Friday, July 13, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.
Paul Stednick nestled into his rocking chair Thursday, slowly petted his 8-month-old black toy poodle, Maggie, and held the phone closely to his ear to listen to the U.S. senator on the other end.
This was a call Stednick had long awaited, because it would , he hoped, make life a little better for former Nevada Test Site workers.
An eyebrow inquisitively raised and his jaw slightly agape, Stednick was poised to ask questions of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. , about his legislation to provide medical benefits to nearly everyone who worked at the site where 904 nuclear weapons tests were conducted from 1951 to 1992.
Reid was on a conference call with six people who stand to benefit from his proposal. Stednick, who in 1997 lost his right kidney and prostate gland to cancer, hung up after the 15-minute call not fully understanding what he had just heard other than the battle to obtain coverage was advancing - but far from over.
"I'm a little disappointed," the 74-year-old former Test Site labor foreman said of the time it is taking to get benefits. They are provided to those who worked at the Test Site from 1951 to 1962, but not those who worked there from 1963 to 1993.
Reid's legislation, introduced Thursday as an amendment to the Defense Department authorization bill, would extend those benefits to the thousands who worked at the Test Site during those later years. It also would grant compensation to workers who contracted cancer while performing their duties at the Test Site during nuclear testing.
Stednick, who worked at the site from 1966 to 1994, praised Reid's efforts to get benefits for more of the workers.
The confusion for Stednick and perhaps others seemed to stem from Reid submitting in February his proposal to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees nuclear workers' eligibility for benefits.
Reid has not received word whether the overseer of that agency, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, has decided to implement Reid's expansion plans.
Reid's amendment would circumvent the Bush administration.
Senate debate is expected as early as next week on Reid's amendment, which would guarantee prompt compensation and medical help and eliminate obstacles many ex- Test S ite workers face trying to get treatment. It also would add Area 51 workers to the pool.
Reid's legislation was spurred by a petition signed by Stednick, co- Test Site worker Peter White and Lori Hunton, the daughter of a former worker.
"These Nevadans sacrificed their health to help the United States win the Cold War," Reid said on the phone call. "The very least we can and must do in return is compensate them for their dedication to America's security."
But Thursday's phone conference really did not give Stednick or others any real sense as to when the matter will come to conclusion or when - or if - they will begin to receive benefits.
Reid's proposal could save Stednick thousands of dollars he says he spends annually on treatment for cancer that he is convinced is related to his former workplace.
"We cleaned up after blasts (where) you could easily be exposed" to radiation, said Stednick, who is covered by Medicare and a private health insurance policy but has to pay $1,600 out of pocket before the secondary policy kicks in.
He also has to pay for prescriptions after he has received $2,400 worth of drugs during a single year. One of his generic drugs alone costs $169 a month, he said.
It is little wonder that with confusion over where they stand with future coverage, some former Test Site workers say the government is waiting for them to die before it passes legislation to compensate the remainder.
"A lot of us have died," Stednick said. "I've lost a lot of my laborers. I don't know what killed them."
Reid during his phone call told four former workers and the daughters of two others that he will not stop trying to get coverage for all Test Site workers who have fallen ill after exposure to radiation during their work in nuclear weapons development.
In addition, the senator and 14 others have asked a Senate labor committee to hold hearings on what they say is mismanagement of the compensation program.
If Reid's effort to attach the amendment to the defense budget bill fails, he said , he'll try latching it on to other legislation, such as the energy and water appropriations bill.
"You know we haven't forgotten you," Reid told the callers. "It's been a long, hard trail."
Stednick stroked Maggie and nodded his head .
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