
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC213]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                    CHAPTER 6A--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
 
        SUBCHAPTER I--ADMINISTRATION AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
 
                         Part A--Administration
 
Sec. 213. Military benefits


(a) Rights, privileges, immunities, and benefits accorded to 
        commissioned officers or their survivors

    Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, commissioned 
officers of the Service and their surviving beneficiaries shall, with 
respect to active service performed by such officers--
        (1) in time of war;
        (2) on detail for duty with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 
    Corps, or Coast Guard; or
        (3) while the Service is part of the military forces of the 
    United States pursuant to Executive order of the President;

be entitled to all rights, privileges, immunities, and benefits now or 
hereafter provided under any law of the United States in the case of 
commissioned officers of the Army or their surviving beneficiaries on 
account of active military service, except retired pay and uniform 
allowances.

(b) Award of decorations

    The President may prescribe the conditions under which commissioned 
officers of the Service may be awarded military ribbons, medals, and 
decorations.

(c) Authority of Surgeon General

    The authority vested by law in the Department of the Army, the 
Secretary of the Army, or other officers of the Department of the Army 
with respect to rights, privileges, immunities, and benefits referred to 
in subsection (a) of this section shall be exercised, with respect to 
commissioned officers of the Service, by the Surgeon General.

(d) Active service deemed active military service with respect to laws 
        administered by Secretary of Veterans Affairs

    Active service of commissioned officers of the Service shall be 
deemed to be active military service in the Armed Forces of the United 
States for the purposes of all laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs (except the Servicemen's Indemnity Act of 1951) and 
section 417 of this title.

(e) Active service deemed active military service with respect to 
        Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940

    Active service of commissioned officers of the Service shall be 
deemed to be active military service in the Armed Forces of the United 
States for the purposes of all rights, privileges, immunities, and 
benefits now or hereafter provided under the Soldiers' and Sailors' 
Civil Relief Act of 1940 (50 App. U.S.C. 501 et seq.).

(f) Active service deemed active military service with respect to anti-
        discrimination laws

    Active service of commissioned officers of the Service shall be 
deemed to be active military service in the Armed Forces of the United 
States for purposes of all laws related to discrimination on the basis 
of race, color, sex, ethnicity, age, religion, and disability.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title II, Sec. 212, 58 Stat. 689; July 15, 1954, 
ch. 507, Sec. 14(a), 68 Stat. 481; Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 837, title V, 
Sec. 501(b)(1), 70 Stat. 881; Pub. L. 94-278, title XI, Sec. 1101, Apr. 
22, 1976, 90 Stat. 415; Pub. L. 102-54, Sec. 13(q)(1)(C), June 13, 1991, 
105 Stat. 278; Pub. L. 105-392, title IV, Sec. 402(a), Nov. 13, 1998, 
112 Stat. 3587.)

                       References in Text

    The Servicemen's Indemnity Act of 1951, referred to in subsec. (d), 
is act Apr. 25, 1951, ch. 39, pt. I, 65 Stat. 33, which was classified 
generally to subchapter II (Sec. 851 et seq.) of chapter 13 of former 
Title 38, Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief, and was repealed by 
act Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 873, title V, Sec. 502(9), 70 Stat. 886.
    The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, referred to in 
subsec. (e), is act Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, 54 Stat. 1178, as amended, 
which is classified to section 501 et seq. of Title 50, Appendix, War 
and National Defense. For complete classification of this Act to the 
Code, see section 501 of Title 50, Appendix, and Tables.


                               Amendments

    1998--Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 105-392 added subsec. (f).
    1991--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102-54 substituted ``Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs'' for ``Veterans' Administration''.
    1976--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 94-278 added subsec. (e).
    1956--Act Aug. 1, 1956, amended section generally to extend all 
rights, privileges, immunities, and benefits provided for commissioned 
officers of the Army or their surviving beneficiaries to commissioned 
officers of the Service, with the exception of retired pay and uniform 
allowances, when performing duty under certain circumstances, and to 
provide that active service of commissioned officers shall be deemed to 
be active military service in the Armed Forces for the purposes of all 
laws administered by the Veterans' Administration (except the 
Servicemen's Indemnity Act of 1951) and section 417 of this title.
    1954--Subsec. (a)(1). Act July 15, 1954, struck out ``burial 
payments in the event of death,'' after ``limited to,''.


             Effective Date of 1956 Amendment; Applicability

    Section 501(b)(2) of act Aug. 1, 1956, provided that: ``The 
amendment made by this subsection [amending this section] (A) shall 
apply only with respect to service performed on or after July 4, 1952, 
(B) shall not be construed to affect the entitlement of any person to 
benefits under the Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952 [act 
July 16, 1952, ch. 875, 66 Stat. 633], (C) shall not be construed to 
authorize any payment under section 202(i) of the Social Security Act 
[section 402(i) of this title], or under Veterans Regulation Numbered 
9(a), for any death occurring prior to January 1, 1957, and (D) shall 
not be construed to authorize payment of any benefits for any period 
prior to January 1, 1957.''

                          Transfer of Functions

    Functions of Public Health Service, Surgeon General of Public Health 
Service, and all other officers and employees of Public Health Service 
and functions of all agencies of or in Public Health Service transferred 
to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 
1966, eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610, set out as a note 
under section 202 of this title. Secretary of Health, Education, and 
Welfare redesignated Secretary of Health and Human Services by section 
509(b) of Pub. L. 96-88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 
20, Education.


 Recomputation of Social Security Benefits for Officers Entitled to Old-
  Age Insurance Benefits Prior to January 1, 1957, or for Survivors of 
               Officers Who Died Prior to January 1, 1957

    Section 501(b)(3) of act Aug. 1, 1956, provided that: ``In the case 
of any individual--
        ``(A) who performed active service (i) as a commissioned officer 
    of the Public Health Service at any time during the period beginning 
    July 4, 1952, and ending December 31, 1956, or (ii) as a 
    commissioned officer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey at any time 
    during the period beginning July 29, 1945, and ending December 31, 
    1956; and
        ``(B)(i) who became entitled to old-age insurance benefits under 
    section 202(a) of the Social Security Act [section 402(a) of this 
    title] prior to January 1, 1957, or
        ``(ii) who died prior to January 1, 1957, and whose widow, 
    child, or parent is entitled for the month of January 1957, on the 
    basis of his wages and self-employment income, to a monthly 
    survivor's benefit under section 202 of such act [section 402 of 
    this title]; and
        ``(C) any part of whose service described in subparagraph (A) 
    was not included in the computation of his primary insurance amount 
    under section 215 of such act [section 415 of this title] but would 
    have been included in such computation if the amendment made by 
    paragraph (1) of this subsection or paragraph (1) of subsection (d) 
    had been effective prior to the date of such computation,
the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare [now Health and Human 
Services] shall, notwithstanding the provisions of section 215(f)(1) of 
the Social Security Act [section 415(f)(1) of this title], recompute the 
primary insurance amount of such individual upon the filing of an 
application, after December 1956, by him or (if he dies without filing 
such an application) by any person entitled to monthly survivor's 
benefits under section 202 of such act [section 402 of this title] on 
the basis of his wages and self-employment income. Such recomputation 
shall be made only in the manner, provided in title II of the Social 
Security Act [sections 401 to 425 of this title] as in effect at the 
time of the last previous computation or recomputation of such 
individual's primary insurance amount, and as though application 
therefor was filed in the month in which application for such last 
previous computation or recomputation was filed. No recomputation made 
under this paragraph shall be regarded as a recomputation under section 
215(f) of the Social Security Act [section 415(f) of this title]. Any 
such recomputation shall be effective for and after the twelfth month 
before the month in which the application was filed, but in no case for 
any month before January 1957.''


              Disposition of Remains of Deceased Personnel

    Recovery, care, and disposition of the remains of deceased members 
of the uniformed services and other deceased personnel, see section 1481 
et seq. of Title 10, Armed Forces.


                 Burial of Certain Commissioned Officers

    Act Apr. 30, 1956, ch. 227, 70 Stat. 124, provided: ``That burial in 
national cemeteries of the remains of commissioned officers of the 
United States Public Health Service who were detailed for duty with the 
Army or Navy during World War I pursuant to the act of July 1, 1902 (32 
Stat. 712, 713), as amended, and Executive Order Numbered 2571 dated 
April 3, 1917, and of the wife, widow, minor child and, in the 
discretion of the Secretary of the Army, unmarried adult child of these 
officers is authorized: Provided, That the remains of the wife, widow, 
and children may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Army, be 
removed from a national cemetery proper and interred in the post section 
of a national cemetery if, upon death, the related officer is not buried 
in the same or an adjoining gravesite.''

                         Delegation of Authority

    Memorandum of President of the United States, Dec. 30, 1992, 58 F.R. 
3485, provided:
    Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services
    The authority of the President under section 212(b) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 213(b)) is hereby delegated to the 
Secretary of Defense. In the exercise of that authority, the Secretary 
of Defense shall ensure that no military ribbon, medal, or decoration is 
awarded to an officer of the Public Health Service without the approval 
of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
    The Secretary of Defense shall ensure the publication of this 
memorandum in the Federal Register.
                                                            George Bush.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 213a, 215, 218a of this 
title; title 26 section 139.
