Sec. 103. Clarifying eligibility for black lung benefits
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Section 411(c) of the Black Lung Benefits Act ( 30 U.S.C. 921(c) ) is amended by striking paragraphs
(3)and
(4)and inserting the following: If x-ray, biopsy, autopsy, or other medically accepted and relevant test or procedure establishes that a miner is suffering or has suffered from a chronic dust disease of the lung, diagnosed as complicated pneumoconiosis or progressive massive fibrosis (pneumoconiosis that has formed an opacity, mass, or lesion greater than one centimeter in diameter), then there shall be an irrebuttable presumption that such miner is totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis, that the miner’s death was due to pneumoconiosis, or that at the time of death the miner was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis, as the case may be. A chest radiograph, which yields one or more large opacities (greater than one centimeter in diameter), and would be classified in category A, B, or C in the International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses by the International Labor Organization, shall be sufficient to invoke the presumption, in the absence of more probative evidence sufficient to establish that the etiology of a large opacity is not pneumoconiosis. If a miner was employed for 15 years or more in one or more coal mines, and if there is a chest radiograph submitted in connection with the claim under this title of such miner or such miner’s surviving spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, or dependent and it is interpreted as negative with respect to the requirements of paragraph (3), and if other evidence demonstrates the existence of a totally disabling respiratory or pulmonary impairment, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such miner is totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis, that the miner’s death was due to pneumoconiosis, or that at the time of death the miner was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis. In the case of a living miner, a spouse's affidavit may not be used by itself to establish the presumption under this paragraph. The presumption under this paragraph may be rebutted only by establishing that such miner does not, or did not, have pneumoconiosis, or that no part of such miner's respiratory or pulmonary impairment was caused by pneumoconiosis. .
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Sec. 103
Clarifying eligibility for black lung benefits
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