Causes of death among Federal Black Lung Benefits Program beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, 1999-2016.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Coal miners with totally disabling pneumoconiosis are eligible for benefits through the Federal Black Lung Benefits Program (FBLP). We identify the causes of death among Medicare beneficiaries with a claim for which the FBLP was the primary payer and compare these causes of death to all deceased Medicare beneficiaries to better understand elevated death and disease among miners with occupational respiratory exposures.

Methods

From 1999 to 2016 Medicare data, we extracted beneficiary and National Death Index data for 28,003 beneficiaries with an FBLP primary payer claim. We summarized the International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification 10th revision-coded underlying causes of death and entity-axis multiple causes of death for 22,242 deceased Medicar

SUBMITTER: Kurth L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8008697 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature