Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2025 overhauls the federal program that provides medical and disability benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung disease and their survivors. The bill addresses longstanding barriers to accessing benefits by establishing an independent Office of Workers' Compensation Programs to streamline claims processing, reducing the case backlog to a 12-month resolution target, allowing miners previously denied benefits based on outdated chest X-ray interpretations to refile claims with retroactive benefits, and providing financial support for legal representation (up to $4,500) and medical expenses (up to $3,000) in contested cases. To strengthen the system's integrity, the legislation increases penalties on operators who fail to secure benefits from $1,000 to $25,000, establishes stricter financial standards for self-insured operators, and creates criminal penalties up to five years imprisonment for fraud or misconduct in claims. The bill also modernizes program language to be more inclusive and gender-neutral, updates cross-references to current tax law, and improves case processing by allowing the Social Security Administration to share earnings records with the Department of Labor, together addressing widespread problems of inadequate legal representation, benefit amounts that don't keep pace with inflation, and rising black lung disease rates among younger miners.
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