Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 549.0

524US2

Unit: $U94

[09-11-00 13:26:39] PAGES PGT: OPLG

504

EASTERN ENTERPRISES v. APFEL

Opinion of O(cid:146)Connor, J.

Industry Retiree Health Beneﬁt Act of 1992 (Coal Act or
Act), 26 U. S. C. §§ 9701–9722 (1994 ed. and Supp. II), which
establishes a mechanism for funding health care beneﬁts for
retirees from the coal industry and their dependents. We
conclude that the Coal Act, as applied to petitioner Eastern
Enterprises, effects an unconstitutional taking.

I
A

For a good part of this century, employers in the coal in-
dustry have been involved in negotiations with the United
Mine Workers of America (UMWA or Union) regarding the
provision of employee beneﬁts to coal miners. When peti-
tioner Eastern Enterprises (Eastern) was formed in 1929,
coal operators provided health care to their employees
through a prepayment system funded by payroll deductions.
Because of the rural location of most mines, medical facilities
were frequently substandard, and many of the medical pro-
fessionals willing to work in mining areas were “company
doctors,” often selected by the coal operators for reasons
other than their skills or training. The health care available
to coal miners and their families was deﬁcient in many re-
spects.
In addition, the cost of company-provided services,
such as housing and medical care, often consumed the bulk of
miners’ compensation. See generally U. S. Dept. of Interior,
Report of the Coal Mines Administration, A Medical Survey
of the Bituminous-Coal Industry (1947) (Boone Report); Re-
port of United States Coal Commission, S. Doc. No. 195, 68th
Cong., 2d Sess. (1925).

In the late 1930’s, the UMWA began to demand changes
in the manner in which essential services were provided to
miners, and by 1946, the subject of miners’ health care had
become a critical issue in collective bargaining negotiations
between the Union and bituminous coal companies. When
a breakdown in those negotiations resulted in a nationwide