A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to allow the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to distinguish between the severity of a qualifying loss of a dominant hand and a qualifying loss of a non-dominant hand for purposes of traumatic injury protection under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, and for other purposes.

Allows the schedule of payments under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) for a traumatic injury to distinguish between the severity of a loss of a dominant hand and a non-dominant hand.

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[S. 347 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 347

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to distinguish between the severity of a qualifying 
 loss of a dominant hand and a qualifying loss of a non-dominant hand 
for purposes of traumatic injury protection under Servicemembers' Group 
                Life Insurance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2009

 Mr. Ensign (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to distinguish between the severity of a qualifying 
 loss of a dominant hand and a qualifying loss of a non-dominant hand 
for purposes of traumatic injury protection under Servicemembers' Group 
                Life Insurance, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONSIDERATION OF LOSS OF DOMINANT HAND IN PRESCRIPTION OF 
              SCHEDULE OF SEVERITY OF TRAUMATIC INJURY UNDER 
              SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1980A(d) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Payments under'' and inserting ``(1) 
        Payments under''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) As the Secretary considers appropriate, the schedule required 
by paragraph (1) may distinguish in specifying payments for qualifying 
losses between the severity of a qualifying loss of a dominant hand and 
a qualifying loss of a non-dominant hand.''.
    (b) Payments for Qualifying Losses Incurred Before Date of 
Enactment.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        prescribe in regulations mechanisms for payments under section 
        1980A of title 38, United States Code, for qualifying losses 
        incurred before the date of the enactment of this Act by reason 
        of the requirements of paragraph (2) of subsection (d) of such 
        section (as amended by subsection (a)(2) of this section).
            (2) Qualifying loss defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        ``qualifying loss'' means--
                    (A) a loss specified in the second sentence of 
                subsection (b)(1) of section 1980A of title 38, United 
                States Code; and
                    (B) any other loss specified by the Secretary of 
                Veterans Affairs pursuant to the first sentence of that 
                subsection.
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