The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2025 seeks to enhance the fairness, timeliness, and accessibility of benefits for coal miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, commonly known as black lung disease, and their dependent family members. The legislation addresses systemic issues identified in the current claims process, including resource disparities, lack of legal and medical support for claimants, and inadequate benefit adjustments. It also aims to improve the financial stability of the Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund and streamline adjudication.

A significant provision establishes an irrebuttable presumption of total disability or death due to pneumoconiosis if complicated pneumoconiosis or progressive massive fibrosis is medically confirmed by X-ray, CT scan, biopsy, or autopsy. The Secretary of Labor is mandated to provide claimants with a complete pulmonary evaluation, including authorizing CT scans under specific conditions, and to develop supplemental medical evidence when an award is contested. To ensure impartiality, the Secretary must create a list of qualified physicians, excluding those with conflicts of interest, and the expenses for this medical evidence will be covered by the fund.

To support claimants, the bill establishes a program to pay attorneys' fees and reasonable unreimbursed medical expenses from the fund for contested claims that remain unresolved for over two years, with limits on the amounts payable. It also introduces strict penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and permanent disqualification, for individuals, attorneys, or expert witnesses who make false statements or misrepresentations or engage in coercive behavior during the claims process. Administrative law judges are empowered to impose discovery sanctions for non-compliance.

The Act allows for the readjudication of previously denied claims that involved chest radiographs interpreted as negative by physicians whose opinions were later discredited by the Secretary, ensuring these discredited interpretations are not considered in new reviews. Crucially, the bill reforms benefit adjustments by setting a fixed annual rate for 2026 and mandating annual cost-of-living adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers thereafter, preventing the erosion of benefits due to inflation.

To bolster the financial security of the Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund, the Secretary is directed to establish new rules for coal mine operators to qualify as self-insurers, including stringent financial health criteria and annual security assessments. Penalties for failing to secure benefit payments are significantly increased from $1,000 to $25,000, and liability is expanded to include chief executive officers and other responsible parties. Furthermore, the bill requires the Secretary of Labor to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce adjudication delays and formally establishes the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs within the Department of Labor.