Spouses of War on Terrorism Veterans May Not Get Full Survivor Benefits

[Dover]

WASHINGTON, July 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- If a suggested Department of Defense plan is implemented, many surviving spouses of service members who died in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) may inadvertently not receive full benefits under the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), a program intended to help spouses cope with the loss of their principal wage earner.

Changes to the law last year allowed surviving spouses of men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan become eligible to participate in SBP. Based on statistics collected by the Family Research Center in Arlington, Va., a conservative estimate of 300 of these surviving spouses may have joined the program. Many who are raising families also could qualify for social security benefits, but that's where one of the problems could occur if the Pentagon's proposal is implemented.

If Congress abandons its corrections to SBP and accepts DoD's proposal, surviving spouses who elect to accept social security may find their military survivors benefit reduced to 35 percent instead of the full 55 percent, if the law is not carefully rewritten.

Tom Philpot reported in his July 22 column that the Department of Defense is suggesting alternate solutions to fix the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) penalty on aging surviving spouses. The Reserve Officers Association disagrees with the Pentagon.

"Their (Pentaton) proposals do not appear to properly correct a long overdue injustice," retired Maj. Gen. Robert A. Nester, president of the Reserve Officers Association, wrote in his weekly column. "They seem to actually raze the good intentions of the Congress. Any actions this late in the process, such as inserting the DoD formulas, will put passage of the much needed SPB reform in jeopardy. That delaying impact is unacceptable to the Reserve Officers Association," he said.

So what is the penalty and how does SBP work? If a service member dies, the surviving spouse receives 55 percent of the pension until age 62. At age 62, that annuity drops to 35 percent, offsetting social security payments, which begin at the same age. To allow their spouses to receive this benefit, retired service members pay a monthly premium before their death....CONT'D >

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=143-07282004

[lapfog_1]

1. Who really believes that this is "inadvertent" on the part of DOD?

Can the author really believe this is a honest mistake...
the DOD has been trying to cut the benefits of every returning
soldier from Iraq and deny health claims of others for decades
now, especially under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld.

[izzie]

2. All I can say is that is better than it was and it was not to good.

God help the service man and family as the GOP will not.

[struggle4progress]

3. kick for veterans' families once again shafted by the Bushistas.

:kick: