House committee OKs bill that boosts disability pay for many medically retired veterans

[Tony]

Some 50,000 medically retired veterans would receive increased service-related payments under a bill advanced Wednesday for a House vote by the chamber’s Armed Services Committee.

The Major Richard Star Act would allow veterans medically retired from the military for combat-related injuries before serving 20 years to receive full retirement pay and disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The measure was passed by the House Armed Services Committee by unanimous voice vote just before the committee took up the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill that sets Congress' policy and spending priorities for the Pentagon.