Feel free to copy and paste the following letter when communicating with your Senators.
Dear Senator xxxxxxx,
I am writing this letter to spread awareness about H.R. 2053 which addresses significant ongoing disparities in Survivor Benefits between members of the Reserve Component (including the National Guard) and the active duty military. There is not currently a Senate version of the bill, but we need Senate support!
The issues remedied with this bill were first highlighted by 95 letters sent in January 2012 from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to the surviving spouses and directly to the children of deceased guardsmen and reservists across the DoD stating they were overpaid in survivor benefits.
According to the letters, a “significant error” was made when accounting for the deceased's pay status at the time of death, requiring them to lower and in most cases stop altogether payments the surviving family counted on for years.
In light of these letters many are learning for the first time of the ongoing disparities in survivor benefits for the family of a member who dies on “Active Duty” status versus a member on “Inactive Duty Training" status even when both occur "in the line of duty".
Consider two Air Force majors...one is a reservist and each has 18 years of service. Both perish when their aircraft crashes on Tuesday while the reservist is on active duty (AD) status. The spouse of each pilot receives monthly survivor benefit payments of $2,908. Now…the same aircraft crashes on Wednesday while the reservist is on Inactive Duty Training (IDT) status. The active duty spouse receives monthly payments of $2,908 while the IDT spouse receives $969.
Additionally, the AD family is eligible for other survivor benefits not afforded the Reserve Component IDT family to include:
1) Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance
2) Annuity calculations with a disability rating as total
3) The choice to extend Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) eligibility directly to dependent children
For more information, including downloadable documents, please visit… www.95letters.com
Very Respectfully,
John Smith
Constituent in your state
I am writing this letter to spread awareness about H.R. 2053 which addresses significant ongoing disparities in Survivor Benefits between members of the Reserve Component (including the National Guard) and the active duty military. There is not currently a Senate version of the bill, but we need Senate support!
The issues remedied with this bill were first highlighted by 95 letters sent in January 2012 from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to the surviving spouses and directly to the children of deceased guardsmen and reservists across the DoD stating they were overpaid in survivor benefits.
According to the letters, a “significant error” was made when accounting for the deceased's pay status at the time of death, requiring them to lower and in most cases stop altogether payments the surviving family counted on for years.
In light of these letters many are learning for the first time of the ongoing disparities in survivor benefits for the family of a member who dies on “Active Duty” status versus a member on “Inactive Duty Training" status even when both occur "in the line of duty".
Consider two Air Force majors...one is a reservist and each has 18 years of service. Both perish when their aircraft crashes on Tuesday while the reservist is on active duty (AD) status. The spouse of each pilot receives monthly survivor benefit payments of $2,908. Now…the same aircraft crashes on Wednesday while the reservist is on Inactive Duty Training (IDT) status. The active duty spouse receives monthly payments of $2,908 while the IDT spouse receives $969.
Additionally, the AD family is eligible for other survivor benefits not afforded the Reserve Component IDT family to include:
1) Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance
2) Annuity calculations with a disability rating as total
3) The choice to extend Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) eligibility directly to dependent children
For more information, including downloadable documents, please visit… www.95letters.com
Very Respectfully,
John Smith
Constituent in your state