A new government report says that the federal black lung trust fund that helps sick and dying coal miners pay living and medical expenses could incur a $15 billion deficit in the next 30 years. That’s if a congressionally mandated funding cut occurs as planned at the end of the year.
The cut in the funding formula comes as NPR has reported and government researchers have confirmed an epidemic of the most advanced stages of black lung, along with unprecedented clusters of the disease in the central Appalachian states of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
The report from the Government Accountability Office reviewed the viability of the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which paid out $184 million in benefits in fiscal year 2017 to 25,700 coal miners suffering from the fatal mine dust disease and their dependents.
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