Vincent Caprio 9/11 First Responder & Advocate Interviewed by NBC News CT
Posted on September 24th, 2025 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Lawmakers worry about hundreds of CT residents in World Trade Center Health Program
Click link to watch interview with Vincent Caprio by Melissa Cooney NBC News CT
According to CDC data, there are more than 1,500 people in Connecticut who are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program.
It’s a federal program that was established in 2011, and it covers funding for people with 9/11-related illnesses. Nationwide, data from the CDC shows over $342 million of medical claims were approved by the program in the past year.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and other Democratic lawmakers in the tristate area are expressing their concern about the speed, staffing and funding of the program.
The lawmakers sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy this month, seeking an update on an apparent delay to certify more illnesses and questioning the efficiency, communication and staffing of the program.
“This delay in the core work of the WTCHP also calls into question whether there are other elements of the program that are not being completed…Dismantling the work of WTCHP puts heroic 9/11 responders’ lives at risk,” the letter reads in part.
“They deserve the benefits they were promised. Now the administration is trying to cut the staff and some of the benefits,” Blumenthal said in an interview.
We reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program’s Clinical Centers of Excellence and Nationwide Provider Network are continuing to provide services to Program members at this time. The program continues to accept and review new enrollment applications and certification requests,” a spokesperson said in a statement to NBC Connecticut.
The lawmakers requested an answer by Oct. 10. Blumenthal’s office tells us they have not yet heard back.
“You live with it every single day,” said Vincent Caprio, an Easton resident who is a 9/11 first responder and survivor.
He was at a conference at the World Trade Center Marriott on that fateful day 24 years ago. He saw the first plane hit and contributed a total of 400 hours as an EMT at Ground Zero in the days that followed.
“I didn’t get ill until 2017, 16 years after 9/11,” Caprio said. “I was really surprised how many there were of us that had gotten sick 15, 16 years later.”
He has five health conditions certified through the World Trade Center Health Program, including thyroid cancer and PTSD. He said he’s thankful his expenses are covered, but it’s a challenge to navigate.
“It took me thousands of hours to get certified in my 9/11 health conditions,” Caprio said. “A lot of people, they don’t have the persistence and the patience to be able to do this.”
He said the reality feels especially poignant this time of year, where 9/11 first responders, survivors and victims are honored.
“That’s wonderful to be validated. But, then when you get home, you’re on the phone for 20 hours a week,” he said.
Michael Barasch, an attorney who represents nearly 2,000 Connecticut 9/11 survivors and is an advocate for more funding for the program, said wait times have only increased.
He said the wait time can be the difference between catching a diagnosis in its early stages or not.
“There’s such a shortage now. It makes the difference between getting an appointment with the health program in two months versus six months,” Barasch said. “The victims include all the people who did their duty, whether they were first responders or they were just doing their duty and returning to work.”
