Members of Congress introduce two bills to help coal miners access black lung benefits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2025

CONTACT
Quenton King, 304-579-7366, quenton@appvoices.org
Rebecca Shelton, 859-893-0543, rshelton@aclc.org

Today, U.S. senators and representatives introduced two bills to help coal miners with black lung disease apply for medical and disability benefits, while also raising the amount miners with black lung and their families receive in disability benefits each month. 

The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act is sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., John Fetterman, D-Penn., and Mark Warner, D-Va. House sponsors are Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., and Bobby Scott, D-Va. 

The Relief for Survivors of Miners Act is also sponsored by Kaine, Fetterman and Warner in the Senate and McGarvey and Scott in the House. 

Both bills have been introduced in past congressional sessions. 

Historically, the claims process has put miners at a disadvantage. Miners are fighting coal companies often single-handedly to obtain the medical and benefits they need, while these companies have access to exponentially more financial and legal resources than the average American. The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act does the following:

• Assists miners in getting the medical evidence they are required to have to prove they have black lung
• Helps ensure that miners have representation through the claims process
• Provides clarity on how to determine if a miner has complicated black lung disease
• Provides a modest increase in black lung disability benefits
• Ensures coal CEOs pay miners what they’re owed

The monthly disability payment that miners with black lung receive hasn’t kept pace with inflation since the Black Lung Program was first established in 1970, according to a report from Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center and Appalachian Voices. Currently, a single miner is eligible for just $785 monthly, about two-thirds of what that miner would have received in 1970, adjusted for inflation. It’s expected that benefit levels — which are currently tied to the federal payscale — could increase as little as 1 percent in 2026, but the bill would automatically adjust benefits to keep up with inflation each year. 

The Relief for Survivors of Miners Act, often referred to by miners as the “Widows’ Bill,” would ease restrictions to make it easier for miners’ spouses and dependents to successfully claim benefits. Currently, survivors have to prove that their loved one died of black lung. The Relief for Survivors of Miners Act makes the benefits process more fair for survivors. The bill re-establishes a provision that requires coal operators to prove that no part of the miner’s death was caused by black lung rather than require survivors to prove that a coal miner’s black lung disease directly contributed to their death. 

Together, these two bills help honor the commitment that Congress made to coal miners and their families. 

Statement from Quenton King, Appalachian Voices Government Affairs Specialist:
“Tying the annual increase in benefits to inflation is only a first step in helping coal miners with black lung and their families. As miners fall ill with black lung disease earlier in their careers and inflation rises, the monthly disability benefit is a critical part of families’ ability to make ends meet”

Statement from Rebecca Shelton, Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center Director of Policy: 
“The process of applying for federal black lung benefits is arduous and causes miners and their families a lot of anxiety. Coal companies have exorbitant legal and financial resources that they can employ to fight these claims. To give miners a fighting chance, we need to do everything we can to ensure that they have the support they need to defend their claim. These bills move the needle in the right direction.”