Back in March, Inside Appalachia aired a report about a rise in the number of chronic black lung cases. Since then, NPR’s ongoing investigation uncovered an additional 1,000 cases of the worst form of black lung disease in Appalachia. That brings the NPR count of progressive massive fibrosis to nearly 2,000 cases in the region, all of which were diagnosed since 2010. Also since then, Congress has been on an almost constant roller coaster of debate surrounding the future of health care in our