could you provide examples of the research funded by the zadroga act. >> be happy to. we're very grateful for the original drafters of the legislation to provide money for research into the health conditions that our members face. and as i mentioned before we've already learned quite a bit from that research. and i'd like to highlight just one aspect of it. in addition to mental health andress and cardiovascular and our cancer research in autoimmune diseases and others, is the research we've done on individuals who were children at the time of 2001 attacks. there were a number of -- of elementary schools and some that were in high schools that were immediately impacted. and we have a number of those projects going on now. about seven that are funded. and we're learning the effects on developmental issues in the children's population. to date, we've funded $88.5 million worth of research. and we have a significant body of research that is published in peer review journals. the world trade center registry alone has published about 60 paper and our various clinical resear

the zadroga act provided funding for outreach efforts to individuals who may be eligible.e are now several years into the existence of the program and you have successfully enrolled more than 71,000 responders and survivors. it seems to me that in addition to outreach, the continuity of care and retention of members will be important for protecting the health moving forward. that's why the reauthorization act clarifies that funding may be used for continuity of care and retention. give me your opinion on why efforts on continuity of care and retention of members will be important moving forward. >> as you say, our program over all, since its inception in july 2011 with the zadroga act has grossed about 80% over all and membership. we credit back to the wonderful contractors that we have done recruitment. but the other side of that is once you recruit a patient into our program we want them to remain in the program. every health plan loses members because we do not go and get outraged to retain them. so that's unbalanced now for our first five years. we hope to emphasize an

could you provide examples of the research that's been funded by the zadroga act? dr. howard: i'd be happy to. we're very grateful for the original drafters of the legislation to provide money for research into the health conditions that our members face and as i mentioned before, we've already learned quite a bit from that research. and i'd like to highlight just one aspect of it, in addition to mental health and respiratory and cardiovascular and cancer research, research in autoimmune diseases and others is the research we've done on individuals who were children at the time of the 2001 attacks. there were a number of elementary schools and a high school for instance that were immediately impacted and we have a number of those projects that are going on now, about seven that are funded and we're learning the effect -- effects on developmental issues in the children's population. to date, we've funded $88.5 million worth of research and we have a significant body of research that is published in peer-reviewed journals, the world trade center registry alone has publis

in january of 2011 as stated, the james zadroga health and compensation act became law. stabilization of funding allows the program to more adequately care for 9/11 responders. in calendar year 2014, of the 71,942 members enrolled, 20,883-members received treatment from health conditions arising from hazardous exposures to 9/11 and more received health monitoring to ensure medical intervention for any developing health condition specified for coverage by the program. since the implementation members have been treat ford a number of different health conditions. for example 11, 473 members have been treated for asthma. 6672 have been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. and 6497 members have been treated for chronic respiratory disorders. the majority of the members suffer from multiple mental and physical health conditions and take multiple medications for these conditions. certain types of cancer were added to the list of health conditions covered in late 2012. since then the program has certified 4265 cases of cancer. the world trade center health program fills a

could you provide examples of the research that's been funded by the zadroga act. dr. howard: i'd be happy to. we're very grateful for the original drafters of the legislation to provide money for research into the health conditions that our members face and as i mentioned before, we've already learned quite a bit from that research. and i'd like to highlight just one aspect of it, in addition to mental health and respiratory and cardiovascular and cans er research research in autoimmune diseases and others is the research we've done on individuals who were children at the time of the 2001 attacks. there were a number of elementary schools and a high school for instance that were immediately impacted and we have a number of those projects that are going on now about seven that are funded and we're learning the effect -- effects on developmental issues in the children's population. to date, we've funded delrs 88.5 million worth of research and we have a significant body of research that is published in peer-reviewed journals, the world trade center registry alone has pu

i'm grateful for the zadroga act funding so we can do that. mr. petz: thank you. can you talk about your care before and after the creation of the centers of excellence in the zadroga act? in your view, is it better coordinated? mr. howley: i was thinking of a story when you just asked the doctor a question. i'm probably one of her original patients going back to the monitoring program in 2003. the first time i went there my blood pressure was basically somewhere off her chart. my sinuses were completely blown out. i had constant infections. i have acid reflux. she basically refused to let me leave her office unless i went straight to my doctor to get treated for blood pressure. i'm 6'3" and she is about 5'1". i believed her that she was not going to let me out of the office. there is a big difference. and she is just wonderful. i have not really dealt -- i've only dealt with one other of the doctors at her office. i have never been any other office. i cannot speak about any of them. the doctors are generally -- i just tremendous. as she was saying, when the cance

we have been joined by congressman nadler of new york original sponsor of the zadroga act and i wanted to yield some time to him. mr. nadler: i thank you for yielding. i thank the chairman for holding the hearing and the members. i simply wanted to say as someone who, along with mr. king and mrs. maloney, was one of the three original sponsors of this bill, we struggled for years and years to pass it, i'm glad, and history has proven the necessity of this bill. i wanted to thank dr. howard for his wonderful service. i'm glad that the chairman has called this hearing and that judging from the comments at the hearing, there seems to be a lot of bipartisan support for extending this bill. we know the necessity of that. i want to urge that that be done and i thank you, chairman of the committee again. the extension of this bill is essential because the diseases won't go away. this is for both the first responders and the survivors in the community. so i urge the extension of the bill. i thank you for yielding and i yield back to her. >> thank you. dr. howard, just following up on a couple

as some of you don't know, the law is named for james zadroga a new jersey hero who responded on 9/11 and spent hundreds of hours digging through world trade center debris. he died in 2006 from pulmonary disease and respiratory failure after his exposure to toxic dust ated the world trade center site. like him, thousands of people across our country came to the aid of our country and helped others at ground zero. those survivors should not be abandoned. i hope we can extend the health program without delay. i only have 30 seconds left for mr. engel. i apologize. but i yield to him. mr. engel: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding and let me agree with everything you said. in the aftermath of september 11, it's estimated that up to 400,000 americans were exposed to copeous amounts of smoke and toxic substances. as a result many of our heroes now suffer from these debilitating conditions. acute respiratory disorders, cancer, depression posttraumatic stress disorder, it goes on and on. it's heartbreaking that the 9/11 survivors and first responders who have already given so much