Overview Compliance Assistance Materials Basic Information Fact Sheets Applicable Laws and Regulations Related Topics and Links DOL Contacts Return to Workers' Compensation Menu

Frequently Asked Questions Where do I get information about black lung benefits? What is the Black Lung Benefits (BLB) Act? What costs are covered under my Federal Black Lung Program medical benefits? more ...

OVERVIEW

The Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) provides for monthly payments and medical benefits to coal miners totally disabled from pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) arising from their employment in or around the nation's coal mines. The Act also provides for monthly benefits to a miner's dependent survivors. Unless the miner was awarded benefits pursuant to a claim filed before 1982, a survivor must establish that pneumoconiosis was a substantially contributing cause of the miner's death to be entitled to benefits.

The program provides two types of medical services related to black lung disease: (1)diagnostic testing for all miner-claimants to determine the presence or absence of black lung disease and the degree of associated disability, and (2) for miners entitled to monthly benefits, medical coverage for treatment of black lung disease and disability. Diagnostic testing includes a chest x-ray, pulmonary function study (breathing test), arterial blood gas study, and a physical examination. Medical coverage includes (but is not limited to) costs for prescription drugs, office visits, and hospitalizations. Also provided, with specific approval, are items of durable medical equipment, such as hospital beds, home oxygen, and nebulizers; outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation therapy; and home nursing visits.

COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE MATERIALS

BASIC INFORMATION

• Employment Law Guide - Black Lung Compensation - Describes the compensation provisions of the Black Lung Benefits Act.
• Black Lung Home Page
• Compliance Guide to the Black Lung Benefits Act
• Compliance Assistance for Coal Mine Operators and Insurance Carriers
• Online Forms - Provides a list of forms available from the Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation.
• Questions and Answers about the Federal Black Lung Program

FACT SHEETS

• About Black Lung Benefits
• Black Lung Medical Benefits: Questions and Answers about the Federal Black Lung Program (PDF)

APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• Black Lung Benefits Act - Provides monthly payments and medical benefits to coal miners totally disabled from pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) arising from employment in or around the nation's coal mines. Also provides monthly benefits to a miner's dependent survivors if pneumoconiosis is caused or hastened the miner's death.
• 20 CFR Part 726 - Regulations under the Black Lung Benefits Act.

RELATED TOPICS AND LINKS

• End Black Lung Now and Forever - Resources for miners and operators.

DOL CONTACTS*

• Employment Standards Administration (ESA) 
  Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP)
  Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation
  200 Constitution Avenue, NW
  Room C-3521
  Washington, DC 20210
  E-mail: DCMWC-Public@dol.gov
  Tel: 1-800-638-7072
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627
  Local Offices

• For questions on other DOL laws,
  please call DOL's Toll-Free Help Line at 1-866-4-USA-DOL. Live assistance is available in English and Spanish, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional service is available in more than 140 languages through a translation service.
  Tel: 1-866-4-USA-DOL
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627

*Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor's Confidentiality Protocol for Compliance Assistance Inquiries, information provided by a telephone caller will be kept confidential within the bounds of the law. Compliance assistance inquiries will not trigger an inspection, audit, investigation, etc.