AVAILABILITY OF SPECIAL PAY FOR MEMBERS DURING REHABILITATION FROM WOUNDS, INJURIES, AND ILLNESSES INCURRED IN A COMBAT OPERATION OR COMBAT ZONE.

SEC. 642. AVAILABILITY OF SPECIAL PAY FOR MEMBERS DURING REHABILITATION FROM WOUNDS, INJURIES, AND ILLNESSES INCURRED IN A COMBAT OPERATION OR COMBAT ZONE.(a) Special Pay Authorized.—Chapter 5 of title 37, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 327, as added by section 641, the following new section:“§ 328. Combat-related injury rehabilitation pay“(a) Special Pay Authorized.—The Secretary concerned may pay monthly special pay under this section to a member of the armed forces who, while in the line of duty, incurs a wound, injury, or illness in a combat operation or combat zone designated by the Secretary of Defense and is evacuated from the theater of the combat operation or from the combat zone for medical treatment.“(b) Commencement of Payment.—Subject to subsection (c), the special pay authorized by subsection (a) may be paid to a member described in such subsection for any month beginning after the date on which the member was evacuated from the theater of the combat operation or the combat zone in which the member incurred the combat-related injury.“(c) Termination of Payments.—The payment of special pay to a member under subsection (a) shall terminate at the end of the first month during which any of the following occurs:“(1) The member is paid a benefit under the traumatic injury protection rider of the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance Program issued under section 1980A of title 38.“(2) The member receives notification of the eligibility of the member for a benefit under such traumatic injury protection rider and a period of 30 days expires after the date of such notification. 119 STAT. 3306“(3) The member is no longer hospitalized in a military treatment facility or a facility under the auspices of the military health care system.“(d) Amount of Special Pay.—The monthly amount of special pay paid to a member under this section shall be equal to $430, less any payment received by the member for the same month under section 310(b) of this title.“(e) Relationship to Other Pay and Allowances.—Special pay paid to a member under this section is in addition to any other pay and allowances to which the member is entitled or authorized to receive.” .(b) Continuation of Hostile Fire and Imminent Danger Pay During Hospitalization.—Section 310(b) of such title is amended—(1) by striking “A member covered by subsection (a)(2)(C)” and all that follows through “the injury or wound” and inserting “(1) A member described in paragraph (2)”;(2) by striking “so hospitalized” and inserting “hospitalized as described in such paragraph”; and(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(2) Paragraph (1) applies with respect to a member who—“(A) is injured or wounded under the circumstances described in subsection (a)(2)(C) and is hospitalized for the treatment of the injury or wound; or“(B) while in the line of duty, incurs a wound, injury, or illness in a combat operation or combat zone designated by the Secretary of Defense and is hospitalized outside of the theater of the combat operation or the combat zone for the treatment of the wound, injury, or illness.”.(c) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 5 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 327, as added by section 641, the following new item: “328. Combat-related injury rehabilitation pay.”. (d) Effective Date.—The Secretary of a military department may provide special pay under section 328 of title 37, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), for months beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. A member of the Armed Forces who incurred a wound, injury, or illness under the circumstances described in subsection (a) of such section before the date of the enactment of this Act may receive such pay for such wound, injury, or illness for months beginning on or after that date so long as the member continues to satisfy the eligibility criteria specified in such section.