Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§253b Former Lighthouse Service employees; medical service eligibility

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 6A— - PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES › Part Part C— - Hospitals, Medical Examinations, and Medical Care › § 253b

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Per President's rules, ex‑Lighthouse staff who retired under 33 U.S.C. §763 with Public Health Service (PHS) care before July 1, 1944 — including those forced into civilian Coast Guard duty after June 30, 1939 — receive PHS medical, surgical, dental, and hospital care.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §253b

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Subject to regulations of the President, lightkeepers, assistant lightkeepers, and officers and crews of vessels of the former Lighthouse Service, including any such persons who subsequent to June 30, 1939, were involuntarily assigned to other civilian duty in the Coast Guard, who were entitled to medical relief at hospitals and other stations of the Public Health Service prior to July 1, 1944, and who retired under the provisions of section 763 of title 33, shall be entitled to medical, surgical, and dental treatment and hospitalization at hospitals and other stations of the Public Health Service.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as a part of Health Services Research, Health Statistics, and Medical Libraries Act of 1974, and also as a part of Health Services Research and Evaluation and Health Statistics Act of 1974, and not as a part of the Public Health Service Act which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 93–353, title I, § 108(b),
July 23, 1974, 88 Stat. 371, provided that: “Subsection (a) [enacting this section] shall be effective from
December 28, 1973.”

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 253b

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73