transfer such costs from the revolving fund to the appropriation "General Operating Expenses, Veterans' Administration." (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a); amended P.L. 91-291, § 4(2); P.L. 93-289, §§ 6(6), 10(2).)

(e) The premiums for Servicemen's Group Life Insurance placed in effect or continued in force for a member assigned to the Retired Reserve of a uniformed service who meets the qualifications of section 765 (5) (C) of this title, shall be established under the criteria set forth in sections 771 (a) and (c) of this title, except that the Administrator may provide for average premiums for such variosus age groupings as he may determine to be necessary according to sound actuarial principles, and shall include an amount necessary to cover the administrative cost of such insurance to the company or companies issuing or continuing such insurance. Such premiums shall be payable by the insureds thereunder as provided by the Administrator directly to the administrative office established for such insurance under section 766(b) of this title. The provisions of sections 771 (d) and (e) of this title shall be applicable to Servicemen's Group Life Insurance continued in force or issued to a member assigned to the Retired Reserve of a uniformed service. However, a separate accounting may be required by the Administrator for insurance issued to or continued in force on the lives of members assigned to the Retired Reserve and for other insurance in force under this subchapter. In such accounting, the Administrator is authorized to allocate claims and other costs among such programs of insurance according to accepted actuarial principles. (Added P.L. 93-289, § 6(7).

§ 770. Beneficiaries; payment of insurance

(a) Any amount of insurance under this subchapter in force on any member or former member on the date of his death shall be paid, upon the establishment of a valid claim therefor, to the person or persons surviving at the date of his death, in the following order of precedence:

First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries as the member or former member may have designated by a writing received prior to death (1) in the uniformed services if insured under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance, or (2) in the administrative office established under section 766(b) of this title if separated or released from service, or if assigned to the Retired Reserve, and insured under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance, or if insured under Veterans' Group Life Insurance;

Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow or widower of such member or former member;

Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of such member or former member and descendants of deceased children by representation;

Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of such member or former member or the survivor of them;

Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of such member or former member;

Sixth, if none of the above, to other next of kin of such member or former member entitled under the laws of domicile of such member

or former member at the time of his death. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a); amended P.L. 93-289, § 7(1).)

(b) If any person otherwise entitled to payment under this section does not make claim therefor within one year after the death of the member or former member, or if payment to such person within that period is prohibited by Federal statute or regulation, payment may be made in the order of precedence as if such person had predeceased the member or former member, and any such payment shall be a bar to recovery by any other person. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

(c) If, within two years after the death of the member or former member, no claim for payment has been filed by any person entitled under the order of precedence set forth in this section, and neither the Administrator nor the administrative office established by the insurance company or companies pursuant to section 766 (b) of this title has received any notice that any such claim will be made, payment may be made to a claimant as may in the judgment of the Administrator be equitably entitled thereto, and such payment shall be a bar to recovery by any other person. If, within four years after the death of the member or former member, payment has not. been made pursuant to this section and no claim for payment by any person entitled under this section is pending, the amount payable shall escheat to the credit of the revolving fund referred to in section 769 (d). (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

(d) The member may elect settlement of insurance under this subchapter either in a lump sum or in thirty-six equal monthly installments. If no such election is made by the member the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect settlement either in a lump sum or in thirty-six equal monthly installments. If the member has elected settlement in a lump sum, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect settlement in thirty-six equal monthly installments. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).) (e) Until and unless otherwise changed, a beneficiary designation and settlement option filed by a member with his uniformed service under prior provisions of law will be effective with respect to the increased insurance authorized under the Veterans' Insurance Act of 1974 and the insurance shall be settled in the same proportionate amount as the portion designated for such beneficiary or beneficiaries bore to the amount of insurance heretofore in effect. (Added P.L. 91-291, § 5; amended P.L. 93-289, § 7(2).)

(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, payment of matured Servicemen's Group Life Insurance or Veteran's Group Life Insurance benefits may be made directly to a minor widow or widower on his or her own behalf, and payment in such case shall be a complete acquittance to the insurer. (Added P.L. 91-291, § 5; amended P.L. 93-289, § 7 (3).)

(g) Payments of benefits due or to become due under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance or Veteran's Group Life Insurance made to, or on account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from taxation, shall be exempt from the claims of creditors, and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary. The preceding sentence shall not apply to (1) collection of amounts not deducted from

the member's pay, or collected from him by the Secretary concerned under section 769(a) of this title, (2) levy under subchapter D of chapter 64 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (relating to the seizure of property for collection of taxes), and (3) the taxation of any property purchased in part or wholly out of such payments. (Added P.L. 91-291, § 5; amended P.L. 93-289, § 7(3).)

§ 771. Basic tables of premiums; readjustment of rates

(a) Each policy or policies purchased under section 766 of this title shall include for the first policy year a schedule of basic premium rates by age which the Administrator shall have determined on a basis consistent with the lowest schedule of basic premium rates generally charged for new group life insurance policies issued to large employers, this schedule of basic premium rates by age to be applied, except as otherwise provided in this section, to the distribution by age of the amount of group life insurance under the policy at its date of issue to determine an average basic premium per $1,000 of insurance. Each policy so purchased shall also include provisions whereby the basic rates of premium determined for the first policy year shall be continued for subsequent policy years, except that they may be readjusted for any subsequent year, based on the experience under the policy, such readjustment to be made by the insurance company or companies issuing the policy on a basis determined by the Administrator in advance of such year to be consistent with the general practice of life insurance companies under policies of group life insurance issued to large employers. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

(b) The total premiums for Servicemen's Group Life Insurance shall be the sum of the amounts computed according to the provisions of subsection (a) above and the estimated costs traceable to the extra hazard of active duty in the uniformed services as determined by the Administrator, subject to the provision that such estimated costs traceable to the extra hazard shall be retroactively readjusted annually in accordance with section 769 (b). (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a); amended P.L. 93-289, § 8(1).)

(c) Each policy so purchased shall include a provision that, in the event the Administrator determines that ascertaining the actual age distribution of the amounts of group life insurance in force at the date of issue of the policy or at the end of the first or any subsequent year of insurance thereunder would not be possible except at a disproportionately high expense, the Administrator may approve the determination of a tentative average group life premium, for the first or any subsequent policy year, in lieu of using the actual age distribution. Such tentative average premium rate shall be redetermined by the Administrator during any policy year upon request by the insurance company or companies issuing the policy, if experience indicates that the assumptions made in determining the tentative average premium rate for that policy year were incorrect. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

(d) Each policy so purchased shall contain a provision stipulating the maximum expense and risk charges for the first policy year, which charges shall have been determined by the Administrator on a basis consistent with the general level of such charges made by life insurance companies under policies of group life insurance issued to large

employers. Such maximum charges shall be continued from year to year, except that the Administrator may redetermine such maximum charges for any year either by agreement with the insurance company or companies issuing the policy or upon written notice given by the Administrator to such companies at least one year in advance of the beginning of the year for which such redetermined maximum charges will be effective. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

(e) Each such policy shall provide for an accounting to the Administrator not later than ninety days after the end of each policy year, which shall set forth, in a form approved by the Administrator, (1) the amounts of premiums actually accrued under the policy from its date of issue to the end of such policy year, (2) the total of all mortality and other claim charges incurred for that period, and (3) the amounts of the insurers' expense and risk charge for that period. Any excess of the total of item (1) over the sum of items (2) and (3) shall be held by the insurance company or companies issuing the policy as a special contingency reserve to be used by such insurance company or companies for charges under such policy only, such reserve to bear interest at a rate to be determined in advance of each policy year by the insurance company or companies issuing the policy, which rate shall be approved by the Administrator as being consistent with the rates generally used by such company or companies for similar funds held under other group life insurance policies. If and when the Administrator determines that such special contingency reserve has attained an amount estimated by the Administrator to make satisfactory provision for adverse fluctuations in future charges under the policy, any further excess shall be deposited to the credit of the revolving fund established under section 769 (d) (1) of this title. If and when such policy is discontinued, and if after all charges have been made, there is any positive balance remaining in such special contingency reserve, such balance shall be deposited to the credit of the revolving fund, subject to the right of the insurance company or companies issuing the policy to make such deposit in equal monthly installment over a period of not more than two years. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a); amended P.L. 93-289, § 8 (2).)

§ 772. Benefit certificates

The Administrator shall arrange to have each member insured under a policy purchased under section 766 of this title receive a certificate setting forth the benefits to which the member is entitled thereunder, to whom such benefit shall be payable, to whom claims should be submitted, and summarizing the provisions of the policy principally affecting the member. Such certificate shall be in lieu of the certificate which the insurance company or companies would otherwise be required to issue. (Added P.L. 89-214, § i (a).)

§773. Forfeiture

Any person guilty of mutiny, treason, spying, or desertion, or who, because of conscientious objections, refuses to perform service in the Armed Forces of the United States or refuses to wear the uniform of

such force, shall forfeit all right to Servicemen's Group Life Insur ance under this subchapter. No such insurance shall be payable for death inflicted as a lawful punishment for crime or for military or naval offense, except when inflicted by an enemy of the United States. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

8774. Advisory Council on Servicemen's Group Life Insurance

There is hereby established an Advisory Council on Servicemen's Group Life Insurance consisting of the Secretary of the Treasury as Chairman, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, each of whom shall serve without additional compensation. The Coun cil shall meet once a year, or oftener at the call of the Administrator, and shall review the operations under this subchapter and advice the Administrator on matters of policy relating to his activities thereunder. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a); amended P.L. 91-291, § 6; P.L 93-289, § 10 (3).)

§ 775. Jurisdiction of District Courts

The district courts of the United States shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action or claim against the United States founded upon this subchapter. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1 (a).)

8776. Effective date

The insurance provided for in this subchapter and the deductions and contributions for that purpose shall take effect on the date designated by the Administrator and certified by him to each Secretary concerned. (Added P.L. 89-214, § 1(a).)

§ 777. Veterans' Group Life Insurance

(a) Veterans' Group Life Insurance shall be issued in the amount of $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 only. No person may carry a combined amount of Servicemen's Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance in excess of $20,000 at any one time. Any person insured under Veterans' Group Life Insurance who again becomes insured under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance may within sixty days after becoming so insured convert any or all of his Veterans' Group Life Insurance to an individual policy of insurance under subsection (e) of this section. However, if such a person dies within the sixty-day period and before converting his Veterans' Group Life Insurance, Veterans' Group Life Insurance will be payable only if he is insured for less than $20,000 under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance, and then only in an amount which when added to the amount of Servicemen's Group Life Insurance payable shall not exceed $20,000. (Added P.L. 93–289, § 9 (a).)

(b) Veterans' Group Life Insurance shall (1) provide protection against death; (2) be issued on a nonrenewable five-year term basis; (3) have no cash, loan, paid-up, or extended values; (4) except as otherwise provided, lapse for nonpayment of premiums; and (5) con