In the early years of the WTC Victim Fund, claims for personal injury were awarded amounts that ranged from $500 to $8.6 million. See Table 7: Which Offsets Apply to Which Types of Loss. The VCF will also use the standard default values if you did not have benefits or if your benefits were less than the standard default values. An additional $9 million was provided by the State of New York in 2016. While unpaid volunteers are normally ineligible for Workers' Compensation benefits, the New York Workers' Compensation Law was amended to provide a unique exception for certain volunteers who assisted with World Trade Center rescue, recovery, and clean-up efforts. 1. 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. Growth rates: The VCF projects compensable income and benefits through the victims expected work-life using growth rates that incorporate an annual inflationary or cost-of-living component, an annual real overall productivity or scale adjustment in excess of inflation, and an annual real life-cycle or age-specific increase derived using data on average full-time year-round earnings by age bracket from the 2010 Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 4 below shows calculated consumption rates by income bracket and for various household sizes. 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. Therefore, the VCF may ask you to obtain updated LOAs if they are older than one year at the time of our request. [1] The regulations provide that the Special Master will identify the spouse of a victim by looking to the victims Federal tax return. If you have already filed your claim requesting economic loss, but you have a disability application pending or you are qualified to apply for disability, you should notify the VCF immediately that there is a pending disability application or that you intend to apply. In general, the standard amount used to calculate future residual earnings capacity is the minimum wage applicable to large employers in New York City ($31,200 in 2018). If you do not promptly notify the VCF of the pending disability application, and the VCF processes your claim and issues only a non-economic loss award, the claim for economic loss will be reviewed in priority order based on the date of submission of the amendment advising the VCF of the completed disability determination. 42 U.S.C. 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. Information aboutcompensation you received from collateral sources that must be subtracted from your lost earnings award. To determine the amount, the VCF will consider how the injury affects your daily life, what kind of condition you have, and the severity. The methodology accounts for the loss of employer-provided health plans after application of the limit because such costs are exempted from gross income. Your VCF1-eligible injury or condition has substantially worsened; b. Beginning in February 2019, the VCF's special master began to reduce some award payments because the fund's administrators anticipated that the VCF would not have sufficient funds to pay all valid claims. The $250,000 cap for a single cancer condition will not be exceeded under this authority. Although it is recognized that a different after-tax interest rate could theoretically be calculated for each age, income, and state combination, such a computation was impracticable for the large-scale valuations to be undertaken here. The VCF awards compensation to 9/11 responders and survivors who have been diagnosed with health conditions linked to the toxins in the dust cloud. For example, if you received a promotion before becoming disabled and if the earnings history did not reflect that promotion, then you must provide proof of the promotion and any earnings adjustment resulting from the promotion. The Special Master is required under the VCF Actto offset Social Security survivor and dependent benefits as compensation paid to the surviving spouse or dependents of a disabled or deceased wage earner because of the eligible injury. 4 You should then deduct the amount you have received or are entitled to receive from any collateral sources as described above. 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.. Official websites use .gov Under the VCF Act, the VCF does not compensate for potential or anticipated future medical expenses. Non-economic loss is calculated separately from an economic loss claim. If you are receiving a lump sum pension, the amount of the lump sum pension. [7] Although the consumption rates determined from BLS data actually represent household expenditures as a percent of before-tax household income, the actual consumption reduction used to determine the decedents personal expenditures was calculated as a percent of lower after-tax income, which significantly lowers the resulting adjustment. NYCERS will only accept LOAs dated within one year of the date the VCF (or the law firm for requests already sent directly to NYCERS) sends the request for information to NYCERS. If your employer provided benefits such as a 401K match or other types of benefits that you would ordinarily receive at the time of retirement, you should submit proof of such benefits in order for the VCF to compute the loss. as reflected in your taxable income reported to the Social Security Administration. 10. Tax benefits received from the Federal Government as a result of the enactment of the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act of 2001 (Pub. Thus, if you retired on a disability pension due to an eligible condition, the VCF will only offset that pension to the extent it is greater than the amount you were entitled to receive as a service pension. Evidence that you are or were unable to work as a result of an eligible condition. 2. If you are filing a personal injury claim, in order to qualify for an economic loss award for loss of future earnings/benefits, you must first show that you have a permanent partial or total occupational disability based on an eligible 9/11-related physical condition. Individuals who submit a claim for a loss of future earnings/benefits from the Military or Military Reserve must submit documentation of the following: If you have been found partially or totally disabled by the Military, submit complete documentation of the basis of your medical retirement (e.g. 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. For single individuals without dependents, Housing, Education and Health are also included. The start date and amount of the victims pension. If the VCF, with reasonable effort, cannot clearly identify the required documentation necessary to support each claimed medical expense, the VCF reserves the right to deny your medical expenses claim. $340,000 for a downtown office worker with skin cancer and larynx cancer $340,000 for a retired NYPD officer with cancers of the colon and mouth In addition, the victims consumption is determined as a share of the victims own earnings only, rather than the standard share of total household earnings. If you have insurance, the VCF will not compensate for any expenses that have not yet been evaluated by your insurance company or any applicable secondary payer. Application of statutory limitation on annual gross income: In accordance withthe VCF Act, for each year of loss, the methodology limits the annual loss of earnings and other benefits related to employment that fall under the definition of gross income in section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to $200,000. . 4. Please keep this in mind when considering whether to seek certification of additional conditions through the WTC Health Program. Expenses you incurred after the date of certification are not eligible for reimbursement. 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. Because claims for reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical expenses require the submission and review of significant documentation establishing that the claimed medical expense was related to your eligible condition, that you personally paid for the expense out of pocket, and that the expense was incurred prior to your WTC Health Program certification for the applicable condition, processing these claims takes time and can delay your award. If your medical expenses claim does not meet the documentation requirements described in this section, the VCF reserves the right to deny the claim. He was earning about $100,000 per year at the time of his disability. As a matter of general policy, the VCF will not award lost earnings if the victim was 65 years old or older at the time of disability or death based upon the presumption that the victim had reached his or her reasonable work-life expectancy. 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. When the victim demonstrates mild or negligible impairment on daily life, or if the eligible conditions have resolved over time or are reasonably well-controlled through over-the- counter medication, the non-economic award begins at $10,000 and may increase depending on the severity of the condition as demonstrated by recent medical records (medical records that are dated within three years of the claim submission date). Replacement services loss is intended to replace something that was lost that is, something the victim used to do. 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. The VCF enables compensation for the following categories: Victims of the 9/11 attack Family members of the deceased victims The appropriate amount of the compensation that should be offset, taking into account the time value of money and contributions made by the injured victim or decedent in the nature of investment or savings. 3. 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. For eligible cancers, the non-economic award will generally range between $90,000 and $250,000, depending on the type of cancer and the medical evidence provided regarding metastasis, recurrence, and/or permanent complications. It was determined that the benefit to the claimants of calculating the decedents personal consumption offset as a percent of after-tax individual earnings more than outweighed the potential effect of discounting future amounts by income-specific after-tax discount rates. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) pays compensation to women and men diagnosed with 9/11-related breast cancer. In addition, the legislation created the WTC Health Program, which provides monitoring and treatment for 9/11-related conditions and can certify such illnesses for a VCF claim. In the earliest years of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, payouts ranged from $500 to $8.6 million. The World Trade Center Health Program reports that approximately 18,000 people who were exposed at Ground Zerovictims and first responders alikehave since been diagnosed with cancer related to this toxic exposure, with more diagnoses expected in the future. The total amount legitimately claimed means that the claimed expenses are reasonably related to your eligible conditions (as identified in your most recent eligibility determination letter) and that you have documentation demonstrating that you paid the expense out-of-pocket. Because your VCF1 non-economic loss exceeds the maximum amount allowed by law for those conditions ($90,000), no additional losses will be awarded. It is important that you respond to all missing information letters within the timeframe specified in the letter. [6] For lower income categories where total expenditures exceed income, expenditures were scaled to income, so as not to reduce income for expenses potentially met by other forms of support. If the breast cancer is disabling, a victim is entitled to additional compensation for lost wages. Only expenses that you have paid out-of-pocket, and that were incurred prior to WTC Health Program certification of the applicable condition, will be reimbursed. If you were found to be partially disabled due to an eligible condition in VCF1 based on an FDNY disability determination, and the Social Security Administration subsequently determined that you became fully disabled due to the same condition after your VCF1 award was issued, you may be eligible for additional compensation. A member of the Kreindler 9/11 VCF team can discuss all of these factors with you. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Historical earnings: this includes last 5-year total earnings and 3-year average of highest 3 of 5 years, Pension amount: In general, this is based on the higher of Year 5 earnings or 3-year average, Type of retirement: WTC Accidental or Reclassification, Accidental Disability (not WTC-related), Ordinary Disability (not WTC-related), or Service Retirement, Date of retirement and, if reclassified, date of WTC reclassification, Basis of disability determination generally: e.g., pulmonary, GERD, cancer, orthopedic, Date of initial entry to military service (DIEMS), Pay Date (Per Leave and Earnings Statement), Type of retirement from the military (e.g. Federal employees in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) who are claiming loss of future earnings/benefits must submit the following: Individuals who receive a disability pension from FERS should also submit: Personal Representatives filing a wrongful death claim must submit a letter from OPM confirming the following: For union members and employees of Con Edison or Verizon, the VCF models typically include: (1)a defined benefit pension equal to 15% of base salary, and (2)an annuity equal to 7% of base salary if your union offers an annuity fund.
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