Report says black lung sufferers are not receiving enough compensation

VIRGINIA – A new report says that former coal miners suffering from black lung are not receiving enough benefits.

Appalachian Voices and the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center said that the cost of living is significantly higher than the payments.

They say miners receive over 30 percent less money than the original amount issued.

Legal advocates are fighting to change that, for people battling the disease.

“It can be hard to speak,” Quenton King, a federal legislative specialist at Appalachian Voices, said. “Sometimes they run out of breath when they talk for more than 30 seconds. One of the tragic things I hear from coal miners and family members is that they’re not able to play with their grandchildren the way that they’d like to play.”

Virginia has the third highest number of claims in the U.S. for black lung benefits, and miners received $21 million last fiscal year in claims.