RE: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,162097,00.html

"The government maintains that the intent of the 2003 law is unclear."

But apparently this judge and others have no problem... Maybe the government needs to have their peeps get a GED so they too can understand...

Waiting for Anne Coulter to step in there and talk about how they're all happy their husbands were killed.

Maybe it is just time for all those civilian bureaucrats and especially the federal Legislators to have their retirement funds screwed around with. can you imagine the hue and cry if that were to happen.
Just another indication that our own government holds our military protectors, and thier families, in such disdain

If this does come to pass hopefully it will apply to all of us who lost our SBP simply by being determined eligible for DIC compensation and not because we remarried before 57. If not, we will then be penalized for not remarrying.

Would we not have been eligible for DIC due to our husband's service connected death if we had chosen not to participate in SBP?

quote:

Maybe it is just time for all those civilian bureaucrats and especially the federal Legislators to have their retirement funds screwed around with. can you imagine the hue and cry if that were to happen.

Sorry! It's been long overdue. Politics = Crooks!

Everyday I check the military web sites that I belong to for info on the SBP/DIC Offset. There have been many bills before the House and Senate for years on this subject. Any information that I was able to get was usually just an update on the status of the bill and the fact that for years, it gets put on hold for another session.

Today, I finally feel like we are making progress because of Mrs. Haverkamp, Mrs.Rogers and Mrs. Sharp,and many others who have joined in this fight. For the past two years I have written letters to everyone I could find an email address for. Many times I received answers telling me that they didn't have a clue as to what I was referring to. When I contacted a local VFW in Brevard County, Florida (lots of retirees here), I was again told that they didn't know anything about the offset until I explained to them how it worked. (I would like to see the VFW on a national level get involved).

My husband spent 23 years in the Coast Guard, serving 26 months in-country in Vietnam. He died in March of 2002 from lung and prostrate cancer, directly attributed to agent orange. He had turned 69 the month before his death .I began receiving SBP but was never told that I was also entitled to receive DIC. I found out from a woman I worked with.

I filed in February of 2006 and received my first DIC check in October............minus the amount that I had received from my Coast Guard annuity (SBP) for those past 8 months. This I could not understand since my understanding of SBP was it was set up as a life insurance plan by my late husband to take care of me in case of his death. Receiving DIC was something entirely different. It was money being paid to me because his death was caused by a war related injury/illness. If he had not been exposed to agent orange, in Vietnam, he might still be alive and well and with me today.

It seemed so simple to me. I tried to explain it to many legislators, who, while doing their best to be polite, still didn't understand it. I guess if one has never been in the service or exposed to any form of military life, it would be difficult to understand our situation, especially when the issue of money is involved.

Very simply put; your spouse takes out a life insurance policy with State Farm Insurance, and names you as beneficiary in case of his death. Then he takes out an accidental death insurance policy with Allstate Insurance, in case he loses his life due to an accident. You are also named as beneficiary on this policy.

Sound simple so far? Not for some. Now your spouse dies after being hit by a car. An accident, yes, but you are told by the life insurance company that since you are collecting on the accident policy, you are not entitled to the life insurance payment. ONE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER. SBP and DIC have nothing to do with each other and are not even paid out of the same "pot".

My question is, what gives anyone, anywhere the right to withhold money that is rightfully and lawfully ours and then make us beg to get it back? Just how long is this fight going to take? When we are all dead and gone, who will get it? Since he paid all those years into SBP why aren't we entitled to a refund of those premiums paid. If they are not paying us, what are they doing with the money and where is it?

In reading the letter written by Mr. Philpott, I hope someone can answer what was meant by the following: "After VA determined that her husband's brain stem cancer was service connected and qualified her for DIC, the SBP annuity stopped and his premiums were refunded". Refunded to whom? Who received the refunded premiums, the widow, the government or the branch of service he belonged to? Also, am I supposed to get married in order to receive both?

As I have stated many times to many people, this money is not going to make me wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. What it will do for myself and many like me is make my life just a little bit easier without my husband. We should be together and enjoying life. This is why he took the time to plan ahead. I refuse to sit back and do nothing and let our government take it away from me and all the other widows/widowers like me. This money belongs to us.

We can fight by writing, getting our families to write and making phone calls. They do listen when enough people speak. We just have to put the pressure on them.

Ignorance is not bliss and I was totally unaware of the SBP/DIC offset. Thank you mare1108 for explaining the issue so specifically. I receive DIC, never remarried and I am the 61 years widow of a 100% service connected husband who also suffered from agent Orange exposure and died in 1998. I understand I could also be entitled to SBP because indeed, one has nothing to do with the other! Hopefully our voices will be heard and the problem corrected.

I have often thought that the whole surviors benefits plan is unfair. Should my spouse, the retired Military person die, will my mortgage payments stop? Can I turn the heat or air conditioning down because there is one less person in the house? What would the local tax people think if I asked for a real estate tax reduction? How about the homeowner's insurance agent? I wonder how much more it will cost me to hire someone to mow the lawn and fix the things my husband now takes care of? Granted, I will only use half the gas that we now use and I could sell one car..... Not having to buy clothes for my husband won't matter much, since he mostly goes around in old work clothes since retirement (more comfortable.) We don't eat a heck of a lot and haven't been to dinner or the theatre in years, so I don't see much savings there....... I wonder why I would only be getting 55%? Does the government really think that my husband alone uses 45% of his retirement pay? The way I view it, it will probably wind up costing me a lot more, if he is not around.

And BTW, he was only in Thailand, but arrived there to build a base in the middle of the jungle. When he was diagnosed with diabetes he applied for DIC, but was told that since he was not in Vietnam, the agent orange claim would not apply. Doesn't matter that the whole jungle area had to be cleared with chemicals. The ones who make the decisions did not see the probability that since agent orange was used in Vietnam, it was also used in Thailand. It also did not matter that he flew to Vietnam with and to get supplies and that the planes that he was in possibly had held agent orange. The water he was drinking could have been tainted with it too. It did not matter, you see, as he had to PROVE it. By the time he could PROVE anything, he would probably have expired anyhow. Guess that is what the powers that be figure on.

It boils down to this.
NO surviving spouse should be denied either program when their spouse dies. They ARE NOT the same. SBP is for Service CAREER in which the spouse ELECTED to REDUCE his/her RETIREMENT pay so his/her spouse would have a portion of that pay to live on after the service member passed away. And guess what, you DO NOT get back what was taken out if your spouse dies before you! NICE AND FAIR EH????
DIC is awarded to the surviving spouse because the service member died due to DISABILITIES or WOUNDS suffered due to Service in the military.
These two programs are paid out of entirely two separate funds and it is NO DIFFERENT than the issue of RETIREES getting BOTH their retired pay and VA disability pay.
Just another screw over by the DoD in the long line of screw overs.
Remember folks, if they can't take and keep your money, they won't be able to pay for their new toys.
I am only praying and hoping this issue is resolved before I ever die and my Wife will be able to receive both. The portion of my retired pay that I have offset for her and the DIC from the VA for my service connected disabilities.
The absolute best thing we all can do, especially in this election year is WRITE to our Congressional members and tell them to get this issue RESOLVED once and for all in the Vets and their Spouses favor.
Oh yeah, as a last thought, there also should NO OFFSET or REDUCTION to SBP when a surviving spouse reaches Social Security age. Again, These two programs ARE NOT THE SAME.
AF Class 60-87

I hope by getting the word out we can help a lot of people. the more pressure we put on our representatives the faster we will see results. Remember also, this is an election year and Washington wants to do anythig and everything they can to look good to the American voters, expecially the military families.

According to Senator Nelson, Florida, we are supposed to be getting $50 a month starting this year and an additional $10 each year after that for the next 5 years. If you do the math, that means we will be getting $100 a month by the year 2013. WOW! And to think that when they stopped my Coast Guard annuity check I was getting almost $800 a month. I have to wonder if they think we are all just plain stupid. That is totally unacceptable as far as I am concerned. I personally feel like it is a slap in the face and even worse an insult to my late husband, who gave his life for this country.

quote:

Originally posted by 10634607:
Ignorance is not bliss and I was totally unaware of the SBP/DIC offset. Thank you mare1108 for explaining the issue so specifically. I receive DIC, never remarried and I am the 61 years widow of a 100% service connected husband who also suffered from agent Orange exposure and died in 1998. I understand I could also be entitled to SBP because indeed, one has nothing to do with the other! Hopefully our voices will be heard and the problem corrected.

While going through old papers recently I ran across a form I received when notified that I was entitled to DIC (beginning September 1998). This statement has always mystified me: "The Department of Veterans Affairs will discontinue payments upon death, remarriage or entry into a relationship with another person where the individuals hold themselves out openly to the public as being married. The law provides that entitlement to benefits is permanently lost upon remarriage or entry into a relationship where the individuals hold themselves out to the public as being married." What the heck does that mean? If I choose to live with someone and my neighbors perceive us as being married am I holding myself out to the public as being married? They were telling me that I would have to spend the rest of my life alone and lonely because my husband died from a service connected death if I wanted to receive DIC.

Of course not long after that I received notice that my SBP would stop effective the day the DIC began. They informed me that of course I wanted the DIC since it was more per month and tax free and I could not have both. I did receive the amount my husband had paid in premiums for SBP during his 24 years of retirement, minus the months I had received SBP payments, which they classified as an overpayment. I had never heard of DIC and doubt very seriously if my husband had been informed when choosing to participate in SBP that it would be offset by DIC should I ever become eligible to receive it. Fortunately for me I was referred to a very sharp and helpful employee of the local Veterans Administration Office who helped me through the red tape of applying and gathering informaton.

My monthly SBP payments at the time were 580.00 per month. The DIC was 850.00, so I gained a grand total of 270.00 by receiving DIC and did not have to pay income tax on it. To my way of thinking for 10 years now I have been paying approximately two thirds of my own DIC every month. If my husband had chosen to not participate in SBP I would be receiving DIC without having to forfeit anything. How fair is that?

Am really enjoying reading all the postings and glad I ran across this topic . Thanks for letting me sound off and I look forward to reading and learning about all the different and individual situations out there.

I too, find the postings very informative and useful. What we really need to do is let Washington hear from us. We need to do it over and over again until they realize that we are not going away. We are close to victory but I really don't want to wait until I am dead and buried before someone decides to get off their you know what and give us back what we are entitled to.

It is ours, it is what our husbands wanted for us and they have no business with holding it from us any longer. I did not ask or want to be widowed. My husband did not want to die, but the fact is, he did. My husband died because of a service connected illness/injury through no fault of his.

Our government knew what the effects of agent orange were going to be long before they made it public. They just didn't care. As far as our government is concerned, our military men are expendable and the families they leave behind are not important.

Being told that they are going to give us $50 this year and $10 for the next five years is a joke. In five years that will only be $100 an month. Where is the rest going? I know that I am entitled to a lot more than that.

Please, everyone out there that is due back compensation from their SBP, contact your representatives and tell them that we want what is rightfully ours. Encourage your friends, children, family and anyone else you can think of to write, call email or fax a letter.

Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. We will not only be helping ourselves but others that will come after us.

I THINK IT IS UNFAIR FOR WE WIFES THAT GET NOTHING MY HUSBAND WENT TO VIETNAM 4TIMES AND WAS INTHE GULF WAR AND WHEN HE DIED I WAS TOLD SO SORRY YOU DIDNT HAVE THE SBP YOU GET NOTHING BY OUT VET AFFAIRDS GUY SO I DIDNOT KNOW WHAT TO DO AND I STILL DONT MY HUSBAND WAS IN THE NAVY FOR 30 YEARS I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE ALL OF HIS RETIREMENT CHECK IS GOING IT SURE IS NOT GOING TO ME MAY TO THE PEOPLE OVER SEAS DADDYS_JOMAMA

Jo_mama,

I am so sorry to hear that you are not receiving anything after your husbands death.

Could you please answer the following questions and maybe someone will be able to help.

1. What was the cause of your husbands death?
2. Was he retired when he passed away?
3. How long were you married when he died?
4. Was he physically in-country in Vietnam
during the war?
5. Do you know if he was ever exposed to agent
orange?
6. Did he ever discuss with you signing up for
SBP when he was in the process of retiring?
7. In order for you to receive SBP, your husband must have elected to have it deducted from his retirement check each month. Do you know if he did this? If he did not, then you would not be entitled to receive any of his retirement check. SBP is an annuity that the service member pays into each month, after retirement, so that his/her surviving spouse will receive a check in case of their death.

I do not know whether you will be entitled to any money or not, but it's worth a try.

Remember, the vetern's affairs office does not always give you the information that you need. I don't know if they are instructed not to do this or whether they just don't know themselves. I know that I certainly was not told things that I shoud have been told and I found out a lot, quite by accident. But again, better late than never.

GOD BLESS YOU MRS. HAVERKAMP. MY FATHER DIED , DECEMBER
25,2004. I DON'T KNOW IF HE SIGNED FOR MY MOTHER TO RECEIVED
SBP. BUT I DO KNOW HE WAS 100 PERCENT DISABLE. HIS CONDITION WAS CAUSED BY BEING IN THE MILLITARY. HE WAS SENT TO TWO NURSING HOME. HE HAD ONE LEG AMBUTATED IN
EACH NURSING HOME. MY SISTER AND I TRIED TO GET HIS RECORD FROM THESE NURSING HOME AND THEY WOULD NOT RELEASE
THEM TO US FOR SOME REASON. MOTHER DO RECEIVED THE DIC.,
BUT I BELIEVE SHE SHOULD GET MORE THAN SHE IS GETTING NOW.
MY FATHER WAS A CHIEF PETTY OFFICE, HE WAS IN THE KOREAN WAR AND THE VIETNAM WAR. MY MOTHER IS TOTAL DISABLE, TOTAL CARE. I TAKE CARE OF HER MYSELF,AND , SHE DID NOT REMARRIED.

From what I understand, Congress has made sure that their survivors are going to be well taken care of and I would be willing to bet that they deem their lives to be worth a great deal more than that of a military serviceman!

The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs is considering S.amendment 4979 NOW to eliminate the SBP/DIC offset.I am e-mailing them daily on their website becasue both my Fl. Senators already support this action. The Military Coalition [5.5 million strong] sent them a petition. More sponsors are needed especially on the Committee.Many widows,including my self, need this help. Let's help each other.

I just read some of your post . I too fall in this group where my husband had sbp and when he died from agent orange got dic . I never though of it like you explained it . But it's true what can I do to find out every thing that is going on with this subject . Ebstill99@aol.com

I also recieve dic and my sbp was stopped, where do i go to make sure i get my sbp back