§924 Time for filing claims

Summary

Sets deadlines for filing claims for miner benefits and limits when payments can start. Claims for a miner’s total disability must be filed by December 31, 1973. A widow must file within six months after her husband’s death or by December 31, 1973, whichever is later. Parents, brothers, or sisters must file within six months after the miner’s death or by December 31, 1973, whichever is later. Child claims have special rules. If a child files within six months after May 1972 and wins benefits, payments can go back to December 30, 1969 or to the date the child would first have been eligible under section 922(a)(3) had that section applied since December 30, 1969, whichever is shorter. If the child files later than six months after May 1972 and wins, payments can go back 12 months before the filing date or to that same first-eligibility date, whichever is shorter. Any back pay for months before filing can be reduced so it does not duplicate payments already approved. No benefits will be paid after December 31, 1973 for claims filed after June 30, 1973. Benefits generally do not cover any time before a claim is filed. No payments will be made to people living in a State that, after December 30, 1969, cut its workers’ compensation, unemployment, or disability benefits for its general workforce. Survivors (widow, child, parent, brother, or sister) get benefits for a miner’s death only if the miner was receiving pneumoconiosis disability benefits before death, the death was before January 1, 1974, or the person qualifies under paragraph (5) of section 921(c).