
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-419 Section 202(g)]
[CITE: 38USC7438]

 
                      TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS
 
              PART V--BOARDS, ADMINISTRATIONS, AND SERVICES
 
          CHAPTER 74--VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION--PERSONNEL
 
         SUBCHAPTER III--SPECIAL PAY FOR PHYSICIANS AND DENTISTS
 
Sec. 7438. Special pay: coordination with other benefits laws

    (a) Special pay paid under this subchapter shall be in addition to 
any other pay and allowances to which a physician or dentist is 
entitled.
    (b)(1) A physician or dentist who has no section 4118 \1\ service 
and has completed not less than 15 years of service as a physician or 
dentist in the Veterans Health Administration shall be entitled to have 
special pay paid to the physician or dentist under this subchapter 
considered basic pay for the purposes of chapter 83 or 84 of title 5, as 
appropriate.
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    \1\ See References in Text note below.
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    (2) A physician or dentist who has section 4118 \1\ service and has 
completed a total of not less than 15 years of service as a physician or 
dentist in the Veterans Health Administration shall be entitled to have 
special pay paid to the physician or dentist under this subchapter 
considered basic pay for the purposes of chapter 83 or 84, as 
appropriate, of title 5 as follows:
        (A) In an amount equal to the amount that would have been so 
    considered under section 4118 \1\ of this title on the day before 
    the effective date of this section based on the rates of special pay 
    the physician or dentist was entitled to receive under that section 
    on the day before such effective date.
        (B) With respect to any amount of special pay received under 
    this subchapter in excess of the amount such physician or dentist 
    was entitled to receive under section 4118 \1\ of this title on the 
    day before the effective date of this section, in an amount equal to 
    25 percent of such excess amount for each two years that the 
    physician or dentist has completed as a physician or dentist in the 
    Veterans Health Administration after the effective date of this 
    section.

    (3) All special pay paid under this subchapter shall be included in 
average pay (as defined in sections 8331(4) or 8401(3) of title 5, as 
appropriate) for purposes of computing benefits paid under section 8337, 
8341(d) or (e), 8442(b), 8443, or 8451 of such title.
    (4) Special pay paid under section 4118 \1\ of this title, as in 
effect before the effective date of this section, to a physician or 
dentist who has section 4118 \1\ service shall be credited to the 
physician or dentist for the same purposes and in the same manner and to 
the same extent that such special pay was credited to the physician or 
dentist before such effective date.
    (5) For purposes of this subsection:
        (A) The term ``physician or dentist who has no section 4118 \1\ 
    service'' means a physician or dentist employed as a physician or 
    dentist in the Veterans Health Administration who has no previous 
    service as a physician or dentist in the Administration (or its 
    predecessor) before the effective date of this section.
        (B) The term ``physician or dentist who has section 4118 \1\ 
    service'' means a physician or dentist employed as a physician or 
    dentist in the Veterans Health Administration who has previous 
    service as a physician or dentist in the Administration (or its 
    predecessor) before the effective date of this section.
        (C) Service in any predecessor entity of the Veterans Health 
    Administration shall be considered to be service in the Veterans 
    Health Administration.

    (c) Compensation paid as special pay under this subchapter or under 
an agreement entered into under section 4118 \1\ of this title (as in 
effect on the day before the effective date of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs Physician and Dentist Recruitment and Retention Act of 
1991) shall be considered as annual pay for the purposes of chapter 87 
of title 5, relating to life insurance for Federal employees.

(Added Pub. L. 102-40, title I, Sec. 102, May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 196.)

                       References in Text

    Section 4118 of this title, referred to in subsecs. (b) and (c), was 
repealed by Pub. L. 102-40, title IV, Sec. 401(a)(3), May 7, 1991, 105 
Stat. 210.
    For the effective date of this subchapter, referred to in subsec. 
(b), see section 104(a) of Pub. L. 102-40, set out as an Effective Date 
note under section 7431 of this title.
    The effective date of the Department of Veterans Affairs Physician 
and Dentist Recruitment and Retention Act of 1991, referred to in 
subsec. (c), probably means the effective date of title I of Pub. L. 
102-40, which enacted this subchapter, and which is generally effective 
on first day of first pay period after July 1, 1991, subject to certain 
transition and savings provisions, see section 104 of Pub. L. 102-40, 
set out as a note under section 7431 of this title.


                            Prior Provisions

    Provisions similar to those in this subchapter were contained in 
section 4118 of this title prior to the repeal of that section as part 
of the complete revision of chapter 73 of this title by Pub. L. 102-40.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective on first day of first pay period after July 1, 
1991, subject to transition and savings provisions and prohibition on 
retroactive agreements, see section 104 of Pub. L. 102-40, set out as a 
note under section 7431 of this title.
