
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC2651]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
     CHAPTER 32--THIRD PARTY LIABILITY FOR HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CARE
 
Sec. 2651. Recovery by United States


(a) Conditions; exceptions; persons liable; amount of recovery; 
        subrogation; assignment

    In any case in which the United States is authorized or required by 
law to furnish or pay for hospital, medical, surgical, or dental care 
and treatment (including prostheses and medical appliances) to a person 
who is injured or suffers a disease, after the effective date of this 
Act, under circumstances creating a tort liability upon some third 
person (other than or in addition to the United States and except 
employers of seamen treated under the provisions of section 249 of this 
title) to pay damages therefor, the United States shall have a right to 
recover (independent of the rights of the injured or diseased person) 
from said third person, or that person's insurer, the reasonable value 
of the care and treatment so furnished, to be furnished, paid for, or to 
be paid for and shall, as to this right be subrogated to any right or 
claim that the injured or diseased person, his guardian, personal 
representative, estate, dependents, or survivors has against such third 
person to the extent of the reasonable value of the care and treatment 
so furnished, to be furnished, paid for, or to be paid for. The head of 
the department or agency of the United States furnishing such care or 
treatment may also require the injured or diseased person, his guardian, 
personal representative, estate, dependents, or survivors, as 
appropriate, to assign his claim or cause of action against the third 
person to the extent of that right or claim.

(b) Recovery of cost of pay for member of uniformed services unable to 
        perform duties

    If a member of the uniformed services is injured, or contracts a 
disease, under circumstances creating a tort liability upon a third 
person (other than or in addition to the United States and except 
employers of seamen referred to in subsection (a) of this section) for 
damages for such injury or disease and the member is unable to perform 
the member's regular military duties as a result of the injury or 
disease, the United States shall have a right (independent of the rights 
of the member) to recover from the third person or an insurer of the 
third person, or both, the amount equal to the total amount of the pay 
that accrues and is to accrue to the member for the period for which the 
member is unable to perform such duties as a result of the injury or 
disease and is not assigned to perform other military duties.

(c) United States deemed third party beneficiary under alternative 
        system of compensation

    (1) If, pursuant to the laws of a State that are applicable in a 
case of a member of the uniformed services who is injured or contracts a 
disease as a result of tortious conduct of a third person, there is in 
effect for such a case (as a substitute or alternative for compensation 
for damages through tort liability) a system of compensation or 
reimbursement for expenses of hospital, medical, surgical, or dental 
care and treatment or for lost pay pursuant to a policy of insurance, 
contract, medical or hospital service agreement, or similar arrangement, 
the United States shall be deemed to be a third-party beneficiary of 
such a policy, contract, agreement, or arrangement.
    (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)--
        (A) the expenses incurred or to be incurred by the United States 
    for care and treatment for an injured or diseased member as 
    described in subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed to have 
    been incurred by the member;
        (B) the cost to the United States of the pay of the member as 
    described in subsection (b) of this section shall be deemed to have 
    been pay lost by the member as a result of the injury or disease; 
    and
        (C) the United States shall be subrogated to any right or claim 
    that the injured or diseased member or the member's guardian, 
    personal representative, estate, dependents, or survivors have under 
    a policy, contract, agreement, or arrangement referred to in 
    paragraph (1) to the extent of the reasonable value of the care and 
    treatment and the total amount of the pay deemed lost under 
    subparagraph (B).

(d) Enforcement procedure; intervention; joinder of parties; State or 
        Federal court proceedings

    The United States may, to enforce a right under subsections (a), 
(b), and (c) of this section (1) intervene or join in any action or 
proceeding brought by the injured or diseased person, his guardian, 
personal representative, estate, dependents, or survivors, against the 
third person who is liable for the injury or disease or the insurance 
carrier or other entity responsible for the payment or reimbursement of 
medical expenses or lost pay; or (2) if such action or proceeding is not 
commenced within six months after the first day in which care and 
treatment is furnished or paid for by the United States in connection 
with the injury or disease involved, institute and prosecute legal 
proceedings against the third person who is liable for the injury or 
disease or the insurance carrier or other entity responsible for the 
payment or reimbursement of medical expenses or lost pay, in a State or 
Federal court, either alone (in its own name or in the name of the 
injured person, his guardian, personal representative, estate, 
dependents, or survivors) or in conjunction with the injured or diseased 
person, his guardian, personal representative, estate, dependents, or 
survivors.

(e) Veterans' exception

    The provisions of this section shall not apply with respect to 
hospital, medical, surgical, or dental care and treatment (including 
prostheses and medical appliances) furnished by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to an eligible veteran for a service-connected 
disability under the provisions of chapter 17 of title 38.

(f) Crediting of amounts recovered

    (1) Any amount recovered under this section for medical care and 
related services furnished by a military medical treatment facility or 
similar military activity shall be credited to the appropriation or 
appropriations supporting the operation of that facility or activity, as 
determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
    (2) Any amount recovered under this section for the cost to the 
United States of pay of an injured or diseased member of the uniformed 
services shall be credited to the appropriation that supports the 
operation of the command, activity, or other unit to which the member 
was assigned at the time of the injury or illness, as determined under 
regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned.

(g) Definitions

    For the purposes of this section:
        (1) The term ``uniformed services'' has the meaning given such 
    term in section 101 of title 10.
        (2) The term ``tortious conduct'' includes any tortiousomission.
        (3) The term ``pay'', with respect to a member of the uniformed 
    services, means basic pay, special pay, and incentive pay that the 
    member is authorized to receive under title 37 or any other law 
    providing pay for service in the uniformed services.
        (4) The term ``Secretary concerned'' means--
            (A) the Secretary of Defense, with respect to the Army, the 
        Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard (when 
        it is operating as a service in the Navy);
            (B) the Secretary of Transportation, with respect to the 
        Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy;
            (C) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect 
        to the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service; and
            (D) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect to the 
        commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration.

(Pub. L. 87-693, Sec. 1, Sept. 25, 1962, 76 Stat. 593; Pub. L. 102-54, 
Sec. 13(q)(8), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 281; Pub. L. 104-201, div. A, 
title X, Sec. 1075(a), (b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2661, 2663.)

                       References in Text

    Effective date of this Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is the first 
day of the fourth month following September 1962, see section 4 of Pub. 
L. 87-693 set out as an Effective Date note below.


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(b)(1), inserted 
``(independent of the rights of the injured or diseased person)'' after 
``a right to recover'' and ``, or that person's insurer,'' after ``from 
said third person''.
    Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(a)(1), (2), inserted ``or pay for'' after 
``required by law to furnish'' and substituted ``, to be furnished, paid 
for, or to be paid for'' for ``or to be furnished'' in two places.
    Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(a)(3), added subsecs. 
(b) and (c). Former subsecs. (b) and (c) redesignated (d) and (e), 
respectively.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(a)(4), (b)(2), substituted 
``a right under subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section'' for 
``such right,'' in introductory provisions, inserted ``or paid for'' 
after ``treatment is furnished'' in par. (2), and inserted ``or the 
insurance carrier or other entity responsible for the payment or 
reimbursement of medical expenses or lost pay'' after ``the third person 
who is liable for the injury or disease'' in pars. (1) and (2).
    Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(a)(2), redesignated subsec. (b) as (d).
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(a)(2), redesignated subsec. 
(c) as (e).
    Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 1075(a)(5), added subsecs. 
(f) and (g).
    1991--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102-54 substituted ``Department of 
Veterans Affairs'' for ``Veterans' Administration''.


                    Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

    Section 1075(c) of Pub. L. 104-201 provided that: ``The authority to 
collect pursuant to the amendments made by this section [amending this 
section] shall apply to expenses described in the first section of 
Public Law 87-693 [this section] (as amended by this section) that are 
incurred, or are to be incurred, by the United States on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 23, 1996], whether the event 
from which the claim arises occurs before, on, or after that date.''


                             Effective Date

    Section 4 of Pub. L. 87-693 provided that: ``This Act [enacting this 
chapter] becomes effective on the first day of the fourth month 
following the month [September 1962] in which enacted.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2652, 2653 of this title.
