A002161
Tuesday, December 18, 2001 8:29 AM
Military Unique Issues (Public Law 107-42)
I recommend that the Department of Justice exempt these unique
military payments from the category off "collateral source compensation".
(1) Any burial benefit or gratuity awarded by the Veterans
Administration ("VA") or any death gratuity paid to a uniformed service
member by their respective service. Eligibility for VA benefits is
contingent upon service in the Armed Forces of the United States. Although
they are called "gratuities" they should be viewed as "deferred
compensation" and exempted from consideration as "collateral compensation".
(2) Servicemen's Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Payments. Under this
act insurance payments reduce the amount of compensation. It is necessary
to note some critical differences between civilian insurance and SGLI.
Unlike civilian insurance policies SGLI has legal restrictions on who can
obtain coverage, is neither term or whole life and has no cash value.
Additionally, separating or retiring service members cannot retain SGLI
coverage after they separate from their respective component. Unlike the
vast majority of civilian policies SGLI benefits are paid when death occurs
as a result of combat, acts of God or acts of war. These differences
clearly distinguish the SGLI program from civilian policies. It may be more
accurate to view SGLI as "risk sharing among a closed population" than as a
traditional civilian "insurance" policy.
(3) Survivor Benefits Plan (SBP)- Under some circumstances the
survivors of some uniformed service members may be eligible for SBP.
Any
benefits collected under SBP should NOT be considered collateral source
compensation. If SBP is paid it is an indicator that the service member was
eligible to receive retirement pay which is not considered to be a pension.
If the qualifying factor is retirement eligibility than SBP payments should
not be treated as a "pension" since retirement pay is treated as reduced
compensation rather than a pension.
(4) If SBP is considered "collateral compensation" then the special
master should be compelled to pay the difference between the current
calculated values and the SBP value at mandatory retirement. [which is by
either time in service or age)
Military peculiar losses:
(1) When calculating economic loss the special master should be required to
calculate and compensate for the economic value of VA pensions or disability
payments being paid to any veteran. The value of that economic loss should
take into account the difference between the projected life span of the
veteran minus their age multiplied by the monthly payment. If the
surviving family qualifies for a pension based upon the death of the veteran
the economic loss would be the difference between the two values. This value
should account for projected annual inflation over the projected life of the
veteran.
(2) Insert language that acknowledges service members have second careers
when we retire. Federal law limits the length of our careers and imposes a
maximum age limit. This means there are two components that must be
calculated to accurately identify the value of a service member.
A. Military compensation to a retirement date + military retirement
pay.
B. The value of a second career.
Recommend you insert language that
(1) allows DoD to submit a statement that identifies the compensation the
service member would have been paid and an annual value for the retirement
pay the individual would have drawn after achieving retirement eligibility.
This value must allow for promotion. Just because a victim dies as an E4 it
doesn't mean their value should be determined using the actuary age for
their sex minus their age times E4 base pay.
Individual Comment