catastrophic injury or illnessmeans a permanent, severely disabling injury, disorder, or illness that the Secretary concerned determines compromises the ability of the afflicted person to carry out the activities of daily living to such a degree that the person requires—
cost of livingmeans a price index selected by the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the other administering Secretaries, from among the following indices:
dependenthas the meaning given that term in section 401 of this title.
designated duty assignmentmeans a permanent or temporary duty assignment outside the United States or its possessions in support of a contingency operation in an area that—
householdmeans a member of the armed forces and any dependents of the member enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, regardless of the location of those dependents.
permanent change of stationmeans a permanent change of station described in section 452(b)(2) of this title.
supplemental nutrition assistance programmeans the program established pursuant to section 4 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2013).
uniformed services cost of livingmeans the price index selected as described in paragraph (2) and adjusted as the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the other administering Secretaries, considers appropriate to reflect variations between expenses of members of the uniformed services (as offset by the basic allowance for subsistence) and the corresponding expenses of persons not members of the uniformed services with regard to the following: