VCF award amount, but there are limits on the amounts of individual awards for economic and noneconomic losses claimants suffered. As a result, the VCF has established specific criteria about when and how you should submit your claim for medical expenses. After your award is received, any changes in entitlement to survivor benefits, such as a determination of continuing disability at age 18, should be reported on the Collateral Offset Update Form.. If the medical records submitted with your claim meet the three-year timeframe, you do not need to continue to submit medical records on your claim unless the VCF requests them. If you are submitting a claim for loss of future earnings/benefits from a union, or from Con Edison or Verizon, you must submit: If your employer is not listed above but offers a defined benefit pension, you must submit evidence that your employer offers a defined benefit pension and how that pension was calculated, such as a pension calculation statement, retirement statement, or a pension option letter. Note: an SSI disability finding may support a claim of lost earnings. If you believe that your SSA earnings history does not fully account for future earnings potential, then you must provide documentation supporting any argument that the VCF should take into consideration other information in determining future earnings. 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. In addition, compensation may include other military benefits or allowances if the appropriate documentation of the amount and duration of the benefits is submitted. See the Collateral Source Offsets section for more information. The VCF considers the fact that you became more (fully) disabled after your VCF1 award was issued as evidence that your same, eligible condition has worsened and that you suffered losses that were not previously fully compensated. 4 You should then deduct the amount you have received or are entitled to receive from any collateral sources as described above. Do not hesitate to contact us toll-free at 844-982-2667 if we may be of service. 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. The VCF will consider reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical expenses that you incurred up until the date of certification of the applicable condition(s). Before you can receive a VCF award, we will register you with the World Trade Center Health Program to obtain a medical record known as certification of causation. In some cases,the VCF may estimate your benefits using presumptive values. Personal consumption adjustment for decedents: For claims for deceased victims whose death was related to an eligible condition, the VCF subtracts from annual projected compensable income and benefits the decedents share of household expenditures or consumption as a percentage of income, using expenditure data by income level obtained from Table 2. In those cases, the VCF may use the later date that is, the date when the victim actually suffered a loss in earnings. 2. Please be sure to refer to the most recent chartprior to filing your amendment for medical expenses. 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. As required by the VCF Act, your final award will be calculated using this basic formula: Non-Economic Loss plus Economic Loss, minus Collateral Offsets. You do not need to resubmit documents you have already submitted in support of your amendment, but you must be certain the documentation you provided meets the requirements outlined in Documentation Required to Support a Medical Expenses Claim below. Note that this information should be in a letter that was sent to the victim at retirement or in a Federal Retirement Benefits printout: Date that victim entered the FERS system (date used to calculate Creditable Service for Retirement), Total years and months of credited service, Letter from Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirming that the victims disability retirement has been approved and stating the conditions forming the basis of the disability, Amount of Monthly Disability Pension in first 12 months (already reduced by Social Security benefits), Amount of Disability Pension after 12 months (already reduced by Social Security benefits), Estimate of re-calculated Disability Pension at age 62, Type of survivor benefit (e.g., Basic Employee Death Benefit, Survivor Annuity). payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 . Similarly, if the victim has cancer and severe non-cancer conditions, the Special Master may issue an award that makes an adjustment above $250,000 to account for multiple conditions. The VCF was reauthorized on December 18, 2015, with the enactment of Title IV of Division O of the Table 4 below shows calculated consumption rates by income bracket and for various household sizes. Recent medical records documenting severity and/or effect of the condition on daily life. 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. If SSA or another entity found you disabled based on a condition that is not eligible for compensation by the VCF, please do not contact SSA or the other entity to request that they change your disability determination solely for the purpose of obtaining VCF compensation. A New York firefighter amid the rubble of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks. 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. If you did not have SSA earnings (e.g., worked outside the United States or do not have a Social Security number), then you must provide other documents demonstrating earnings including tax returns, statements of profit/loss from a business (if self- employed), W2 forms, 1099 forms, pay stubs, or employment offer letters. If you have a prior claim that has already been decided and paid, and you believe you should be considered for the exception, please amend the claim to submit the request for review. 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 . 1/60th calculation (for those who served over 20 years), Total annual retirement salary (i.e., pension amount). 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 type of survivor option selected (e.g., 100% joint and survivor). An additional $9 million was provided by the State of New York in 2016. 42 U.S.C. Check the following table to see the payout amounts per claimant category in that fiscal year: What Is the Average Compensation for 9/11 Victims? The maximum award for " wrongful death " non-economic losses is $250,000, plus an additional $100,000 on account of the spouse and each dependent of the decedent. (2) A document that demonstrates the amount of the expense that you have paid out- of-pocket, as explained below. The VCF does not reimburse recipients for attorney's fees, which are to be paid by the claimant. 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. The VCF also refers to non-economic loss as a "pain and suffering" award. Bankruptcy Bankruptcy courts treat VCF benefits differently according to the facts of the individual case. 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. Information about your earnings and benefits, so that the VCF can determine the amount of loss. Money is also allocated to people who have been diagnosed with cancers, lung diseases, and numerous other non-cancerous medical conditions after being exposed to dust, debris, and other toxins at Ground Zero. Under the Zadroga Act, non-economic loss includes . The VCF does not premise their award amounts solely on financial losses. The methodology computes the loss in each year (including pensions) and caps the loss at $200,000 in each year. Our review includes: determining non-economic loss based on the severity of physical harm; calculating economic loss, including past and future lost earnings (if claimed); and confirming collateral offsets, including payments received from pension funds, life insurance, SSA, Workers Compensation, and settlements from 9/11-related lawsuits. 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. In determining the award amount, the Special Master considers the harm to the claimant, the facts surrounding the claim, and the claimant's individual circumstances. FDNY victims who retired on a non-WTC-related accidental pension, ordinary disability pension that is not based on VCF-eligible conditions, or service pension will not be eligible for a lost earnings award unless they can provide a disability determination from a third-party entity such as the Social Security Administration or a treating physician that identifies a VCF-eligible condition as a basis of the disability determination. Deferred or vested compensation from employment. If you are filing on behalf of a deceased victim and you have provided sufficient evidence that the cause of death was related to aneligible condition, the VCF will generally calculate lost earnings and benefits resulting from the victims death if it is clear from the information in the claim file that the victims death resulted in a compensable loss. Claimants who receive disability benefits under the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program: If you receive disability benefits under the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program (administered by Social Security) as opposed to under the regular Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) program, please indicate that you are receiving SSI benefits when you file the claim and file an Exhibit 1, making sure to select the box requesting release of Current monthly Supplemental Security Income payment amount. The information that the VCF receives from the SSAwill include information about SSI benefits if applicable. If you received $125,000 of non-economic loss in VCF1 for asthma, and you amend in VCF2 for additional non-economic loss for newly certified interstitial lung disease and emphysema that have progressively worsened, the VCF will consider you to be fully compensated for your eligible conditions and will not award additional non-economic loss. For those who receive Workers Compensation benefits from New York State, New York amended its Workers Compensation statute in 2002 to prohibit insurance carriers from asserting liens against awards from the VCF. This is determined based generally on the nature and severity of your condition and the effect of the condition on youractivities of daily living; itdoes not take into account economic loss caused by the condition. Note: The non-economic award is not automatically tied to the degree of disability (to the extent there is an occupational disability determination as a result of an eligible 9/11-related physical injury or condition). The Special Master has the discretion to adjust the amount of offsets to exclude premiums or assets that were accumulated by the victim through self-contributions paid into a life insurance program to build up a tax-deferred cash value. The VCF will then obtain information regarding the benefits directly from the SSA. The type of pension (e.g., ordinary, service, disability, etc. The 9/11 attorneys at Gregory J. Cannata & Associates are highly experienced and regarded in gathering and reviewing the appropriate information to help ensure the success of an award. [2] Average combined effective income tax rates by earnings bracket were calculated based on an analysis of IRS data for the most recent tax years available: 2007, 2008, and 2009. Rupa Bhattacharyya '95 can pinpoint the hardest decision she had to make in her 25 years as a government attorney. The VCF will award the lowest end of the range for your conditions and request that you submit an amendment with the required information if you would like the VCF to consider the medical records submitted when assessing severity for purposes of awarding non-economic loss. The VCF cannot award lost earnings for a disability that is not clearly related to an eligible condition. When evaluating whether additional compensation should be awarded, the VCF considers the types of conditions compensated, the type, nature, and amount of compensation awarded, and the basis and timing of any lost earnings awarded in VCF1. Sections 2.2.f-i contain information specific to victims who worked for New York City (including FDNY and NYPD) and the Federal government (including military and military reserve); and. Recent medical records or treating physician statements showing use of assistive devices that significantly impair activities of daily living such as breathing devices that may be used for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The VCF statute caps attorney fees for claimant assistance at 10% of the VCF award amount. To request a review in the case of a decrease in a collateral source payment when the higher payment was used in the calculation of your award, you must file an amendment. You must complete and submit a Social Security Administration Consent Form (Exhibit 1 of the Claim Form) even if Replacement Services is the only type of loss you are claiming. Please be aware that any documents you submit after we have finalized the substantive review of your compensation claim will not be reviewed as that review would delay the issuance of your award determination. 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. dollars for the family of an NYPD police officer who died as a result of 9/11 related cancer. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS The VCF provides financial compensation to individuals (or a personal representative of a deceased individual) who were present at the World Trade Center or in the VCF's NYC Exposure Zone ; the Pentagon crash site; or the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site, at some point between September 11, 2001, and May 30, 2002, and who have been . If your medical expenses claim does not meet the documentation requirements described in this section, the VCF reserves the right to deny the claim. It is important to note that receiving a WTC Health Program disability evaluation through the Process does not guarantee that you will be awarded lost earnings from the VCF. This generally includes the final Medical Board report that identifies the final diagnosis and recommends approval of a WTC disability, as well as any prior Medical Board reports issued that address the claimants conditions and recommend approval, disapproval, or deferral on the claimants disability application. In such a case, if medical records submitted provide no other discernable basis for the claimants SSA disability, then it will be presumed that the eligible Interstitial Lung Disease is the same as the disabling condition. Moreover, the VCF will not reconsider or recalculate any component of the VCF1 award or change any assumptions made in the VCF1 calculation. . If your condition has limited your activities, please submit any explanation or documentation that explains this effect of your condition. The VCF Act establishes certain caps on non-economic awards for physical injury claims. The VCF focuses on recent documentation, from within three years of the claim submission date, when evaluating non-economic loss. 10. The types of documents listed below can assist the VCF in the evaluation of your claim: A document from your physician summarizing the medical history of your condition and treatment will often be sufficient to prove the extent of your non-economic loss. Present value: Calculate the present value of projected earnings and fringe benefits using discount rates based on a weighted average of historical yields on mid- to long-term U.S. Treasury securities, adjusted for income taxes using a mid-range effective tax rate. We will not process your claim until a determination on your disability application is made. Some categories of offsets apply only to certain categories of loss. (generic name is listed first, followed by brand name). If you have a diagnosis of melanoma skin cancer that you believe may be related to 9/11, click or call our Kreindler 9/11 VCF team at 877-505-0090 for helpful answers about your eligibility for compensation. For that reason, even if a claimants eligible condition has worsened since VCF1, s/he may not qualify for additional losses. For example, the VCF will deduct from a lost earnings award the amount that an FDNY victim receives under a WTC disability pension provided that the disability pension is for an eligible condition, but will not deduct a disability pension from the non-economic loss award. If you have been found partially or totally disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) because of your military service, notify the VCF. The Federal government originally provided funding for this program, but the $50 million congressional appropriation ($25 million in 2002, increased to $50 million in 2005) was exhausted in early 2016. This includes information about collateral offsets that apply to both economic and non-economic loss, proof of cause of death for a wrongful death claim, or a missing Exhibit 1, which allows us to receive information from SSA in support of your claim. A member of the Kreindler 9/11 VCF team can discuss all of these factors with you. Evidence that you are or were unable to work as a result of an eligible condition. Moreover, the VCF will not disregard a determination that attributed your disability to an ineligible condition, even if it was later changed. There are two different types of compensation available. To calculate economic loss, the VCF must first determine whether there is in fact a compensable loss. You must also submit medical records that show that the reason you cannot perform the services is because of the eligible condition. Administrators of the VCF fund calculate the award amounts with a complex formula that takes into account where they were located during the period of eligibility and the amount of time they were exposed to toxic elements. The VCF has further revised its policy with regard to non-economic loss claims for non-cancer conditions, and our ability to appeal those awards. Compensation for military service members and uniformed service members is based on the amount of your basic pay (BPY), which is the largest component of military pay, plus any additional factors influencing military pay (e.g.
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