Re: The Federal Compensation Fund For Sept. 11 Victims
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Tue Mar 12 11:28:26 2002
I'm sorry, but I'm just sick of all this fighting over money. What
happened on 9/11 was horrible and I feel terrible for the families, but
the fact is that what happened could not have been prevented, the
airlines were not negligent, and if the government is willing to give
the families millions, fighting about just exactly how many millions is
petty. The government is not obligated to do anything, but since they
are, I would expect nothing more than enough to live a reasonably
comfortable life and send my kids to college. If I had enough life
insurance to assure that (which I do), I would expect NOTHING from the
government.
The Oklahoma city victims and families and the victims and families of
Embassy bombings are now suing for their share of the pie. It's one
major can of worms now.
I hope anyone who decides to sue rather than accept the government
settlement ends up tied up in court for years and losing half of
whatever they get to the lawyers.(biting my tongue)
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Mon, 11 Mar 2002, Dean Huffman wrote:
>
>Below is an example of what the government can do if it wants to. Although
>participating in the federal compensation fund is voluntary, the government
>could have just as easily made it mandatory. They made participation in the
>vaccination compensation act mandatory.
>
>- - - -
>
>The federal compensation fund for Sept. 11 victims announced final rules
>Thursday that its administrator said will give many families hundreds of
>thousands of dollars more than previous offers.
>
>But some of those who lost loved ones are dissatisfied.
>
>Kenneth Feinberg, who oversees the Justice Department (news - web sites)
>fund, made changes amid complaints that payout formulas were too low.
>Feinberg said Thursday that the awards, which will be tax-free, will now
>average $1.85 million. That is an increase of $200,000 from payouts he
>proposed in December. Life insurance and pensions will be deducted from the
>payouts; charitable contributions will be exempt.
>
>Under the new proposal:
>
>* Payments for economic loss, which compensate for income the victim would
>have earned, were liberalized. In tables based on age, income and family
>size, the spouse of a $225,000-a-year executive with two young children,
>for example, would get $4.5 million before deductions. The offer in
>December was $3.8 million.
>
>* In compensation for losses beyond income, such as the loss of
>companionship, each surviving spouse and child will receive $100,000,
>double the earlier figure. Feinberg made no change in the flat $250,000
>that every family receives.
>
>* Worker compensation and Social Security (news - web sites) spousal
>benefits won't be counted as the "collateral payments" that Congress
>required the Justice Department to offset against awards. But life
>insurance and other deductions still could result in no federal
>compensation for the wealthiest families.
>
>The attacks caused about 3,000 deaths and nearly 1,000 injuries. The final
>rules for the fund, created as a no-fault alternative to suing airlines,
>make more injured persons eligible for compensation. The interim rules
>denied payment unless someone had been treated by a doctor within 24 hours
>of the attacks. Now the interval can be up to 72 hours. Rescue workers may
>have no time limit.
>
>"The time for comment and debate is over," Feinberg said.
>
>But Steve Push, treasurer of Families of Sept. 11, says it's ''pretty
>likely'' that his 700-member group will sue the government for allegedly
>ignoring the generous intentions of Congress.
>
>"There are some significant improvements, but overall, we're disappointed,"
>he says.
>
>Push's wife, Lisa Raines, was aboard the jet that hijackers flew into the
>Pentagon (news - web sites). He says the fund should value a human life at
>a minimum of $2.7 million, the figure the Federal Aviation Administration
>(news - web sites) uses in studies of safety rules. And the $250,000
>non-economic award is "arbitrary and capricious," he says.
