Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Compensation plan set for Boston victims

From outpatients to kin of deceased, four groups will share $30 million.

Roseann Sdoia, who lost part of her right leg in the Boston bombings, leaves a rehabilitation hospital. Unlike other cases, victims can receive money without waiving their right to sue. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Roseann Sdoia, who lost part of her right leg in the Boston bombings, leaves a rehabilitation hospital. Unlike other cases, victims can receive money without waiving their right to sue. (Charles Krupa/AP)Read more
    by By Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, Inquirer
    Published 

WASHINGTON - Everyone killed or injured in last month's Boston Marathon bombings will receive some compensation from the $30 million in donations pledged for victims so far, according to a formula released Wednesday by the administrator of the One Fund Boston.

The protocol issued by Kenneth Feinberg lists no specific dollar amounts because money is still trickling in, Feinberg said in an interview. But it sets out four categories of injuries, reserving the largest compensation for the families of the people killed, double amputees, and those with permanent brain damage.

The next category is for people who lost a single limb, followed by those who required overnight hospitalization and finally those who were treated as outpatients. No money will be offered for those who suffered psychological trauma, because there isn't enough in the fund to cover them, Feinberg said.

Unlike compensation awards offered after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill - both of which were determined by Feinberg - victims do not have to waive their right to sue. The One Fund money is considered a gift, and its guiding principle was to speed emergency money to those who need it, Feinberg said.

There will be no income test for the One Fund money, unlike the $7 billion in compensation awarded after the Sept. 11 attacks, when Feinberg was forced compare how much busboys and financial workers might have expected to earn over their lifetimes.

The bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured more than 260. A police officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also was killed during the manhunt for two suspects.

According to its website, the One Fund has received nearly $12.5 million in public pledges and $17.6 million in corporate pledges. Dozens of funds have also been created for individual and small groups of victims.

Victims have until June 15 to file a claim. In the next two weeks, they will have the right to meet with Feinberg to discuss their proposed award. Checks will begin to go out June 30, and the money should be distributed within days, he said.

As for those scarred psychologically, he said, there simply wasn't enough money in the charity fund to help. "Absolutely, it is worthy," he said. "The fact of the matter is, when all you have is $30 million, it's not enough."