In Barnhart v. Peabody Coal Co., the petitioner is the Commissioner of Social Security. Respondents are Peabody Coal Company and Eastern Associated Coal Company. After 20-30 years of working in a mine, miners normally have a host of medical problems. The congress addressed this issue by passing the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act (the “Coal Act”) which was signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992. Under this act, all companies (including those that had abandoned their retirees) were required to provide funding for health care benefits of their retirees. In absence of a surviving employer, the retirees, will be funded out of the surplus pension assets and interest from the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund. The Coal Act only covers health care…show more content… In years following this agreement, contracts were negotiated with that obligation in place, since retirement health care benefits had become very important to union miners and that they were even ready to take less in wage to maintain the retirement health benefits. According to the Coal Act of 1992, the Commissioner of Social Security “shall, before October 1, 1993,” assign each retiree (eligible for benefits under the Act) to a “signatory operator”—or a related entity, which shall then be responsible for funding the retired beneficiary’s benefits, 26 U. S. C. §
