Medal of Honor Act

The law raises the monthly special pension paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs to living Medal of Honor recipients, replacing the fixed rate of $1,406.73 with a rate equal to monthly VA disability compensation for a veteran without dependents under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(m), further increased to the next intermediate rate under § 1114(p) — a figure the CRS summary puts at approximately $8,333.33. The new rate adjusts annually in step with the VA disability compensation schedule, with a safeguard preventing a double increase in any year it is otherwise adjusted. The law also establishes the prior $1,406.73 figure as the monthly special pension rate for surviving spouses of Medal of Honor recipients, and separately extends a pension payment limit deadline from November 30, 2031, to January 31, 2033.

The law does not alter the criteria for earning the Medal of Honor or for placement on the Medal of Honor Roll, and it leaves the existing VA administrative framework for paying the pension intact. The new rate is self-executing through the existing benefit formula rather than requiring new agency rulemaking.

Living Medal of Honor recipients enrolled on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll, who will receive the substantially higher monthly pension. Surviving spouses of Medal of Honor recipients, who gain a codified pension rate of $1,406.73. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers both pensions, is also directly affected.

Living Medal of Honor recipients will see their monthly special pension rise from roughly $1,407 to roughly $8,333 — a nearly six-fold increase — in recognition of the nation's highest military decoration. Tying the rate to the VA disability compensation schedule means recipients and surviving spouses will no longer need Congress to pass separate legislation each time the benefit needs to keep pace with inflation.

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs pays the special pension monthly to each living person on the Medal of Honor Roll. Under the new formula, the rate equals the VA disability compensation rate under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(m) raised to the next intermediate rate under § 1114(p), and it increases automatically when those underlying VA compensation rates are adjusted for inflation. A statutory safeguard bars a duplicate annual increase if the rate was already raised that year through another mechanism. No new rulemaking is required; the rate formula references existing VA compensation tables administered by the Department.