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 insur ance 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 revolv ing 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).)

8772. 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, § 1 (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 Insurance 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).)

§774. 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 Council shall meet once a year, or oftener at the call of the Administrator, and shall review the operations under this subchapter and advise 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).)

§ 776. Effective date

The insurance provided for in this subchapter and the deductions and contributions for that purpose shall take effect on the date desig nated 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) contain such other terms and conditions as the Administrator determines to be reasonable and practicable which are not specifically provided for in this section, including any provisions of this subchapter not specifically made inapplicable by the provisions of this section. (Added P.L. 93-289, § 9(a).)

(c) The premiums for Veterans' Group Life Insurance 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 various age groupings as he may decide 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 such insurance. Such premiums shall be payable by the insured thereunder as provided by the Administrator directly to the administrative office established for such insurance under section 766 (b) of this title. In any case in which a member or former member who was mentally incompetent on the date he first became insured under Veteran's Group Life Insurance dies within one year of such date, such insurance shall be deemed not to have lapsed for nonpayment of premiums and to have been in force on the date of death. Where insurance is in force under the preceding sentence, any unpaid premiums may be deducted from the proceeds of the insurance. Any person who claims eligibility for Veterans' Group Life Insurance based on disability incurred during a period of duty shall be required to submit evidence of qualifying health conditions and, if required, to submit to physical examinations at their own expense. (Added P.L. 93-289, § 9(a).)

(d) Any amount of Veterans' Group Life Insurance in force on any person on the date of his death shall be paid, upon the establishment of a valid claim therefore, pursuant to the provisions of section 770 of this title. However, any designation of beneficiary or bencficiaries for Servicemen's Group Life Insurance filed with a uniformed service until changed, shall be considered a designation of beneficiary or beneficiaries for Veterans' Group Life Insurance, but not for more than sixty days after the effective date of the insured's Veterans' Group Life Insurance, unless at the end of such sixty-day period, the insured is incompetent in which event such designation may continue

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in force until the disability is removed but not for more than five years after the effective date of the insured's Veterans' Group Life Insurance. Except as indicated above in incompetent cases, after such sixty-day period, any designation of beneficiary or beneficiaries for Veterans' Group Life Insurance to be effective must be by a writing signed by the insured and received by the administrative office established under section 766 (b) of this title. (Added P.L. 93-289, § 9(a).)

(e) An insured under Veterans' Group Life Insurance shall have the right to convert such insurance to an individual policy of life insurance upon written application for conversion made to the participating company he selects and payment of the required premiums. The individual policy will be issued without medical examination on a plan then currently written by such company which does not provide for the payment of any sum less than the face value thereof or for the payment of an additional amount as premiums in the event the insured performs active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training. The individual policy will be effective the day after the insured's Veterans' Group Life Insurance terminates by expiration of the fiveyear term period, except in a case where the insured is eligible to convert at an carlier date by reason of again having become insured under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance, in which event the effective date of the individual policy may not be later than the sixty-first day after he again became so insured. Upon request to the administrative office established under section 766 (b) of this title, an insured under Veterans' Group Life Insurance shall be furnished a list of life insurance companies participating in the program established under this subchapter. In addition to the life insurance companies participating in the program established under this subchapter, the list furnished to an insured under this section shall include additional life insurance companies (not so participating) which meet qualifying criteria, terms, and conditions established by the Administrator and agree to sell insurance to former members in accordance with the provisions of this section. (Added P.L. 93-289, § 9 (a).)

(f) The provisions of sections 771 (d) and (e) of this title shall be applicable to Veterans' Group Life Insurance. However, a separate accounting shall be required for each program of insurance authorized 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, § 9(a).)

(g) Any person whose Servicemen's Group Life Insurance was continued in force after termination of duty or discharge from service under the law as in effect prior to the date on which the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program (provided for under section 777 of this title) became effective, and whose coverage under Servicemen's Group Life Insurance terminated less than four years prior to such date, shall be eligible within one year from the effective date of the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program to apply for and be granted Veterans' Group Life Insurance in an amount equal to the amount of his Servicemen's Group Life Insurance which was not converted to an individual policy under prior law. Veterans' Group Life Insurance issued under this subsection shall be issued for a term period equal to

five years, less the time elapsing between the termination of the applicant's Servicemen's Group Life Insurance and the effective date on which the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program became effective. Veterans' Group Life Insurance under this subsection shall only be issued upon application to the administrative office established under section 766(b) of this title, payment of the required premium, and proof of good health satisfactory to that office, which proof shall be submitted at the applicant's own expense. Any person who cannot meet the good health requirements for insurance under this subsection solely because of a service-connected disability shall have such disability waived. For each month for which any eligible veteran, whose service-connected disabilities are waived, is insured under this subsection there shall be contributed to the insurer or insurers issuing the policy or policies from the appropriation "Compensation and Pensions, Veterans' Administration" an amount necessary to cover the cost of the insurance in excess of the premiums established for eligible veterans, including the cost of the excess mortality attributable to such veteran's service-connected disabilities. The Administrator may establish, as he may determine to be necessary according to sound actuarial principles, a separate premium, age groupings for premium purposes, accounting, and reserves, for persons granted insurance under this subsection different from those established for other persons granted insurance under this section. Appropriations to carry out the purpose of this section are hereby authorized. (Added P.L. 93–289. § 9 (a).)

§778. Reinstatement

Reinstatement of insurance coverage granted under this subchapter but lapsed for nonpayment of premiums shall be under terms and conditions prescribed by the Administrator. (Added P.L. 93–289 89 (a).)

§ 779. Incontestability

Subject to the provision of section 773 of this title, insurance coverage granted under this subchapter shall be incontestable from the date of issue, reinstatement, or conversion except for fraud or nonpayment of premium. (Added P.L. 93-289, § 9 (a).)

Subchapter IV-General

§ 781. Replacement of surrendered and expired insurance (a) Any person who surrendered a policy of National Service Life Insurance or United States Government life insurance on a permanent plan for its cash value while in the active services after April 24, 1951, and before January 1, 1957, who was entitled on December 31, 1958, to reinstate or replace such insurance under section 623 of the National Service Life Insurance Act of 1940, may, upon application in writing made while on continuous active duty which began before January 1, 1959, or within one hundred and twenty days after separation therefrom, be granted, without medical examination, permanent plan insurance on the same plan not in excess of the amount surrendered for cash, or may reinstate such surrendered insurance upon payment of the required reserve and the premium for the current