Black Lung Benefits Act (1969)
Coal miners developed pneumoconiosis—black lung disease—from inhaling coal dust for decades. The federal government initially denied the occupational link. After mounting deaths and advocacy from miners' unions, Congress passed the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in 1969, establishing presumptive disability benefits for miners with black lung. The law shifted the burden of proof: if you mined coal long enough and had the disease, it was presumed work-related unless the employer could prove otherwise.
Thousands of disabled miners received compensation and medical care previously denied by insurance companies.
Established the presumptive disease framework that firefighter cancer laws now follow, proving government intervention could overcome insurance industry resistance to occupational illness claims.
Maryland's firefighter law uses the same logic coal miners fought for: if the science shows causation and you did the job long enough, the burden shifts to employers to disprove the connection.