Capt Hank
02-18-2005, 17:04
** New SBP Bills Introduced in House
On Wednesday, Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC) and 23 other original cosponsors introduced HR 808, which would end the dollar-for-dollar deduction of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (paid by the VA when the member's death is due to service-caused conditions) from the survivor's military Survivor Benefit Plan annuity. Because most SBP annuities are relatively low, the SBP/DIC offset often eliminates most or all of the SBP, leaving many surviving spouses with only the $993 monthly DIC annuity. HR 808 already has built a list of 54 cosponsors.
On Thursday, Rep. Jim Saxton introduced his bill (number not yet available at press time), which would change the effective date of 30-year, paid-up SBP from Oct 1, 2008 to Oct 1, 2005. Congress authorized paid-up SBP coverage in 1998 for any member who attains age 70 and has paid at least 30 years of SBP premiums. But the effective date was delayed for 10 years to save money. In effect, this imposed a "Greatest Generation tax" on the oldest military retirees who enrolled when SBP was first enacted in 1972. Before that, many paid premiums under the earlier Retired Servicemen's Family Protection Plan. By this fall, those 1972 SBP enrollees already will have paid almost 20 percent more premiums than a 1978 enrollee will ever have to pay.
In the Senate, Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) have combined the SBP/DIC and paid-up SBP initiatives into a single bill, S. 185. Fixing these major SBP inequities is a top goal for MOAA this year.
As soon as information on these bills is available electronically, we'll post them on our Web site so members can e-mail their legislators to request their cosponsorship
On Wednesday, Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC) and 23 other original cosponsors introduced HR 808, which would end the dollar-for-dollar deduction of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (paid by the VA when the member's death is due to service-caused conditions) from the survivor's military Survivor Benefit Plan annuity. Because most SBP annuities are relatively low, the SBP/DIC offset often eliminates most or all of the SBP, leaving many surviving spouses with only the $993 monthly DIC annuity. HR 808 already has built a list of 54 cosponsors.
On Thursday, Rep. Jim Saxton introduced his bill (number not yet available at press time), which would change the effective date of 30-year, paid-up SBP from Oct 1, 2008 to Oct 1, 2005. Congress authorized paid-up SBP coverage in 1998 for any member who attains age 70 and has paid at least 30 years of SBP premiums. But the effective date was delayed for 10 years to save money. In effect, this imposed a "Greatest Generation tax" on the oldest military retirees who enrolled when SBP was first enacted in 1972. Before that, many paid premiums under the earlier Retired Servicemen's Family Protection Plan. By this fall, those 1972 SBP enrollees already will have paid almost 20 percent more premiums than a 1978 enrollee will ever have to pay.
In the Senate, Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) have combined the SBP/DIC and paid-up SBP initiatives into a single bill, S. 185. Fixing these major SBP inequities is a top goal for MOAA this year.
As soon as information on these bills is available electronically, we'll post them on our Web site so members can e-mail their legislators to request their cosponsorship