Efforts to provide 9/11 heroes with healthcare
fall short as Sedgwick Managed Care Providers mismanage its
benefits, forcing responders to pay out of pocket
NEW
YORK, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the
NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees is urgently calling on
legislators to expand their efforts in providing 9/11 first
responders with adequate healthcare. This plea comes after a
bipartisan group of New York
legislators introduced the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health
Funding Correction Act of 2024.
Over the last two years, since NIOSH/CDC, the World Trade Center
National Health Program, changed healthcare vendors to the new
vendor, Sedgwick Managed Care Providers have been unable to
provide care or a choice of providers in their network for many
9/11 first responders adequately, forcing first responders to pay
out of pocket.
Mike Lohrey, a lifelong first
responder who was a Type 1 Incident Commander in 2001, had to wait
about four months to be approved for lung testing and an eventual
double lung transplant.
In another case, a 9/11 responder was wrongly directed by
Sedgwick to an ENT doctor who, in fact, was a dermatologist,
demonstrating Sedgwick's lack of care, consideration, and overall
insufficient ability to offer providers.
Marianne Pizzitola, President
of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees released the
following statement:
"We appreciate the efforts of lawmakers to provide for 9/11
responders with healthcare funding. We urge this same group of
legislators to uphold our demands for an intervention on Sedgwick
Managed Care Providers (owned by the Carlyle Group). The current
vendor has continued its inadequacy while ignoring calls from 9/11
heroes and operating a ghost provider network. Their inability to
live up to the contract places undue stress and anxiety on an
already struggling population. As we near the next anniversary of
9/11, we urge the New York
delegation to address this issue immediately. While we respectfully
honor those who lost their lives on or due to 9/11, we should also
hold and support our survivors and ensure they have the best care
possible. 'Remember 9/11' is more than a bumper sticker. The
New York delegation must live up
to its promise and help them now."
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SOURCE NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees