My husband was serving his 30th year in the Navy when the F-18 he was riding in crashed. He was killed, and in a moment, my family's life changed forever. While my children and I were devastated, and then we were saddened to discover that the Dept. of Defense and Congress was far less supportive.
My husband’s earned survivor benefit insurance, the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), a insurance annuity, was not paid to me in full. When he died, I was informed that I would only be getting a fraction of the benefit promised. When I asked why, it was explained to me that those spouses who also were eligible to receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Veterans Administration will have their SBP survivor annuity insurance benefits offset dollar for dollar by DIC. Full SBP payment is unfairly denied to those surviving spouses. This is known as the SBP-DIC offset, and we must fight to end it.
When I lost my husband, I lost 75% of our household income. Today, most SBP-DIC offset surviving spouses receive compensation of only $15,095 a year. These surviving spouses deserve better from their country. I’m calling on Congress to provide surviving spouses with 100% of the Survivor Benefit Plan promised.
Our government is reneging on a voluntarily purchased insurance plan whose entire purpose is to ensure that surviving spouses are taken care of financially should the sponsor pre-decease her/him. When a servicemember makes the ultimate sacrifice, their family shouldn’t have to worry about how they will survive. As a Navy spouse, I was there for countless others who experienced loss. When I lost my husband, I realized how negligent the government bureaucracy is towards families who have paid the ultimate price. I want to be there for those families again. Hopefully, if we can gather enough petition support, the government will not ignore us.
Please sign the petition to end SBP-DIC offset for military surviving spouses and ask Congress to pass HR 846, (Rep Joe Wilson, SC) and S 339, (Senators Nelson, FL and Collins, ME), the two bills to change the law and end this unjust offset.
