5 U.S.C. § 8142 — Peace Corps volunteers

(a) For this section, "volunteer" means three things: a volunteer enrolled in the Peace Corps under section 2504 of title 22; a volunteer leader enrolled under section 2505 of title 22; and an applicant for enrollment as a volunteer or volunteer leader, during a period of pre-enrollment training under section 2507(a) of title 22. (b) Subject to this section's rules, this subchapter applies to a volunteer, except that entitlement to disability compensation payments does not begin until the day after the volunteer's service ends. (c) For this subchapter: (1) a volunteer is deemed to receive monthly pay at the minimum rate for GS-7; (2) a volunteer leader, or a volunteer with one or more minor children as section 2504 defines that, is instead deemed to receive monthly pay at the minimum rate for GS-11; (3) an injury suffered by a volunteer while outside the states and the District of Columbia is deemed proximately caused by their Peace Corps employment, unless it was caused by the volunteer's willful misconduct, the volunteer's intent to injure or kill themselves or another, or the volunteer's own intoxication; and (4) a volunteer's period of service includes any pre-enrollment training under section 2507(a), plus the period between enrollment as a volunteer and the termination of that service by the President, death, or resignation. (d) (1) The Secretary must authorize the Director of the Peace Corps to furnish medical benefits, for 120 days after a volunteer's service ends, to a volunteer injured during that service — if the Director certifies the injury probably meets the requirements of (c)(3). The Secretary may then certify vouchers for these expenses from the Employees' Compensation Fund. (2) The Secretary prescribes the form and content of that certification. (3) The certification ceases to be effective if the volunteer sustains a compensable disability in connection with volunteer service. (4) Nothing in this subsection authorizes any medical benefit that the Secretary of Labor is not otherwise authorized to reimburse for former Peace Corps volunteers treated for an injury or disease proximately caused by their Peace Corps service, in accordance with this chapter.