§411h. Travel and transportation allowances: transportation of family members incident to the serious illness or injury of members

(a)(1) Under uniform regulations prescribed by the Secretaries concerned, transportation described in subsection (c) may be provided for not more than two family members of a member described in paragraph (2) if the attending physician or surgeon and the commander or head of the military medical facility exercising military control over the member determine that the presence of the family member may contribute to the member's health and welfare.

(2) A member referred to in paragraph (1) is a member of the uniformed services who-

(A) is serving on active duty or is entitled to pay and allowances under section 204(g) of this title (or would be so entitled were it not for offsetting earned income described in that section);

(B) is seriously ill, seriously injured, or in a situation of imminent death, whether or not electrical brain activity still exists or brain death is declared; and

(C) is hospitalized in a medical facility in or outside the United States.

(b)(1) In this section, the term "family member", with respect to a member, means-

(A) the member's spouse;

(B) children of the member (including stepchildren, adopted children, and illegitimate children);

(C) parents of the member or persons in loco parentis to the member, as provided in paragraph (2); and

(D) siblings of the member.

(2) Parents of a member or persons in loco parentis to a member include fathers and mothers through adoption and persons who stood in loco parentis to the member for a period not less than one year immediately before the member entered the uniformed service. However, only one father and one mother or their counterparts in loco parentis may be recognized in any one case.

(3) In this section, the term "health and welfare", with respect to a member, includes a situation in which a decision must be made by family members regarding the termination of artificial life support being provided to the member.

(c) The transportation authorized by subsection (a) is round-trip transportation between the home of the family member and the location of the medical facility in which the member is hospitalized.

(d)(1) The transportation authorized by subsection (a) may be provided by any of the following means:

(A) Transportation in-kind.

(B) A monetary allowance in place of transportation in-kind at a rate to be prescribed by the Secretaries concerned.

(C) Reimbursement for the commercial cost of transportation.

(2) An allowance payable under this subsection may be paid in advance.

(3) Reimbursement payable under this subsection may not exceed the cost of government-procured commercial round-trip air travel.

(Added Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title VI, §615(a)(1), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1095 ; amended Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title VI, §632(a), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1985 ; Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title VI, §624, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2785 .)

Amendments

1994-Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103–337, §624(a)(1), substituted "may contribute to" for "is necessary for".

Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 103–337, §624(a)(2), added subpar. (B) and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: "is seriously ill or seriously injured; and".

Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 103–337, §624(b), added par. (3).

1988-Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 100–456 amended par. (2) generally, inserting "or is entitled to pay and allowances under section 204(g) of this title (or would be so entitled were it not for offsetting earned income described in that section)" in subpar. (A).

Effective Date of 1988 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 100–456 effective Oct. 1, 1988, see section 632(c) of Pub. L. 100–456, set out as a note under section 411f of this title.

Effective Date

Section 615(b) of Pub. L. 100–180 provided that: "The authority to provide transportation or to pay transportation expenses under section 411h of title 37, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall be effective only with respect to travel that occurs on or after the effective date of regulations prescribed under such section."