The GAO report said: “Miners in all six groups expressed their belief that mine operators were either ‘waiting for them to die’ or ‘waiting for them to give up’ so they could avoid paying benefit.” It noted between January 2013 to mid-August 2024, 390 beneficiaries whose claims were initially approved had their claims denied after appeal, leaving them responsible for paying back the benefits.
According to the report, the median length of an appealed claim was three years or more.
Among 53,000 closed claims between January 2013 and August 2024, 11 claims took longer than 10 years to close. The report did not state how many open cases have surpassed 10 years.
Whether coal mining, coffee, or health care, these companies (or their insurance companies) have all the time and money in the world, while real people have real lives and real monthly (or weekly) bills. So yeah, die.
Whether coal mining, coffee, or health care, these companies (or their insurance companies) have all the time and money in the world, while real people have real lives and real monthly (or weekly) bills. So yeah, die.