This bill amends the Black Lung Benefits Act to preserve specified amendments made by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in the event those amendments are repealed. The amendments expanded the application of certain eligibility requirements for black lung benefits to claims that were pending on or after the enactment of PPACA. Those requirements: (1) established a rebuttable presumption for claims filed by a miner who worked at least 15 years in an underground coal mine that a disabling lung or respiratory condition was due to black lung disease, and (2) entitled the survivors of a miner who, before death, was determined to be eligible for benefits to those benefits without the survivors being required to revalidate the miner's claim. (Previously, survivors were required to prove that the miner's death was caused by black lung disease).
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Timeline
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Labor and Employment
Cardiovascular and respiratory healthCoalDisability assistanceMiningWorker safety and health
To amend the Black Lung Benefits Act to provide equity for certain eligible survivors, and for other purposes.
USA115th CongressHR-323| House
| Updated: 1/5/2017
This bill amends the Black Lung Benefits Act to preserve specified amendments made by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in the event those amendments are repealed. The amendments expanded the application of certain eligibility requirements for black lung benefits to claims that were pending on or after the enactment of PPACA. Those requirements: (1) established a rebuttable presumption for claims filed by a miner who worked at least 15 years in an underground coal mine that a disabling lung or respiratory condition was due to black lung disease, and (2) entitled the survivors of a miner who, before death, was determined to be eligible for benefits to those benefits without the survivors being required to revalidate the miner's claim. (Previously, survivors were required to prove that the miner's death was caused by black lung disease).