November 25, 2015 

House Veterans Affairs Committee ranking members Corinne Brown (D-Fla.), Tim Waltz (D-Minn.), and Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) hosted a November 17 roundtable discussion of survivor benefits. Both DoD and VA representatives were present as well as MOAA, Gold Star Wives, The Retired Enlisted Association, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and others. After the two-hour meeting, Rep. Brown said she wants to continue meeting with beneficiary groups on a regular basis.

Discussion focused on the evolution of survivor benefits, consolidating VA educational assistance programs for survivors, improving VA Dependency Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and extending the DoD Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) for SBP-DIC survivors, which is presently set to expire in October 2017. SSIA was authorized by Congress as the first step toward eliminating the current deduction of DIC from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities.

It was recognized that various survivor benefits evolved over a historical course, extending as far back to the pre-Civil War era, for different reasons. DIC was conceived to replace family income and partially as a reparation for the death of a veteran (1862). The precursor of the Survivor Benefit Plan was enacted in 1953 for retiring military members to ensure their surviving widows were not left penniless after a retiree’s death.

SBP as we know it today was enacted in 1972. However, SBP annuities were subject to offsets by both Social Security and VA DIC, thus reducing overall government costs.

“We all appear to be in agreement that the evolution of these benefits addressed different needs in different social eras, but that the needs of today’s survivors are often not adequately addressed by the existing and sometimes conflicting programs. The income provided is simply inadequate and often leaves survivors in poverty,” stated Col Phil Odom, Deputy Director of MOAA Government Relations.

There was consensus amongst the non-government participants that DIC should mirror what other Federal agencies pay, 55% of the veteran sponsor’s disability compensation; that the age at which eligible widows can retain DIC even if they remarry (currently 57) should be reduced to 55 (the same as all other federal survivor annuities), and that it’s critical to extend authority for the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) in the coming legislative year to protect eligible widows from losing the $310 monthly rate of SSIA as of Oct 1, 2017.

Representative Brown agreed the SSIA should be extended, with the ultimate goal of repealing the unfair SBP/DIC offset. The cost of full repeal would exceed $6 billion.

The group strongly recommended that the Veterans Affairs Committee consider consolidating survivor educational benefits to simplify the program and reduce VA administrative overhead.

Presently there are huge disparities between the three existing survivor educational benefit: Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA), which provides no housing or book allowance; the Montgomery GI Bill, which pays almost $1,800 more per month than DEA but offers no housing allowance; and the Post-9/11 Gunnery Sergeant Fry Scholarships that pay tuition, housing and book allowances. MOAA’s goal is to make all survivors eligible for the Fry Scholarship program.