The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs has recommended a proposed rule to amend the Black Lung Benefits Act that was implemented in Section 1556 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The PPACA reinstates two provisions centering on coal miners' and survivors' entitlement to benefits that had been cut by 1981 amendments to the BLBA. This includes 30 United States Code 921(c)(4), which presumes total disability or death caused by pneumoconiosis for coal miners who worked for a minimum of 15 years underground or in a comparable mining environment as well as those who suffer or suffered from a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The second amendment is 30 U.S.C. 932(l), and this provides automatic entitlement for eligible miner survivors are eligible to receive benefits because of a lifetime claim. The proposed rule also includes multiple changes to outdated or unnecessary regulations in line with Executive Order 13536.
The proposed rule focuses on both new methods of establishing entitlement, which includes the automatic entitlement of certain survivors and the 15-year presumption as it applies claims from miners as well as their survivors. Under the proposed rule, the amendment will apply to claims filed on or after the March 23, 2010, and all claims filed after Jan. 1, 2005, that were pending on or after the enactment date.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.