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An all-day public information session was held in Lower Manhattan by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

More than $4 billion is being provided to September 11th responders and survivors who were sickened by dust at the World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks. Recipients are able to obtain medical monitoring and referrals for at least the next five years, when the bill will either be renewed or expire.

"For responders and survivors, what they get is monitoring, as well as referral treatment,” said Dr. John Howard of the National Institute for Occupational Safety.

Dozens of former firefighters, police officers, doctors and Lower Manhattan residents were on hand to offer their suggestions.

Among those who spoke was retired New York City Police Department officer James Ryder, who worked at a pier devoted to establishing a DNA database of the victims. He said his health declined after working for four years with the contaminated property found at the site.

“My health was good,” Ryder said. “I was jogging. I was running. And things for me started to change. I wasn't sleeping well. I was waking up 70 to 90 times a night."

Ryder said he's been to many doctors who've diagnosed him as suffering from a still-unidentifiable heart ailment.

Rhona Villamia, who volunteered at the site for nine months after the attacks, said she would like the list of diseases being monitored to be more inclusive.

"One of the of issues that I'm concerned about is that all of our conditions be tracked," said Villamia. "Many in our population are coming up with various conditions that are not on that list."

Anthony Flammia is another former NYPD officer who suffers from illness related to his work at the site.

“The federal government needs to have somebody looking over their shoulder,” said Flammia. “They need to be monitored just like we are monitored.”

Anne Baumann, whose husband responded for the NYPD, said families of those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder need help, too.

"It's like a domino effect,” Baumann said. “He's traumatized. He brings that trauma into the house, and it goes down the line to your whole family."

The bill is named after a former New York City Police Department detective who died from respiratory problems that were attributed to his work at the site.

NIOSH will be taking comments on the program through April 29th. Congress has required it begin to provide benefits starting July 1st.

For more information, go to niosh.gov.