By Joe Davidson
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/11/black-lung-disease-cases-grow-while-federal-programs-financing-suffers
Like the miners who work underground in dark and dangerous conditions, black lung disease is, for many, largely out of sight, out of mind.
But for folks such as Gary Hairston, who spent more than 27 years in the mines around his Beckley, W.Va., home, the ailment is ever-present. He lives with it. Many have died of it.
Now, the number of black lung cases is growing. At the same time, funding for a federal program to care for those with the disease has fallen sharply.
While the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund has been in debt regularly since 1979, its financial situation is increasingly bleak. Even with the debt, the fund provides medical and financial assistance to certain miners who are totally disabled by the disease. About 25,600 people, including dependents, received black lung benefits in fiscal 2018. The average annual cost for medical treatment was $9,667.
A Government Accountability Office report says the trust fund's penury is exacerbated by this year's 55 percent decrease in the coal tax rate, declining coal production and coal company bankruptcies. The tax is levied on coal produced and sold domestically. When coal companies go broke, their responsibility to fund the black lung program is transferred to taxpayers.
The GAO predicts that the fund's debt could grow from less than $5 billion last year to more than $15 billion by 2050.
What matters more than money is the coal miners' misery.
Hairston's doctor initially thought the mass on his lung was cancer. A biopsy showed the Fayette County Black Lung Association vice president had a complicated form of black lung.
"I was 48 years old when I had to quit work. I can't play with my grandkids," Hairston told a hearing of the House Education and Labor subcommittee on workforce protections. With his large gray goatee and broad shoulders, Hairston is a distinguished-looking man, but he nearly broke down while delivering passionate testimony.
"I never did think at a young age that I wouldn't be able to take care of my family," he said. He wiped away tears before subcommittee Chairwoman Alma Adams (D-N.C.) allowed Hairston, almost overcome with emotion, to cut his testimony short.
Recent research indicates "an unprecedented increase" in the most severe form of black lung disease, according to a July 2018 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The update does not provide a reason for the increase.
A 2016 CDC document said the factors leading to an increase of black lung in Kentucky are unknown, but it did offer some suggestions. Among the possibilities are new or modified mining practices, including slope mining and continuous use of mining machines. More miners seeking X-rays to determine whether they are eligible for state or federal programs also could be a factor.
Please read full By Joe Davidson at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/11/black-lung-disease-cases-grow-while-federal-programs-financing-suffers
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/11/black-lung-disease-cases-grow-while-federal-programs-financing-suffers
Like the miners who work underground in dark and dangerous conditions, black lung disease is, for many, largely out of sight, out of mind.
But for folks such as Gary Hairston, who spent more than 27 years in the mines around his Beckley, W.Va., home, the ailment is ever-present. He lives with it. Many have died of it.
Now, the number of black lung cases is growing. At the same time, funding for a federal program to care for those with the disease has fallen sharply.
While the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund has been in debt regularly since 1979, its financial situation is increasingly bleak. Even with the debt, the fund provides medical and financial assistance to certain miners who are totally disabled by the disease. About 25,600 people, including dependents, received black lung benefits in fiscal 2018. The average annual cost for medical treatment was $9,667.
A Government Accountability Office report says the trust fund's penury is exacerbated by this year's 55 percent decrease in the coal tax rate, declining coal production and coal company bankruptcies. The tax is levied on coal produced and sold domestically. When coal companies go broke, their responsibility to fund the black lung program is transferred to taxpayers.
The GAO predicts that the fund's debt could grow from less than $5 billion last year to more than $15 billion by 2050.
What matters more than money is the coal miners' misery.
Hairston's doctor initially thought the mass on his lung was cancer. A biopsy showed the Fayette County Black Lung Association vice president had a complicated form of black lung.
"I was 48 years old when I had to quit work. I can't play with my grandkids," Hairston told a hearing of the House Education and Labor subcommittee on workforce protections. With his large gray goatee and broad shoulders, Hairston is a distinguished-looking man, but he nearly broke down while delivering passionate testimony.
"I never did think at a young age that I wouldn't be able to take care of my family," he said. He wiped away tears before subcommittee Chairwoman Alma Adams (D-N.C.) allowed Hairston, almost overcome with emotion, to cut his testimony short.
Recent research indicates "an unprecedented increase" in the most severe form of black lung disease, according to a July 2018 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The update does not provide a reason for the increase.
A 2016 CDC document said the factors leading to an increase of black lung in Kentucky are unknown, but it did offer some suggestions. Among the possibilities are new or modified mining practices, including slope mining and continuous use of mining machines. More miners seeking X-rays to determine whether they are eligible for state or federal programs also could be a factor.
Please read full By Joe Davidson at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/11/black-lung-disease-cases-grow-while-federal-programs-financing-suffers
