After proposing changes to its programs for current and retired miners in the state, the Wyoming Miners Hospital Board has announced it will withdraw those proposals.
Last month the Board proposed barring clerical workers – or people not directly involved with the extraction process – from receiving benefits. Also those under age 50 would not be eligible for benefits unless they were disabled or unable to work.
The withdrawal stems from a Legislative Services Office report that directed the Board to change the benefits offered, not the pool of people who can receive benefits.
Mary Ellen Young, executive director of the Wyoming Miners Hospital Board, says they will have to go back to the drawing board in an effort to trim the budget.
“With us growing at 700% in the last four years, we can’t continue with this pace or we’re going to be out of money again before the end of fiscal year 2014, so that’s where we’re looking.”
The Hospital Board assists miners in the state with medical costs related to hearing, respiratory, cardiac and muscle skeletal issues, all of which are problem areas for miners.
