[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] It has been more than 17 years since the World Trade Center collapsed in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, and since 2011, a rededicated fund has compensated emergency personnel and others who responded to the scene and have since gotten sick, as well as the families of the deceased. But with medical claims on the rise, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is running out of money: Already, more than $5 billion of the $7.375 billion it was allotted in 2015 to give away over five years has been spent. The fund’s special master announced in mid-February that it would be necessary to slash in half the payouts for those already waiting in line; new claimants could see payments cut by as much as 70 percent. The severe reductions have sparked a renewed push in Congress to press for more money to replenish the depleted fund — resurrecting fears of another protracted battle with Senate Republicans, who nearly quashed the fund in 2011.

Source: New York Times February 28, 2019 22:18 UTC