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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., along with Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Warner, D-Va., Bob Casey, D-Pa. and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, have requested the highest level of funding in Fiscal Year 2018 to support black lung health clinics that serve West Virginia's coal miners.
In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, the senators asked that the Subcommittee's annual funding bill include the full authorized amount of $10 million to support the clinics, which provide health screenings, medical care and assistance in securing black lung benefits for miners.
The senators said in part, "Due to the rise in the number of miners diagnosed with black lung disease, as documented by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, we are asking you to consider providing $10 million for the black lung program. We are grateful for the slight increase in the Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations bill, however we also note that funding to these black lung clinics has been historically frozen and is well-below its authorized level of $10 million in the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977. The clinics have faced a substantial increase in demands from coal miners for screening, diagnosis, and pulmonary rehabilitation. Some clinics are so underfunded that they are operating with obsolete and inefficient diagnostic equipment, which is needlessly increasing miners' radiation dose when they receive a chest X-ray."