{"id":30813,"date":"2018-04-26T13:42:44","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/26\/lawmakers-spouses-have-a-right-to-know-when-troops-decline-insurance-coverage\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:07:31","slug":"lawmakers-spouses-have-a-right-to-know-when-troops-decline-insurance-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2018\/04\/26\/lawmakers-spouses-have-a-right-to-know-when-troops-decline-insurance-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers: Spouses have a right to know when troops decline insurance coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Military spouses have a right to know whether their service member plans to opt out of Servicemembers Group Life Insurance coverage, or reduce <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2017\/03\/20\/insurance-guide-2017-how-the-new-retirement-system-may-change-your-insurance-plans\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover874713\">life insurance <\/a>coverage \u2015 and officials should make sure that notification happens, lawmakers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It may require a change in law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/caucus.militarytimes.com\/speaker\/duncan-d-hunter\/\">Rep. Duncan Hunter<\/a>, R-Calif., relayed the story of a California Navy wife whose husband died in training. Neither her husband, nor anyone else, had notified her that he had declined SGLI coverage. Thus, she wouldn\u2019t have been paid the insurance money, which is generally the maximum of $400,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While she was paid, because of public pressure, her case illustrates a more widespread problem, Hunter said during a hearing of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee\u2019s panel on disability assistance and memorial affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hearing focused on various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2015\/01\/19\/choose-life-insurance-that-s-right-for-you\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\">life insurance<\/a> policies, including SGLI and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/2016\/05\/23\/does-ptsd-affect-your-ability-to-get-life-insurance\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Group Life Insurance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2017\/03\/20\/insurance-guide-2017-charts-to-compare-providers-and-tips-for-how-to-buy\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/family-istock-000012998568medium.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Insurance Guide 2017: Charts to compare providers, and tips for how to buy<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Fewer people are buying life insurance. Experts say emotions may be clouding financial judgment.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the law already specifies that spouses have to be notified in writing if the service member declines or reduces coverage, Hunter noted that the same law states that if a good faith effort is made, and the spouse isn\u2019t reached, \u201cfailure to notify doesn\u2019t affect the validity\u201d of the service member\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because the life insurance program is administered by the Veterans Affairs Department, Hunter pressed a VA official to respond. Robert Reynolds, VA deputy undersecretary for disability assistance for the Veterans Benefits Administration, testified that he agreed that spouses should be notified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., suggested that the law be changed so that the policy has to honored unless officials can demonstrate that a spouse actually received notification. It\u2019s important to inform service members that they can\u2019t just opt out of the insurance without letting the family know, she said, because \u201cit\u2019s irresponsible and unfair to the family who will bear the burden\u201d if something happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need to continue to work on it and find a legislative fix, because clearly it\u2019s an unacceptable situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spouses must be &#8216;actually&#8217; notified when troops want to turn down SGLI coverage, lawmakers say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":82,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,82,25,15,18],"tags":[8471],"coauthors":[3302],"class_list":["post-30813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-mil-money","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits","category-spouse","tag-department-of-veterans-affairs"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"5XXBNFWAGVD3BPTR2XFQTG7EZY","arc_canonical_url":"\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2018\/04\/26\/lawmakers-spouses-have-a-right-to-know-when-troops-decline-insurance-coverage\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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