S. 739 — 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act of 2025

This section authorizes, for mental health conditions under the World Trade Center Health Program, licensed mental health providers in categories designated by the Administrator—in addition to physicians—to conduct initial health evaluations for survivors (including through the nationwide network) and to make certification and eligibility determinations for responders. The Administrator must issue regulations specifying such provider categories within 180 days of enactment.

This section revises criteria for credentialing health care providers participating in the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program's nationwide network (under the program established by Title XXXIII of the Public Health Service Act to monitor and treat eligible 9/11 responders and survivors) by— (1) striking clause (iv) of section 3305(a)(2)(A), redesignating clauses (v) and (vi) as (iv) and (v), striking subparagraph (B), and redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as (B) and (C); and (2) in section 3313(b)(1), striking "Data Centers" and inserting "WTC Program Administrator".

This section excludes deceased World Trade Center (WTC) responders and survivors known to the WTC Program Administrator from enrollment counts under the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical monitoring and treatment for individuals exposed during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Specifically, it (1) prohibits including such deceased responders in enrollee counts under 42 U.S.C. 300mm–21(a) or 300mm–51; and (2) prohibits including such deceased survivors in certified-eligible or enrollee counts under 42 U.S.C. 300mm–31(a) or 300mm–51.

This section increases to 180 days (from 90 days) the time periods specified in two subparagraphs of the World Trade Center Health Program statute for adding health conditions to the list of WTC-related health conditions eligible for monitoring and treatment for responders (i.e., emergency responders and recovery and cleanup workers who responded to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks).

This section revises funding formulas for the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program under section 3351 of the Public Health Service Act, which provides medical monitoring and treatment to eligible responders and survivors of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Specifically, it (1) sets funding under subsection (a)(2)(A)(xi) for FY2026 through FY2090 as the prior fiscal year's amount multiplied by 1.07 and by the ratio of WTC Program enrollment on July 1 of the prior fiscal year to enrollment on July 1 of the year before that; and (2) under subsection (c)(4) and (5), for specified program costs—(A) retains FY2025 amounts as determined prior to enactment, (B) sets FY2026 amounts as the greater of the prior determination or the prior fiscal year's expenditures increased by 25%, and (C) bases subsequent fiscal years on the prior fiscal year's expenditures (rather than the amount specified for that year). This section also amends sections 3352(d), 3353(d), and 3354(d) to require remaining amounts in the Supplemental Fund, Special Fund, and Pentagon/Shanksville Fund, respectively, to revert to the Treasury in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 1552. (Thus, any remaining balances—obligated or unobligated—cancel on September 30 of the fifth fiscal year after the period of availability ends and thereafter are unavailable.)

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to specified congressional leaders and committees, not later than three years after enactment, a report assessing anticipated budget authority and outlays of the World Trade Center Health Program (WTC Program) through fiscal year 2090. (As background, the WTC Program provides medical monitoring, initial health evaluations, and treatment for WTC-related health conditions to eligible responders and survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.) The report includes (1) projections of Program budgetary needs on a per-fiscal-year basis through FY2090; (2) a review of Program modeling for FY2017 through the fiscal year prior to the report year, comparing anticipated needs to actual expenditures; (3) an assessment of projected budget authority and expenditures through FY2090; and (4) any Secretary recommendations to modify the funding formula under 42 U.S.C. 300mm–61(a)(2)(A), as amended by section 6(a)(1), to fully offset anticipated expenditures through FY2090.