Suzanne Plunkett/AP
- The US spent $11.7 billion on care and compensation for people exposed to dust on 9/11, the AP said.
- As of today, more than 111,000 people are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program.
- President Biden on Saturday will travel to all three attack sites.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The US has spent $11.7 billion on care and compensation for people exposed to dust on September 11, 2001, the Associated Press reported on Friday, as the country marks the 20-year anniversary of the attacks.
That figure is about $4.6 billion higher than what was given to the families of people killed or hurt during the attacks, the report said. More than 40,000 individuals received money from a government fund for people who developed potential attack-linked illnesses.
As of today, more than 111,000 people are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, the report said, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and authorized through 2090. It provides free medical monitoring and treatment for health conditions people acquired as a result of the attacks.
Around 19,000 of the people enrolled in the program have a mental health concern linked to the attacks, the report said, and 12,500 enrollees are impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder.
The World Trade Center Health Program's overall enrollment has consistently gone up over the past five years, and includes at least one individual from all 50 US states.
First-responders to the 9/11 attacks make up about 57% of total enrollment, followed by survivors at 27%. Members of the New York Fire Department who rushed into and around the World Trade Center twin towers on that day comprise 15% of total enrollment in the program, while responders to the Pentagon and the site of the United Flight 93 crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, make up 1% of enrollment.
President Joe Biden on Saturday will travel to all three sites of attacks to mark the 20-year anniversary of one of the most consequential days in American history.
The attacks led the government to reexamine domestic terror threats and also brought the country to war in Afghanistan, which ended last month in a chaotic and deadly withdrawal that still reverberates today.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/september-11-toxic-dust-us-spent-12-billion-compensation-exposure-2021-9