H.R. 1824 — Supporting Disabled National Guardsmen Act

This section revises physical disability retirement eligibility (10 U.S.C. §1204) by (1) adding State active duty (i.e., National Guard service ordered by a state governor, as defined in 38 U.S.C. §4303) to the list of qualifying line-of-duty activities for injuries, illnesses, or diseases incurred or aggravated after September 23, 1996; and (2) requiring the Secretary concerned to reduce retired pay for such cases to the extent it duplicates any other federal or state benefit based on the disability. (As background, §1204 authorizes retirement with pay for armed forces members unfit for duty due to permanent and stable physical disability if service-connected in specified ways, not due to misconduct, and with either 20 years of service or a 30% disability rating.)

This section establishes eligibility (in new 38 U.S.C. §1789A) for members of the National Guard who incur a disability while performing State active duty (i.e., full-time National Guard duty ordered by a governor under state law, as defined in 38 U.S.C. §4303) for hospital care and medical services furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to treat the disability and any related illness or condition. Such care is available only to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts and, for reimbursements, only after the member or provider exhausts all third-party claims (as defined in 38 U.S.C. §1725(f), including health-plan contracts). (Thus, this extends VA care—typically limited to federal active duty service—to state-activated National Guard members, but as a payer of last resort contingent on funding.)