Health care for 22,600 retired coal miners extended for one week
By
Samuel Davidson
1 May 2017
Health care benefits for 22,600 coal miners, which were set to expire on April 30, have been extended until May 5, as part of a short-term spending bill approved by Congress on Friday. This is the second time in six months that a temporary funding extension has been passed.
The US Congress is still considering the so-called Miners Protection Act, a bipartisan proposal that would partially bail out the near bankrupt United Mine Workers Health and Retirement Funds by transferring federal money set aside to clean up abandoned coal mine sites.
Many of the retirees facing the loss of medical coverage have worked 20, 30 or even 40 years mining coal. Some suffer from incurable diseases, such as black lung, or were injured on the job. A large number are not old enough to qualify for Medicare and would be forced to buy private insurance at rates approaching $2,000 a month. Many who do qualify for Medicare cannot afford the extra copays or coinsurances necessary to treat their conditions.
The union-controlled UMW Health and Retirement Funds cover pensions and medical care benefits for 89,000 retired coal miners and their spouses. They also cover another 10,000 active or laid-off coal miners who have not yet retired.
The 22,600 retired miners who immediately face a cutoff worked for now bankrupt coal companies, including mining giant Peabody Energy and Patriot, which stopped paying into the fund. Six major coal producers have filed for bankruptcy since the global financial crash in 2008.
UMW officials along with several Democratic and Republican senators and congressmen from eastern coal-producing states are predicting passage of the Miners Protection Act before the new May 5 deadline,…