Sponsors (3)
Introduced December 16, 2025 by Timothy Michael Kaine · Last progress December 16, 2025
The bill strengthens miners' benefit levels, claims access, diagnostics, and administrative clarity—providing meaningful relief to many claimants—while increasing costs and legal/administrative complexity that could strain the Trust Fund, raise operator/taxpayer burdens, and cause short‑term implementation and privacy risks.
Beneficiaries (miners, survivors, low‑income claimants, seniors) will receive higher, inflation‑protected monthly Black Lung benefits (restored baseline and CPI‑W indexing), preserving purchasing power over time.
Coal miners and survivors with complicated pneumoconiosis and other strong medical evidence will face fewer procedural barriers—clearer irrebuttable presumption rules, Secretary‑provided pulmonary evaluations (including CT when indicated), physician lists, COI rules, and procedures to reopen discredited determinations—making claims approvals more attainable and timely.
Claimants facing long, contested claims will get help with upfront costs through a program to pay attorneys' fees and unreimbursed medical expenses for delayed claims, reducing financial barriers to legal representation.
Restoring higher benefit rates, expanding paid evaluations/attorney support, and other program expansions increase demand on the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund and may require higher operator assessments or taxpayer support if not offset by new funding.
Stricter health/safety standards, stronger enforcement, and higher operator liabilities (including new insurance requirements or reimbursement obligations) will raise compliance costs for coal companies and could lead to reduced payrolls, mine closures, or lost jobs in affected communities.
Creating a new Senate‑confirmed leadership post and extensive statutory rewrites risks short‑term administrative disruption—appointment delays, transitional confusion for claimants and agencies, and implementation costs—potentially delaying determinations and services.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Makes multiple changes to the Black Lung Benefits Act to strengthen claimant protections and streamline claims. It tightens medical standards for proving complicated pneumoconiosis, requires DOL to provide and pay for complete pulmonary evaluations on request, restores and then indexes benefit rates to inflation, establishes limited fee/medical payment support for claimants from the trust fund for slow contested claims, creates criminal and administrative penalties for fraud, and authorizes readjudication when a chest radiograph interpreter is later discredited. The bill also requires agency plans and deadlines (90 days, 180 days, 18 months for various actions), expands limited Social Security earnings disclosures to DOL for claims administration, makes technical updates across the statute, and creates a Senate‑confirmed Director for the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs within DOL.