HERO Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6730 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6730

  To amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, to allow suit 
  against the United States for injuries and deaths of members of the 
             Armed Forces caused by improper medical care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 16, 2025

  Mr. Issa (for himself, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Panetta) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, to allow suit 
  against the United States for injuries and deaths of members of the 
             Armed Forces caused by improper medical care.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Healthcare Equality and Rights for 
Our Heroes Act'' or the ``HERO Act''.

SEC. 2. CLAIMS AGAINST UNITED STATES FOR INJURY AND DEATH OF MEMBERS OF 
              THE UNIFORM SERVICES CAUSED BY IMPROPER MEDICAL CARE.

    (a) Repeal.--Section 2733a of title 10, United States Code, is 
repealed.
    (b) In General.--Chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2681. Claims against United States for injury and death of 
              members of the uniformed services
    ``(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a claim may be 
brought against the United States under this chapter for damages for 
personal injury or death of a member of the uniformed services arising 
out of a negligent or wrongful act or omission in the performance of 
medical, dental, or related health care functions (including clinical 
studies and investigations) that is provided at a covered military 
medical treatment facility by an employee acting within the scope of 
their office or employment or by or at the direction of the Government 
of the United States and shall be exclusive of any other civil action 
or proceeding by reason of the same subject matter against such 
employee (or the estate of such employee) whose act or omission gave 
rise to the action or proceeding.
    ``(b) A claim under this section may not be reduced--
            ``(1) by the amount of any benefit received pursuant to 
        laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
            ``(2) by the amount of any benefit received under 
        subchapter III (relating to Servicemembers' Group Life 
        Insurance) of chapter 19 of title 38.
    ``(c) Notwithstanding section 2401(b)--
            ``(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), a claim arising 
        under this section may not be commenced later than 10 years 
        after the date on which the claimant discovered, or by 
        reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury and the 
        cause of the injury; and
            ``(2) with respect to an administrative claim pending 
        pursuant to section 2733a of title 10 as of the enactment of 
        this subsection, the limitations period described in paragraph 
        (1) shall begin on the date of enactment of this subsection.
    ``(d) For purposes of claims brought under this section--
            ``(1) subsections (j) and (k) of section 2680 shall not 
        apply; and
            ``(2) in the case of an act or omission occurring outside 
        the United States, the law of the place where the act or 
        omission occurred shall be deemed to be the law of the State of 
        domicile of the claimant.
    ``(e) Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
this section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Attorney General shall 
submit to Congress a report on the number of claims filed under this 
section.
    ``(f) In this section--
            ``(1) the term `active service' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101 of title 10;
            ``(2) the term `Armed Forces' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of title 10;
            ``(3) the term `covered military medical treatment 
        facility'--
                    ``(A) means a facility maintained under section 
                1073d of title 10; and
                    ``(B) does not include battalion aid stations or 
                other military medical treatment facilities in an area 
                of armed conflict or combatant activities.
            ``(4) the term `member of the uniformed services' includes 
        a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces if the 
        claim by the member under this section is in connection with 
        personal injury or death that occurred while the member was 
        performing active service;
            ``(5) the term `reserve components' means the reserve 
        components specified in section 10101 of title 10; and
            ``(6) the term `uniformed services' shall have the meaning 
        given such term in section 101 of title 10.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 171 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``2681. Claims against United States for injury and death of members of 
                            the Armed Forces.''.
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