Service members and veterans who earned the Medal of Honor for their actions will see a sizable increase in their special pensions. Their special annual pension will more than quadruple under a new law.
After the Monetary Enhancement for Distinguished Active Legends (or MEDAL) Act was signed into effect this week, recipients will see their Medal of Honor pensions increase from a base of $1,406.73 to $5,625 per month. Annually, their honorarium will go from roughly $18,000 to $67,500.
The new law applies to living Medal of Honor recipients. It also creates a new monthly rate of $1,406.73 for spouses of deceased service members who earned the award. The legislation calls for both of these rates to be adjusted annually to deal with inflation.
The special honorarium, paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs, started in 1916. Congress initially authorized $10 per month for the rest of each recipient’s life, to be adjusted as the cost of living and inflation increased.
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Retired Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in 2013 during the War in Afghanistan, said in a statement that the increased honorarium helps ease the financial burden on veterans, many of them aging, who travel heavily to speak with units, civic groups and others.
“Recipients never want to say no to an opportunity to share their stories or the values of the Medal, even when it places strain on our own families,” Plumlee said. “This legislation helps balance that scale. It supports their livelihood in a way that allows them to keep serving without carrying the burden alone.
There are currently 61 living Medal of Honor recipients, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Of those, 45 are veterans of the Vietnam War, while the other 16 fought in the Global War on Terror, said Morgan Blakley, the organization’s communications director.
The bill passed in the House of Representatives in February. It only passed in the Senate last month, with the president signing it into law on Monday, Dec. 1. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who introduced the bill in the House, had cited a lack of reimbursement for recipients helping with recruiting, or families asking for donations to help with expenses, as reasons for raising the stipend.
“The least we can do is lift the financial burden off of these selfless warriors who continue to serve our great nation,” Nehls said in a statement on Monday after the legislation was signed into law.
Since the award was created in 1863 during the American Civil War, Congress has given the Medal of Honor to 3,528 service members.
