Sec. 3. Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program
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Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the Secretary ) shall establish a program to be known as the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program (in this section referred to as the Program ) for the purpose of providing compensation to individuals injured by exposure to thalidomide. Subject to subsection (c), to receive compensation under the Program, an individual shall submit to the Secretary a petition at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, which shall include documentation from a physician or other health professional showing that— the individual was exposed to thalidomide; and the individual suffered injury as a result of such exposure.
No petition may be submitted under the Program after May 31, 2034. No individual may submit more than 1 petition under the Program. No petition may be submitted under the Program by an individual who— is not an American citizen or permanent resident at the time of such submission; or was not an American citizen or permanent resident at the time of the individual’s exposure to thalidomide on which the petition is based. For any petition for which the expert panel described in paragraph
(2)determines that the individual was exposed to thalidomide and suffered injury as a result of such exposure, the Secretary shall pay the individual $150,000. The expert panel described in this paragraph is a panel of legal, medical, and thalidomide experts and survivors, to be appointed by the Secretary for the purpose of reviewing petitions under the Program. Compensation provided under this section to an individual may not be considered for the purpose of calculating such individual’s income or assets under any means-tested welfare program. For the purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for each of fiscal years 2028 through 2034, such sums as the Secretary certifies are necessary to carry out this section for each such fiscal year.