INCREASE IN AMOUNT PAYABLE AS MEDAL OF HONOR SPECIAL PENSION.

SEC. 304. INCREASE IN AMOUNT PAYABLE AS MEDAL OF HONOR SPECIAL PENSION. (a) Increase in Amount.—Subsection (a) of section 1562 is amended by striking “$600” and inserting “$1,000, as adjusted from time to time under subsection (e)”. (b) Annual Adjustment.—That section is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(e) Effective as of December 1 each year, the Secretary shall increase the amount of monthly special pension payable under subsection (a) as of November 30 of such year by the same percentage as the percentage by which benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) are increased effective December 1 of such year as a result of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)).”. (c) Payment of Lump Sum for Period Between Act of Valor And Commencement of Special Pension.—That section is further amended by adding after subsection (e), as added by subsection (b) of this section, the following new subsection: “(f)(1) The Secretary shall pay, in a lump sum, to each person who is in receipt of special pension payable under this section an amount equal to the total amount of special pension that the person would have received during the period beginning on the first day of the first month beginning after the date of the act for which the person was awarded the Medal of Honor and ending on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the person’s special pension in fact commenced. “(2) For each month of a period referred to in paragraph (1), the amount of special pension payable to a person shall be determined using the rate of special pension that was in effect for such month, and shall be payable only if the person would have been entitled to payment of special pension for such month under laws for eligibility for special pension (with the exception of the eligibility law requiring a person to have been awarded a Medal of Honor) in effect at the beginning of such month.”. (d) Effective Date.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on September 1, 2003. No payment may be made pursuant to subsection (f) of section 1562 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (c) of this section, before October 1, 2003. (2) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall not make any adjustment under subsection (e) of section 1562 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (b) of this section, in 2003.