Title 38Veterans' BenefitsRelease 119-73

§1903 Amount of insurance

Title 38 › Part PART II— - GENERAL BENEFITS › Chapter CHAPTER 19— - INSURANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - NATIONAL SERVICE LIFE INSURANCE › § 1903

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Insurance must be bought in $500 steps, and each person can have between $1,000 and $10,000 of coverage. A person cannot have more than $10,000 total in National Service Life Insurance plus United States Government life insurance at the same time, but that limit does not apply to extra paid-up coverage allowed under section 1907.

Full Legal Text

Title 38, §1903

Veterans' Benefits — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Insurance shall be issued in any multiple of $500 and the amount of insurance with respect to any one person shall be not less than $1,000 or more than $10,000. No person may carry a combined amount of National Service Life Insurance and United States Government life insurance in excess of $10,000 at any one time. The limitations of this section shall not apply to the additional paid up insurance the purchase of which is authorized under section 1907 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Prior section 1903 was renumbered section 3903 of this title. Another prior section 1903, Pub. L. 85–857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1216, related to limitation on amounts paid by United States, prior to the general revision of chapter 39 of this title by Pub. L. 91–666. See section 3902 of this title.

Amendments

1991—Pub. L. 102–83 renumbered section 703 of this title as this section and substituted “1907” for “707”. 1971—Pub. L. 92–188 made section limitations inapplicable to the additional paid up insurance purchase of which is authorized under section 707 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1971 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 92–188 effective on date established by Administrator but in no event later than first day of first calendar month beginning more than six calendar months after Dec. 15, 1971, see section 4 of Pub. L. 92–188, set out as a note under section 1907 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

38 U.S.C. § 1903

Title 38Veterans' Benefits

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73