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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 
Program Assessment

Program

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Black Lung Benefits Program

The purpose of this program is to provide wage-replacement and medical benefits to coal miners who are totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) and to eligible survivors.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Moderately Effective

In general, a program rated Moderately Effective has set ambitious goals and is well-managed. Moderately Effective programs likely need to improve their efficiency or address other problems in the programs' design or management in order to achieve better results.
  • The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund has a large and growing debt. Excise tax revenue is now sufficient to cover the current cost of benefits and administration, but the Trust Fund must borrow more each year to service its debt from prior years. The program is pursuing debt refinancing legislation.
  • The program has achieved a relatively low erroneous payment rate of less than 2 percent.
  • The program has updated its performance tracking goals. The program has added a goal of reducing the average time to make a claims decision, and is establishing a medical cost containment goal. It has also begun to track and report on productivity.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Completing review of independent program evaluation recommendations for improved program performance measures and implement, as appropriate.
  • Establishing performance goals and targets that are ambitious and contribute to efficient adjudication of Black Lung claims.
  • Revising procedures for beneficiary and representative payee monitoring to better coordinate and further automate.

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