The Black Lung Benefits Act is a federal law that creates
a compensation system for a disabled miner and, after his death, for his
surviving dependents. In general,
miners are considered disabled under the law if they can prove that their lung
function is impaired enough to render them incapable of further work,
and that the lung impairment is caused by pneumoconiosis (Black Lung), a
medical diagnosis of pulmonary impairment from exposure to mine
conditions.
In some instances,
however, a miner who has been employed in the mines for over 15 years
can take advantage of a legal “presumption” that any lung disease or impairment
is the result of exposure to mine conditions, whether or not the miner has a
diagnosis of “pneumoconiosis.”
Miners, who benefit from the “presumption,” in other words, do not
necessarily have to prove that their lung conditions were caused specifically
by exposure in the mines.
Survivor benefits
are a little different in what proof is required – and the law on the subject
has a confusing history. The
original Black Lung law from 1970 required that a surviving spouse prove that
the miner died from pneumoconiosis.
In 1972, Congress expanded it to cover spouses who could show that their
miners either died or at death were disabled by pneumoconiosis. Then in 1978, Congress expanded
it again in two ways: (1) to include children, parents, and siblings of the
deceased as being potentially eligible to receive benefits, and (2) to
eliminate the need for the survivor to file a new benefits claim, if the miner
had been receiving benefits before the miner’s death. Then in the 1980s, Congress tightened back up many of the
1970s amendments, and in particular restored the requirement that death
benefits to survivors required a showing that the miner died due to
pneumoconiosis.
Then came 2010 and
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a/k/a “Obamacare.” That law restored the 1978 law by
eliminating the need for the survivor to re-file a claim for benefits after the
miner died, if the miner had been receiving benefits before death. The net effect was that if the miner
had been receiving Black Lung benefits before death, the eligible survivor was
entitled to benefits after death, regardless of any specific diagnosis. The law also was written to be
“retroactive,” or to apply backward, to claims filed after January 1, 2005 that
were still pending in 2010.
In a recent federal
appeals court decision, U.S. Steel Mining Company challenged this provision in
the Obamacare law. The case
involved a widow, Mrs. Starks, whose husband had worked in the mines and had
been receiving Black Lung benefits before his death. After his death, she filed a claim for survivor benefits
under the Obamacare amendment, but U.S. Steel opposed that request, claiming
that even after the Obamacare law, Mrs. Starks still had to prove that her
miner died of pneumoconiosis in order to receive benefits. Mrs. Starks won her case in late June
of 2013 in a decision from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the
federal appellate court with jurisdiction over Alabama residents. The Court rejected U.S. Steel’s
arguments, finding that Mrs. Starks did not have to prove a cause of death in
order to receive survivor benefits, and that the Obamacare provisions
concerning Black Lung were constitutional.
The decision in the Starks
case is a significant win for families of miners. The significant “takeaway”
from the Starks decision is this: it is better to have your miner apply for
Black Lung benefits while he is still alive, even if he is totally disabled,
because there may be a higher burden of proof on survivor benefits claims after
he dies.
Whatever you may
think of the Obamacare law generally, the provision that expands Black Lung
benefits for families of miners is a major win for many folks in this
area.
If your family has a
miner who you think may be disabled, we encourage you to talk to an
attorney. We have handled Black Lung Cases for over 30 years. Give us a call at 205-387-7777.
