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CNN Live Sunday

Some Families of 9/11 Victims Expected to Lose Health Care Benefits

Aired February 24, 2002 - 18:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: As if losing loved ones in the September 11 attacks wasn't devastating enough, now many survivors are facing something else, losing their health care benefits. Here's CNN's Hillary Lane with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY LANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The clock is ticking and Cheri Sparacio is counting. Already the mother of 2-year- old twins, she's due to give birth in less than a month, about a week before her health care coverage expires. Looking forward, the monthly costs she'll face are staggering.

CHERI SPARACIO, EXPECTANT MOTHER: I have to pay full coverage for three kids. It's $150 a child. I mean it would be affordable if I had one child, but I've got three, so $450, and I'm still not covered.

LANE: Families of civil servants who died on September 11th will receive health benefits for life. Among private sector companies, insurance brokerage Aon will cover for life as well. Cantor Fitzgerald is paying health benefits for 10 years. Marsh & McLennan for three.

But Cheri's husband worked for Euro Brokers, which at the end of March will stop covering the families of its 60 workers killed on September 11th. She'll have options, but they're expensive.

SPARACIO: Nothing's going to run me, I think, under $700 a month.

LANE: Fiduciary Trust is expected to stop paying health benefits for deceased workers in April. Dependents of as many as 1,400 people are or will soon be in the same predicament. They can choose to pay for their own coverage through government mandated COBRA, or in some cases, stay with the company plan, but pay the full premium themselves.

(on camera): It's a major expense, especially for families who have lost their main source of income, and most don't qualify for government subsidized programs which are available only to lower income families. (voice-over): Which is where the many charities are stepping in. The Red Cross and Salvation Army will make funds available through September, the first anniversary of the attack. But donations have slowed dramatically.

AL PECK, SALVATION ARMY: Now we're coming to a point where people have needs, gaps in services, and now we don't have the money to hold back for that because it was dispensed early on in the crisis in a very rapid fashion.

LANE: The unprecedented amount of money raised is running out, leaving the families who've depended on that aid to watch the calendar and plan for the changes. Hillary Lane for CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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