Congress Rejects SBP Fixes

Surviving spouses of service members who died from service-connected causes will continue to see their Dependents Indemnity Compensation (DIC) deleted from their Survivor Benefits Plan (SBP) payments because the issue was dropped during a joint House-Senate conference committee considering the fiscal 2007 authorization bill. Veterans’ organizations have pointed out that SBP, paid by the Defense Department, is an insurance/annuity program for which military members paid premiums, while DIC, paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs, is compensation for veterans who died because of serving their country. The conference committee also rejected a proposal to eliminate further premium payments for military retirees age 70 or over who have paid into the SBP program for at least 30 years. The action would have accelerated the paid-up date from Oct. 1, 2008, to Oct. 1, 2006. The administration and DoD had weighed in against both fixes.