Wherever you go in Letcher County, you don’t have to look very hard to see what black lung is doing here. Whether you’re at a church event, the grocery store, or a doctor’s appointment, you see people who are sick because of the deadly disease, and struggling to breathe.

New NIOSH research shows black-lung rates among veteran underground miners in Central Appalachia have reached their highest level in nearly 50 years. Nearly one in three miners with at least 25 years underground in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia showed evidence of the disease.

The Department of Labor has proposed replacing a rule that required self-insured coal companies to secure 100% of their projected black-lung liabilities. Under the proposed system, each company’s collateral would depend on a federal assessment of its financial strength and risk of default.

Right now, too many miners are out of work, sick and stuck having to choose between paying their bills and paying for food or housing.

Local officials in Eastern Kentucky and other Appalachian communities are urging Congress to increase black lung benefits, which have lost substantial value to inflation. The Support Our Miners Act has regional support but has not yet attracted a bipartisan congressional coalition.

The Support Our Miners Act would increase monthly compensation for disabled miners and surviving family members in Pennsylvania and other coal-producing states. Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia have historically accounted for some of the largest numbers of federal black-lung claims.

U.S. Reps. Summer Lee, Chris Deluzio, and Morgan McGarvey introduced the Support Our Miners Act to restore the value of federal black-lung disability payments. The bill would increase current benefits and automatically adjust future payments for inflation.

Black-lung clinics across Central Appalachia are treating miners with increasingly severe disease while helping patients navigate medical care and federal benefits claims. The clinics remain a critical source of testing, rehabilitation, and benefits counseling for mining families.

Black lung is getting younger miners sicker than I have ever seen. Thousands in my community have it. A lot of them are already gone, and their families are left behind, struggling, unable to pay the bills. 

Federal regulators are officially delaying implementation of Biden-era black lung protections that U.S. coal miners have lobbied federal agencies to enforce — and was supposed to take effect this week — as debilitating and deadly diseases climb.

Workers who operate underground mining machinery accounted for more than two-thirds of deaths associated with coal workers’ pneumoconiosis during a recent four-year period, according to the results of a NIOSH study.

West Virginia coal miners and their families gathered at the West Virginia Capitol on Tuesday to advocate for Black Lung Awareness.

A new report from the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center and Appalachian Voices shows federal black lung disability benefits are not keeping up with inflation.

State-level data has long been available on the Department of Labor’s website. But for the first time ever, Appalachian Voices is able to provide the map showing zip code-level data, thanks to a public records request sent to the DOL.

West Virginia coal miners know a thing or two about fighting to get what they deserve. In 1921, coal miners fought and died for union recognition. Today, coal miners are still dying to make a living with alarming rates of black lung.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced the “Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act” to help make medical benefits more accessible to miners.

Lisa Emery loves to talk about her “boys.” With each word, the respiratory therapist’s face softens and shines with pride. But keep her talking, and it doesn’t take long for that passion to switch to hurt.

Miners and their advocates are begging the administration to enforce a Biden-era rule meant to protect them.

During the Biden administration, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration created a safety rule long-sought by black lung associations. Days before it could be enforced, a lawsuit froze enforcement and little has changed since.

It used to take a single day for Andy Martin to mow his lawn. But after developing severe black lung disease, cutting his grass now takes three.