Late Wednesday night, April 9th, 2003, Senator Kennedy and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card reached an agreement on a smallpox compensation bill that, while not perfect, meets many of the objectives that the coalition of labor and the Workplace Injury Litigation Group (WILG) sought to achieve.
The coalition plans to work with Senator Kennedy, Reps. Dingell, Waxman and Capps and their staff members to make sure the deal is passed and carried out. They each did an outstanding job--taking a highly charged issue and literally forcing the President Bush to accept a compensation plan that he never intended to create when he announced the Smallpox Compensation Program last December. The coalition will also work with them and the administration to make sure each state workers' compensation program actually steps up to the plate and guarantees full coverage to every First Responder injured by the smallpox vaccine. At this point, only 14 states have said their workers' compensation programs will cover smallpox injuries.
Thanks to all the hard work by coalition members throughout the country,the government will now work for First Responders, their families and patients across the country.
See also:
Congress Passes Smallpox Compensation Plan
Fri April 11, 2003 08:10 PM ET
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress passed legislation on Friday to compensate any health care worker, police officer or other "first responder" harmed by a smallpox vaccination program designed to protect against bioterrorism.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2553282
Text of Compromised Bill:
http://www.gelmans.com/FrontEnd/ReadingRoom/vwFile.asp?FileId=182