Miner Wins Black Lung Benefits After 14 Years, Then Government Sends Him a Bill

Retired Virginia coal miner Bethel Brock finally won black lung benefits after a long legal battle. But while the U.S. Labor Department first deemed him eligible for black lung benefits in 2004, it fixed the start date as December 2015. Then it sent him a bill. “It seems like you can never win,” Brock said. “It seems like the deck is always stacked against you.”