Frank Pallone: “I have heard Members on the other side of the aisle talk about this as an entitlement program. I want to stress it is…”

“I have heard Members on the other side of the aisle talk about this as an entitlement program. I want to stress it is not an entitlement program. It is not a budget gimmick. The program sunsets in 10 years. The funding is capped. Enrollment is capped. The population can't grow beyond the enrollment cap in the bill. I hear from the opponents all about money, how much money is going to New York hospitals. I want to stress that this isn't really about who is going to pay for somebody's health insurance. One of the centers where people go for treatment is in my home State of New Jersey, in my district, at Rutgers, and my understanding is many, if not most of the people who go there, actually have health insurance. The problem is that we are creating these centers, and we want to make sure that they are there for a long time because they serve a very important purpose. People go there because they have particular diseases that come from the World Trade Center attack that can't be treated at other locations. And even if they go to their doctor, they end up coming here because they know how to treat and get the specialty care that they need. They also provide research. Many of these people don't contract the diseases until later in life; and I think, as time goes on, we are going to see, unfortunately, even more problems.”