Rudy Giuliani is now seeking the kind of 9/11-related medical help more often associated with the firefighters and cops he's long praised, the New York Times reports. His lawyer says the former New York City mayor, recently hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia, is applying to join the federally funded World Trade Center Health Program, which provides no-cost treatment for ailments tied to exposure at ground zero. Giuliani has since been released from the ICU but is still hospitalized as he recovers, Fox News reports.
Enrollment would not only cover his care, it could also pave the way for compensation from the separate September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Giuliani, 81, has been diagnosed with restrictive airway disease, which his spokesman links to time spent near the smoldering site in 2001 and during the cleanup. As mayor, Giuliani was a constant presence at ground zero and later backed federal coverage for those who got sick, even as his administration was criticized for downplaying health risks and rarely enforcing mask use. The program, created in 2010 and now serving more than 152,000 people, has certified tens of thousands with 9/11-related respiratory conditions and continues to add thousands of new patients each year.
Giuliani's application for free medical care comes amid financial and legal troubles; he recently declared bankruptcy after being found liable in a case tied to the 2020 presidential election to the tune of $148 million, CBS News reports.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
