The past week has not seen any concrete action regarding the Byrd Amendments. But like last week’s introduction of a proposed House Resolution by coalfield Republicans,…
Lately the black lung provisions that are within the Affordable Care Act—called the “Byrd Amendments”—have (rightly) been getting a lot of media attention. For example, there’s…
Two big pieces of news regarding black lung today. First, the Center for Disease Control has published an article “Resurgence of Progressive Massive Fibrosis in Coal…
Earlier this week, the Benefits Review Board designated one of its decisions from last month as published. In McClanahan v. Brem Coal Co. (decision here), the…
On Friday, July 29, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a precedential “for publication” decision in Sea “B” Mining Co. v.…
Today, August 1, 2016, is the effective date of the new, lower limit on coal-mine dust in American mines. This reduction is expected to reduce the…
First, apologies for the lack of new content over the past few months. There’s been relatively few precedential decisions issued in black lung claims, and at…
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a Kentucky coal miner’s award of federal black lung benefits in a “for publication” decision,…
In today’s Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs published its final rule “Black Lung Benefits Act: Disclosure of Medical Information…
On Friday, April 8, 2016, Arch Coal filed a suit against the U.S. Department of Labor for issues related to black lung benefits and the Patriot…