Clock ticking on 9/11 health program

After decades of battling, firefighters, police officers and other survivors — many of whom are ill or dying — almost reached the moment when they wouldn't have to traipse the halls of Congress to beg for money, when the research they wanted and the health care they needed would be fully funded, when formulas would be fixed and the World Trade Center Health Program would finally have stability, even permanence. 

Almost.

Instead, it's another disappointment, another tragedy for heroes who are now seriously ill, or at risk of becoming sick from breathing in the toxic fumes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They are right to demand that the World Trade Center Health Program be given the permanence and full funding it deserves. . 

President-elect Donald Trump and his erratic adviser Elon Musk last week put the brakes on a spending bill that would have given those first responders and others the help they needed. This time, despite Long Island's Republican House delegation's promises that they would stand up to Trump when Long Island's needs warranted it, they couldn't get it done. 

The clock is ticking. Cuts to the health program could come in 2027. It's up to New York's House members and senators to forge a bipartisan coalition in the new session of Congress to work with Trump to secure the additional funding and the formula fixes that correct benefits calculations to avoid future shortfalls,

For now, first responders must keep fighting a battle they shouldn't have to fight, a battle they should already have won.