Summary

Creates a federal cause of action allowing members of the uniformed services to sue the United States for negligent or wrongful medical, dental, or related health-care acts or omissions that cause personal injury or death when care is provided at covered military medical treatment facilities. The new law replaces a prior statute, makes the claim against the United States the exclusive remedy (protecting individual providers from personal civil suits), bars reducing awards by veterans’ benefits or Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, and sets a 10-year discovery-based statute of limitations with special tolling rules for certain pending administrative claims. The measure also excludes specific FTCA exceptions, applies a special choice-of-law rule for incidents outside the United States, requires biennial Attorney General reporting on claims, and defines key terms and which military medical facilities are covered (excluding battalion aid stations and facilities in combat zones).

Key Points

• Creates a federal cause of action against the United States for negligent or wrongful medical/dental care that injures or kills service members at covered military medical facilities.
• Repeals the prior statutory remedy (10 U.S.C. § 2733a) and moves claims into Title 28 with a new exclusive remedy against the U.S.
• Makes suits against individual military health-care employees unavailable for these claims; claimants sue the United States instead.
• Prohibits reducing awards by amounts received from veterans’ benefits or Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance.
• Establishes a 10-year discovery-based statute of limitations and provides special tolling rules for certain pending administrative claims.
• Excludes application of certain FTCA exceptions (28 U.S.C. § 2680(j) and (k)) and sets a special choice-of-law rule for incidents outside the U.S.
• Limits covered facilities—includes facilities maintained under 10 U.S.C. § 1073d but excludes battalion aid stations and facilities in combat zones.
• Requires the Attorney General to report biennially, starting within two years of enactment, on the number of claims filed under the new law.

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