Inquiry Into Survivor Benefits

STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. LEO E. BENADE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL POLICY

General BENADE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee. I am Maj. Gen. Leo E. Benade, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy. I am accompanied by Mr. Paul Bender, on my left, and Lt. Col. Anthony Lukeman, on my right.

I appreciate the opportunity to explain the various benefits available to survivors of active and retired military members. Following a description of the benefits, I will discuss what I see as problem areas in the present program and outline, in general, possible solutions for those problem areas.

The survivor benefit program consists of four principal components. These are, first and most important, annuities, payable monthly; second, group life insurance for active duty and reserve personnel, payable either as a lump-sum or monthly over a period of time; third, lump-sum payments, generally payable immediately after a service member's death; and finally, services associated with the funeral and burial of the military member. Some of these benefits are available to survivors of active duty and reserve personnel, some to survivors of retired personnel, and some are available to all groups.

The foundation of the annuities, and probably the most important survivor benefit available, is the social security benefit. All military members who die on active duty or who are entering the retired population today are fully covered by social security survivor benefits. That coverage entitles their survivors to monthly annuity payments as long as there are dependent children, or if the widow is age 62 or older.

A second annuity, available only to widows and children of military members who die while on active duty, or whose death after leaving military service is a result of that service, the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, administered by the Veterans' Administration. This program pays monthly amounts to the widow, children, and in some cases, parents. A third annuity, available to retirees, allows them to provide their widows or dependent children with up to 50 percent of their retired pay.

The primary insurance benefit for active duty and reserve members is the servicemen's group life insurance, administered by the Veterans' Administration. This program covers each member to a maximum of $15,000. Members pay the full normal cost of the insurance, while the Government pays the additional cost necessitated by the extra hazards of military service.

Some active and retired members also are eligible for various other Government-sponsored insurance benefits, but I will defer discussion of this coverage to the VA representative whose presentation, I understand, will follow mine.

In the third area-lump-sum payments-survivors of active duty members receive a lump-sum, usually within 24 hours after the serviceman's death, in an amount between $800 and $3,000. This payment assists the surviving family during the time that processing of insurance, VA, and social security benefits is taking place.

The final area consists of services and cash payments associated with the funeral and burial. In general, the Government provides all required services for active duty members' funeral and burial, when burial is in a national cemetery, or a cash payment to help defray these costs when burial is in a private cemetery. Retired members are entitled to certain benefits available to all other veterans.

We have submitted to the subcommittee a handout describing these various benefits in detail, including pensions payable to certain widows by the Veterans' Administration.

Mr. PIKE. If there is no objection from any of the members of the committee, I would suggest that entire chart be placed in the record at this point so we can have it in the record showing all of the programs which are available.

(The material referred to is as follows:)