Relief for Survivors of Miners Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends the Black Lung Benefits Act for survivors of miners whose deaths were due to pneumoconiosis. It narrows rebuttal of the existing death-benefit presumption so a party must establish that no part of the miner death was caused by pneumoconiosis, creates a new rebuttable presumption when a deceased miner was totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis during life, applies the changes to pending and recently denied claims in a retroactive window, creates a fund-backed payment program for attorneys fees and unreimbursed medical expenses in qualifying contested claims unresolved after one year, and requires GAO to review interim benefit payments, recoupment stress and costs, benefit adequacy, possible payment increases, and barriers for miners and survivors.
Who Benefits and How
Survivors of miners, survivor black lung claimants, miners families, claimant attorneys, and beneficiaries awaiting final determinations benefit from stronger presumptions, reduced litigation cost barriers, and GAO scrutiny of benefit adequacy and recoupment harms. The bill makes it harder for coal operators to defeat a death claim by showing only that pneumoconiosis was not the sole cause of death.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Coal mine operators, coal mine insurers, liable parties, Department of Labor black lung administrators, Black Lung Disability Trust Fund staff, and GAO analysts must manage broader survivor liability, reimburse the fund when compensation is awarded, pay or approve fee and expense claims, and complete several benefit and recoupment studies within one year.
Key Provisions
- Narrows rebuttal of survivor death-benefit presumptions to cases where no part of death was caused by pneumoconiosis.
- Creates a new rebuttable death presumption when a miner was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis during life.
- Applies survivor-presumption changes to pending and recently denied claims in a retroactive filing window.
- Creates a payment program for attorneys fees and unreimbursed medical expenses in qualifying contested claims.
- Requires GAO reviews of interim benefits, recoupment stress, benefit adequacy, possible benefit increases, and survivor access.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Strengthen survivor black-lung claims by narrowing rebuttal of death-benefit presumptions, creating a payment program for attorneys fees and medical expenses in qualifying contested claims, and requiring GAO reviews of interim benefits, recoupment, adequacy, and survivor access.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Healthcare, Mining, Administrative Law
Primary Purpose
Strengthen survivor black-lung claims by narrowing rebuttal of death-benefit presumptions, creating a payment program for attorneys fees and medical expenses in qualifying contested claims, and requiring GAO reviews of interim benefits, recoupment, adequacy, and survivor access.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Survivors of miners
- Survivor black lung claimants
- Miners families
- Claimant attorneys
- Beneficiaries awaiting final determinations
Identified Costs
- Coal mine operators
- Coal mine insurers
- Liable parties
- Department of Labor black lung administrators
- Black Lung Disability Trust Fund staff
- Government Accountability Office analysts
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. McGarvey (for himself, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Deluzio, Ms. Dexter, …
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Miners awaiting black lung benefit decisions, Survivor black lung claimants in contested cases, Survivors awaiting black lung benefit decisions
Coal mine operators liable for survivor claims, Coal mine operators reimbursing the fund
Black Lung Disability Trust Fund staff, Government Accountability Office analysts
Attorneys representing survivor claimants
Coal mine insurers covering survivor claims
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Beneficiaries"
- → ['Survivors', 'Claimants', 'Families', 'Attorneys', 'Beneficiaries']
- "Burden bearers"
- → ['Coal mine operators', 'Coal mine insurers', 'Liable parties', 'Department of Labor administrators', 'Trust Fund staff', 'Government Accountability Office analysts']
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology