Congress expands Medal of Honor survivor benefits—no trade-off.
H.R. 803 — Sergeant Gary Beikirch Medal of Honor Act · Filed by Joseph Morelle (D-NY) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 28, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill allows the surviving spouse of a Medal of Honor recipient to receive a special Medal of Honor pension at the same time as dependency and indemnity compensation (a survivor benefit). Currently, federal law forces survivors to choose one or the other. The bill removes that restriction by deleting a provision that prohibited concurrent receipt of both benefits.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to remove a restriction on concurrent receipt of two survivor benefits for Medal of Honor recipients' spouses. It is a straightforward expansion of existing veteran benefits, not a tax provision, appropriation, or regulatory change.
What the text implies
- The bill does not specify an effective date or retroactive application, so the timing of benefit commencement for current survivors is unclear from the text alone and depends on how the VA implements the change.
- Fiscal impact is not quantified in the bill; the cost depends on the number of Medal of Honor recipients' surviving spouses currently living and the difference between the two benefit amounts.
Who stands to gain
surviving spouses of Medal of Honor recipients