Walter D. FrazierDitch Mitch in 2014 2 hrs · Lexington, KY · If you missed it, heres my Black Lung letter from last August that was also printed in the Pike County newspaper. Its timely today. Obamacare helps coal miners Sen. Mitch McConnell proclaims to be fighting the War on Coal and protecting the jobs of coal workers. He is also staunchly opposed to and favors repealing Obamacare. Actually the coal industry is declining simply because coal has been mined in this region for such a long time that many of the thickest, most easily accessible coal reserves have already been mined out. What hasnt declined is the rate at which coal miners are suffering from the disabling condition of black lung or pneumoconiosis. Black lung health protections used to exist but were removed in 1981 when the ailment was thought to be waning. However, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates that cases of black lung have doubled since 1995 and more than 10,000 miners have died from the disease in the last decade. Under Section 1556 of Obamacare, the sufferers of black lung will have their benefits restored and expanded. Black lung benefits have also been amended so that a widow is automatically entitled to benefits if the miner had been awarded them at the time of his death. How can McConnell really care so much about coal jobs while at the same time fighting to eliminate the health and disability benefits that are so vital to the workers and their families who have fallen ill or died from working in coal? Walter Frazier
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 01:17:09 +0000
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