Future payments from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund will be dramatically slashed, generally by 50 percent but up to 70 percent in some cases, Reuters reported. The fund’s special master, Rupa Bhattacharyya, claimed that reductions are required because the $7.375 billion fund’s remaining $2.375 billion can’t cover all of the eligible victims, as well as their family members. The five billion spent has paid 21,000 claims. “I am painfully aware of the unfairness of this plan,” Bhattacharyya reportedly said. “It is the best that we could do.” Bhattacharyya said that the fund would have needed $12 billion to fully compensate all eligible victims and their families. While a total of 40,000 claims have been filed with the fund since it started in 2011, half were submitted in 2017 and 2018, perhaps due to a recent uptick in attack-linked cancers. Under the new plan, base payouts for claims filed by Feb. 2 2019 will be reduced by 50 percent. Claims filed after that date will be reduced by 70 percent.
