View all text of Chapter 32 [§ 2651 - § 2653]
§ 2651. Recovery by United States
(a) Conditions; exceptions; persons liable; amount of recovery; subrogation; assignment
(b) Recovery of cost of pay for member of uniformed services unable to perform duties
(c) United States deemed third party beneficiary under alternative system of compensation
(1) If, pursuant to the laws of a State that are applicable in a case of a member of the uniformed services who is injured or contracts a disease as a result of tortious conduct of a third person, there is in effect for such a case (as a substitute or alternative for compensation for damages through tort liability) a system of compensation or reimbursement for expenses of hospital, medical, surgical, or dental care and treatment or for lost pay pursuant to a policy of insurance, contract, medical or hospital service agreement, or similar arrangement, the United States shall be deemed to be a third-party beneficiary of such a policy, contract, agreement, or arrangement.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—
(A) the expenses incurred or to be incurred by the United States for care and treatment for an injured or diseased member as described in subsection (a) shall be deemed to have been incurred by the member;
(B) the cost to the United States of the pay of the member as described in subsection (b) shall be deemed to have been pay lost by the member as a result of the injury or disease; and
(C) the United States shall be subrogated to any right or claim that the injured or diseased member or the member’s guardian, personal representative, estate, dependents, or survivors have under a policy, contract, agreement, or arrangement referred to in paragraph (1) to the extent of the reasonable value of the care and treatment and the total amount of the pay deemed lost under subparagraph (B).
(d) Enforcement procedure; intervention; joinder of parties; State or Federal court proceedings
(e) Veterans’ exception
(f) Crediting of amounts recovered
(1) Any amount recovered under this section for medical care and related services furnished by a military medical treatment facility or similar military activity shall be credited to the appropriation or appropriations supporting the operation of that facility or activity, as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
(2) Any amount recovered under this section for the cost to the United States of pay of an injured or diseased member of the uniformed services shall be credited to the appropriation that supports the operation of the command, activity, or other unit to which the member was assigned at the time of the injury or illness, as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned.
(g) DefinitionsFor the purposes of this section:
(1) The term “uniformed services” has the meaning given such term in section 101 of title 10.
(2) The term “tortious conduct” includes any tortious omission.
(3) The term “pay”, with respect to a member of the uniformed services, means basic pay, special pay, and incentive pay that the member is authorized to receive under title 37 or any other law providing pay for service in the uniformed services.
(4) The term “Secretary concerned” means—
(A) the Secretary of Defense, with respect to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard (when it is operating as a service in the Navy);
(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security, with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy;
(C) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect to the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service; and
(D) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect to the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(Pub. L. 87–693, § 1, Sept. 25, 1962, 76 Stat. 593; Pub. L. 102–54, § 13(q)(8), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 281; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title X, § 1075(a), (b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2661, 2663; Pub. L. 109–241, title IX, § 902(m), July 11, 2006, 120 Stat. 568.)