Senators Introduce Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2014
Yesterday, a group of senators and representatives introduced parallel bills to amend the Black Lung Benefits Act in the Senate (S. 2959) and House (H.R. 5751). (We previously had a post when the plans for the bill were first discussed with the press.)
The Black Lung Improvement Act of 2014 is meant to fix a wide variety of problems in the federal black lung benefits system. Many of these problems were publicized through the Pulitzer Prize winning reporting Breathless and Burdened (by the Center for Public Integrity and ABC News) or were discussed at the Senate hearing from July 22, 2014 (which was discussed in previous posts here and here.)
A copy of the bill is available here.
A description of the bill and details about the major provisions is available here.
We’ll provide analysis of the bill next week [regrettably, this did not get done by the end of the session].
In the meantime, below is the text of the press release from the offices of Senator Casey and Representatives Cartwright & Miller:
Senior Lawmakers Introduce Sweeping Reforms to Black Lung Benefits Program
Legislation aims to prevent coal companies from unfairly denying benefits to deserving miners and families
WASHINGTON—Senior Democrats from the House and Senate today proposed sweeping reforms to the federal program that provides benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung disease. Federal law requires that coal companies compensate disabled miners who contract black lung, which is caused by inhaling coal dust over an extended period of time, but coal companies routinely deploy an array of unfair tactics to avoid paying miners the benefits they deserve.
To help level the playing field for miners battling this debilitating, potentially fatal disease, the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2014 (H.R. 5751) was introduced by U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA), along with Senators John Rockefeller (D-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Warner (D-VA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Tom Harkin (D-IA), as well as Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), George Miller (D-CA), and Nick Rahall (D-WV).
“Thousands of miners are sick and dying from black lung, yet coal companies are still doing everything in their power to exploit legal loopholes that can prevent miners and their families from getting the benefits they deserve,” the legislators said. “Investigative reports and congressional hearings have documented a litany of deplorable tactics used by coal companies that leave miners out-gunned in litigation over their eligibility for modest black lung benefits. Our legislation aims to right that wrong by helping miners obtain unbiased medical evidence, adequate representation, and up-to-date benefit payments.”
Recent analyses by the Center for Public Integrity and ABC News found that doctors who are paid by coal companies have systematically misdiagnosed miners with black lung as having other diseases, thus preventing the miners from accessing benefits. Furthermore, hearings in the U.S. Senate showed that coal company lawyers have caused some miners’ claims to be denied by withholding medical evidence that proves that the miner has black lung.
In the past year, the U.S. Department of Labor has taken several steps to address the issues identified in these reports, but without congressional action, disabled coal miners who deserve black lung benefits will continue to be unfairly denied.
The Black Lung Benefits Act of 2014 will strengthen the black lung benefits program by:
Improving miners’ access to medical evidence
- Requiring full disclosure of medical information related to a claim, whether or not such information is entered as evidence
- Helping miners review and rebut potentially biased or inaccurate medical evidence developed by coal companies
- Allowing miners or their survivors to reopen their cases if they had been denied because of medical interpretations that have subsequently been discredited
- Establishing a pilot program in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to provide unbiased evidence for the most severe black lung cases
Helping miners access better, more timely benefits
- Adjusting black lung benefits to increases in the cost of living
- Helping claimants secure legal representation by providing interim attorney fees if miners prevail at various stages of their claim
- Developing a strategy to reduce the backlog of black lung benefits claims still awaiting consideration
Additional information on the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2014 (H.R. 5751) is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.
3 Responses to “Senators Introduce Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2014”
My brother in law was Gary Fox. Gary applied & was approved for black lung in 2000. The company objected & the judge ruled in favor of the company. Gary went back to work. Gary was forced to quit because of his health in 2006. He got lucky & found a lawyer to take his black lung case. The first thing his attorney did was to request all medical records. The company attorneys gave in & Gary got his black lung. Gary’s attorney demanded the company attorneys turn over the medical records they discovered they had 2 reports that said Gary had black lung. The judge ruled the company attorneys concealed evidence & 1 of the attorneys lost his law license for a year. Gary got 12 years of back pay in February 2009. In April 2009 Gary died. The cause of death was black lung. He was 58. His story has been the subject of news stories by ABC news, investigations by the center for public integrity and the abovementioned black lung bill. The democrats will be attempting to make this bill law. I’ll be shocked if the republicans allow this bill to pass. It could increase the overhead of the mine owners & decrease profits. The GOP won’t allow that to happen for the same reason they won’t allow a minimum wage bill to pass. And the rich get richer!
[…] Due in part to recent national press coverage of black lung disease in this country, a group of senators and representatives have introduced parallel bills to amend the Black Lung Benefits Act in the Senate and House. As we wrote when the legislation was introduced, […]
[…] with the 2014 bill—which was previously discussed here when planned and here when introduced—the 2015 bill would both introduce some new changes into the black lung benefits system as well […]
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