Is a Person's Occupational Disease Disability Occuring Within 300 Weeks of Exposure a Prerequsite to Recovery on a Fatal Claim Petition ?

In City of McKeesport v. Workers' Comp. Appeal Bd. (Miletti), 560 Pa. 413, 746 A.2d 87 (2000), the Supreme Court clarified that the proper focal point for this type of case is whether a decedent's occupational disease disability occurred within 300 weeks of exposure, not when death occurred and not when a lifetime disability claim was filed. See 560 Pa. at 418, 746 A.2d at 89. This is a prerequisite to recovery on a fatal claim petition. Also in Miletti, our Supreme Court in footnote dicta considered what would happen if there was a legal impediment to a claim of disability occurring within the 300-week period. Id. at 419, 746 A.2d at 90 n.7. The Court observed that in such circumstances, "it is arguable that the disability is not 'compensable' for purposes of section 301(c)(2) pertaining to fatal claim petitions." Id.