Table 1.
Characteristics of miners applying for Federal Black Lung Program benefits, by PMF determination status, 1970–2016
| Claim Characteristic | PMF Claimants (N = 4,679) |
Non-PMF Claimants (N = 336,497) |
|---|---|---|
| Claim type, n (%) | ||
| Living miner | 4,350 (93.0) | 288,158 (85.6) |
| Living survivor | 329 (7.0) | 48,339 (14.4) |
| Age of miner,* mean (SD) | 61.6 (9.7) | 62.3 (10.3) |
| Coal mine employment,† mean (SD), yr | 23.0 (9.9) | 18.9 (10.3) |
| State/region,‡ n (%) | ||
| West Virginia | 1,327 (28.4) | 67,213 (20.0) |
| Kentucky | 945 (20.2) | 49,266 (14.6) |
| Pennsylvania | 935 (20.0) | 69,445 (20.6) |
| Virginia | 714 (15.3) | 22,791 (6.8) |
| Eastern | 306 (6.5) | 27,135 (8.1) |
| Interior | 109 (2.3) | 25,259 (7.5) |
| Western | 65 (1.4) | 8,387 (2.5) |
| Unknown | 278 (5.9) | 67,001 (19.9) |
Definition of abbreviations: PMF = progressive massive fibrosis; SD = standard deviation.
*
Age of miner at time of filing a claim for federal black lung benefits.
†
Coal mine employment, in years, verified by the U.S. Department of Labor.
‡
State is determined by the last state in which the miner was employed as a coal miner. Eastern region includes the states of AL, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, TN, RI, SC, and VT. Interior region includes the states of AR, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, ND, NE, OK, SD, TX, and WI. Western region includes the states of AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, and WY.