US coal miners are facing substantial delays in obtaining federal black lung benefits, even as cases of the irreversible lung disease surge to levels not seen in nearly 50 years. The federal black lung program, established in 1969, aims to provide financial compensation and medical benefits to miners disabled by the condition, medically known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP).
Many miners, including 74-year-old Josh Armes from Virginia, have been caught in lengthy appeals processes after their benefits were initially approved. Armes, who worked as a coal miner for 38 years, has been in an appeals limbo for 12 years, trying to regain benefits after a coal operator disputed his claim in 2014. Miners have reported waiting several years for claims to be approved and have raised concerns about coal operators filing appeals.
According to data published in August in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, cases of black lung disease are at a near 50-year high. Researchers at the National Institute for Safety and Occupational Health (Niosh) found that 32.5% of veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia suffer from the disease, a rate last seen in 1978. Between 2020 and 2023, more than 1,700 US coal miners died from black lung disease.
A May report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicated that 7,709 miner beneficiaries were receiving black lung benefits in 2024, with approximately 22,500 beneficiaries, including dependents, survivors, and miners, receiving benefits in fiscal year 2025. The report also noted that between January 2013 and mid-August 2024, 390 beneficiaries whose claims were initially approved had their claims denied after appeal, making them responsible for repaying benefits.
The rise in cases has been linked to silica dust, which is more prevalent in currently mined coal seams. The Trump administration's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reportedly delayed a federal silica dust rule in April, pending judicial review, with court action currently on pause. The United Mine Workers of America has advocated for the enforcement of this rule, which was passed in April 2024 but had its funding blocked by Republicans in Congress in June 2024.