One of the nation's premier cancer centers said it is joining the network of providers that treat people who were sickened by exposure to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center had been locked in a dispute over how it should be paid by the World Trade Center Health Program, according to the advocacy organization 9/11 Health Watch. The federal program serves some 130,000 survivors and responders, including more than 600 in Texas and 36 cancer patients at MD Anderson, and beneficiaries do not pay for care received at participating providers. Friday's news follows a Modern Healthcare story Wednesday regarding the 9/11 Health Watch allegations.
Related: MD Anderson accused of cutting off sick 9/11 responders
The World Trade Center Health Program had informed patients that it would no longer cover care at MD Anderson. Anonymized copies of the notice were shared with Modern Healthcare earlier this week. 9/11 Health Watch on Monday sent a letter to the provider asking why it would reportedly not accept the program's reimbursement rates when other organizations would.
In a statement Friday afternoon, the Houston-based cancer center said it would join the World Trade Center Health Program.
"MD Anderson remains committed to caring for our 9/11 heroes and survivors," the statement said, suggesting there had been a misunderstanding with one of the agencies that oversees the World Trade Center Health Program within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Based on new understanding of policy changes made in fall 2023 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, we contacted the program’s administrator and MD Anderson now is a participating provider in the World Trade Center Health Program Network," the statement said.
A spokesperson for the World Trade Center Health Program could not be reached for comment.
MD Anderson formerly said it was prepared to work with the World Trade Center Health Program network to continue caring for the patients. The organization previously treated 9/11 responders under so-called single-use agreements, which enabled World Trade Center Health Program beneficiaries to obtain treatment at no out-of-pocket cost from providers outside the network. The specific reimbursement rates MD Anderson had been receiving for 9/11 cancer patients are not publicly available.
Advocates welcomed Friday's news.
"I'm glad that MD Anderson has seen the light that 9/11 responders and survivors should be getting treatment in all of our nation's healthcare systems, and that they are correcting their error," said Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch.
Other health systems that would like to make their services available through the program had contacted him after the issue went public, he added.
