pension amount: In general, this is based on the higher of Year 5 earnings or 3-year average, Type of retirement: WTC Accidental or Reclassification, Accidental Disability (not WTC-related), Ordinary Disability (not WTC-related), or Service Retirement, Date of retirement and, if reclassified, date of WTC reclassification, Basis of disability determination generally: e.g., pulmonary, GERD, cancer, orthopedic, Date of initial entry to military service (DIEMS), Pay Date (Per Leave and Earnings Statement), Type of retirement from the military (e.g. As a result, the VCF has established specific criteria about when and how you should submit your claim for medical expenses. You will need to submit two types of information: The VCF provides a Temporary Past Lost Earnings worksheet to help support your VCF claim. Below is a sample of some of our recent awards for our clients: $4.4 million. Since the VCF was reauthorized last year, claims for non-cancer conditions have routinely been awarded the lowest possible amount, absent medical records to support the severity of the condition. [6] Other standard expenditure categories sometimes included in litigation, namely Reading, Cash Contributions, Alcoholic Beverages, and Tobacco Products, were excluded. For example, you could submit letters or reports from specialists who treated your eligible conditions. The information that the VCF needs depends on your employer/retirement system: See Section 2.2f for FDNY, 2.2g for NYPD, 2.2h for members of the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS), 2.2i for members of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), 2.2j for Federal employees including the military and military reserve, 2.2k for Union/Verizon/Con Edison, and 2.2l for other employers that are not listed. It may facilitate the processing of your claim, however, if you submit to the VCF any determination you have received from the PSOB program, or documentation of a payment from the PSOB program, when you submit your claim. When considering the authority provided by the VCF Act toissue non-economic loss awards above the statutory caps in special circumstances, the Special Masters intention (consistent with the intent of Congress) is to exercise this authority in very limited and unique circumstances, and only for non-cancer claims. If you submit medical records that fall outside of the three-year timeframe, you must highlight them and provide an explanation about why they are important. The WTC Volunteer Fund provides medical and indemnity (cash) payments for volunteers who are disabled as a result of their efforts. That tragic day nearly 3,000 people perished as the planes crashed, and WTC buildings collapsed. As a general rule, under the terms of the VCF Act, the Special Master has identified the following conditions as presumptively severe and debilitating and warranting the highest allowable non-economic loss award for a non-cancer condition, without any further documentation: Emphysema, Interstitial Lung Disease (including Asbestosis), and Sarcoidosis. If you receive a benefit intended to cover medical expenses from a workers compensation program or any other collateral source, please include information regarding that payment, so that it can be appropriately offset from your medical expenses award. Note: an SSI disability finding may support a claim of lost earnings. If you were eligible for bonuses, deferred compensation, stock options, or any other form of compensation that might not be reflected in the SSA earnings report, you must submit proof of such forms of compensation if you want the VCF to consider such forms of compensation or increases in compensation in evaluating your claim. (2) A document that demonstrates the amount of the expense that you have paid out- of-pocket, as explained below. A top 9/11 lawyer is crusading to help surviving families take Accordingly, non-economic loss is based generally on the severity of the condition and the effect of the condition on the victims ability to maintain normal activities of daily living. The VCF will then compute the amount of past and/or future lost wages in light of these factors (as explained below). VCF Policies and Procedures Section 3: Awards and Payment Date effective November 16, 2022 When the VCF has made an award determination for your claim, you will receive a letter notifying you of the amount of your award. Payments made by the various State Victim of Crime Boards funded with federal funds. By doing this analysis before submitting your claim, the VCF will be able to more quickly process your claim because we do not need to take the time to calculate the economic loss in order to determine that only non-economic loss can be awarded. If any part of these expenses was covered by life insurance or another source, you must provide documentation of that coverage. If you are filing a deceased claim (i.e., a claim seeking wrongful death losses because the victim died as a result of his or her eligible 9/11-related condition), and the victim received or was entitled to receive a disability pension before death, or the victims beneficiaries are receiving or are entitled to receive a survivor pension, you must submit that information before the VCF finalizes the substantive review of the compensation claim. In addition, if you filed your initial claim before December 18, 2020, and you did not claim medical expenses in your initial claim, you may file an amendment for medical expenses, and we will consider it, subject to the other requirements discussed in this document. The VCF has made initial award determinations on 34,464 eligible claims (see chart below), and has issued at least one amended award determination on . . To learn more about the World Trade Center Health Program or the World Trade Center Victim's Compensation Fund, . . [5] For purposes of determining consumption rate and household size, the term dependent refers to an individual who was financially supported by the decedent and may include individuals who are not considered when calculating the wrongful death non-economic loss award, as the definition of dependent for purposes of awarding additional non-economic loss is more stringent. The start date and amount of the victims pension. When uploading the Supporting Documentation Packet to your claim, select the document type Medical Expense Supporting Documentation Packet. If you fail to include the required supporting documentation, your claim for medical expenses will be denied. In many cases, these circumstances are best addressed in the context of an appeal hearing. World Trade Center Health Program: Approach Used to Add Cancers to List of Covered Conditions was Reasonable but Could be Improved, GAO-14-606, July 2014. If the victim is deceased, you should provide a clear statement of the services provided before the onset of the eligible condition and/or death from the eligible condition. If an individual is eligible for VCF compensation and is also receiving payments from the WTC Volunteer Fund, the VCF will offset certain payments made by the WTC Volunteer Fund. Economic loss is pecuniary loss caused by an eligible condition: loss of earnings or other benefits related to employment, the cost to replace household services previously provided by the victim, certain past medical expenses, and expenses associated with a burial or memorial service in the case of a deceased victim. It is important that you respond to all missing information letters within the timeframe specified in the letter. The VCF also refers to non-economic loss as a "pain and suffering" award. These rates of increase are consistent with the long- term relationship between economy-wide wage growth and risk-free interest rates, which currently reflect lowered inflationary expectations. How Much Money Do World Trade Center Victims Get? The VCF will also use the standard default values if you did not have benefits or if your benefits were less than the standard default values. In certain, very limited circumstances for example, if your claim qualifies for expedited processing due to terminal illness or significant financial hardship (see Section 8),and the Special Master determines it appropriate the VCF may issue an award that deducts a presumptive offset amount assuming that your disability application was decided favorably, and you will be able to amend your claim once the disability process is concluded for any necessary correction to your award. Depending on their circumstances, FDNY victims should submit either two, three, or five documents (depending on their specific situation as explained below) to demonstrate that they have been found disabled as a result of a VCF-eligible condition or injury. Moreover, the VCF will not disregard a determination that attributed your disability to an ineligible condition, even if it was later changed. This means you must submit an amendment and request re-review of your economic loss claim. Application of statutory limitation on annual gross income: In accordance withthe VCF Act, for each year of loss, the methodology limits the annual loss of earnings and other benefits related to employment that fall under the definition of gross income in section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to $200,000. If the breast cancer is disabling, a victim is entitled to additional compensation for lost wages. Such payments will be assumed to continue and will be offset unless evidence is submitted that the benefits or payments in fact terminated. Recent medical documents that show the type and frequency of medical treatments you have had for your condition. You should not contact NYCERS or NYSLRS directly to obtain this information. Another award is made to a successful applicant for an economic loss, which includes lost benefits, lost earnings, household services, and out of pocket medical expenses.