Bluefield Daily Telegraph
— This is a reminder that if you retired from the military and have paid into the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) for a total of 360 months and have reached the age of 70, the SBP premiums will no longer be deducted from your retired pay. If you are a 100 percent disabled veteran and have been declared by the veterans administration to be disabled for 10 years or more, your surviving spouse should be entitled to receive monthly benefits from the veterans administration but this is not automatic — please point out to your spouse thaat they will not be allowed to receive both the Dependent Indemnity Compensation (DIC) at the same time a widow’s injustice is in the picture and it is called SBP/DIC offset. The retired military members and dependents think that this offset is unfair and should be corrected so full benefits from both programs can be paid.
Retirees do your spouse a big favor and keep them informed about these matters. They might not be receiving as much as they thought they were going to. These kind of issues need to be discussed before it is too late so please do all you can while you can. Don’t wait until it is time to answer the last roll call. Here is what you can do, contact all the politicians that you can and tell them that the way you see it that the SBP/DIC offset is anti-family.
This injustice is before the Congress but they need to step it up. They need put the process on the fast track. I have written to every one from the president on down to all the senators and congressmen, but I am only one retiree crying in this land. If I could do it all myself then I would not be asking you for help.
I hope you will agree with me that this is a grave injustice. Our dependents deserve more. There is a few provisions in the law. This is called remarriage, but that this is another matter I will ask you to do your own research on that. These kind of issues and more is what is being discussed at the monthly meetings of the retired military support group which meets the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. at the Vet Center in Princeton. I will close as always saying do nothing get nothing.
Al Hancock USAF Ret.
Bluefield
