Widow battles offsets in survivor benefits

[unhappycamper]

Michelle Fitz-Henry, the widow of a Navy SEAL who died in a 2004 training accident, says military survivor benefits need a dramatic overhaul because the monthly payments don't come close to making up for financial losses in cases like hers.


Widow battles offsets in survivor benefits
By Rick Maze - Staff writer

The widow of a Navy SEAL who died in a 2004 training accident says military survivor benefits need a dramatic overhaul because the monthly payments don’t come close to making up for financial losses in cases like hers.

Michelle Fitz-Henry, an Illinois firefighter and 1991 Persian Gulf War veteran, said her $425 monthly survivor annuity is about 6 percent of the total monthly pay of her late husband, Senior Chief Petty Officer Theodore Fitz-Henry.

Two factors are in play in her situation: how annuities are calculated under the military Survivor Benefit Plan, and the government’s policy of reducing military survivor benefits for those also receiving survivor payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Fitz-Henry said her husband was receiving $6,808 in monthly pay in June 2004, when he was killed at age 41 in a training accident while preparing to deploy to Iraq. Basic pay made up $3,808 of the total, while housing and subsistence allowances came to $2,102. Special pays — diving, parachute and demolition pays and special-duty assignment pay — made up the rest.

Fitz-Henry said her calculation does not include other special pays her husband received in 2004 when he was deployed to Afghanistan.

~snip~

Fitz-Henry, an Air Force veteran, said neither she nor her late husband understood that military survivor benefits would be so small.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/benefits/family_resources/military_survivor_071106w/

[Captain Hilts]

1. They deduct the amount of dad's govt.-sponsored annuity from my mother's Soc Sec...

check. So, she's no better off had they not saved the money at all and worse off than they would be if they had saved the money in another format.

[michellefitz]

2. Widows death benefits

I am the widow in the article. If I am reading your post correctly, I think you may be refering to the SBP that a retiree pays into upon his/her retirement. My husband died while on Active Duty. He did not retire, although he was retirement eligible.We had a dual income household. The SBP I received after my husband's death was 6% of his income in 2004, the year he died (it is COLA'd). Please take into consideration that SBP is based on rank and time in service. My husband was an E-8 with over 21 years on.
It is difficult enough to lose the love of your life, your best friend, your future. I am disappointed and shocked that the Survivor Benefit Plan is so sparse. I never would have guessed. I should have known--I served 20 years myself. I don't think I was sick the day they gave that briefing. They didn't give it.
Michelle Fitz-Henry

[Captain Hilts]

3. Yes, they're different, but show how the government has no problem ripping off the vulnerable....

they assume our people will just accept it. And, in my mother's circumstances, that is exactly what happened for years and years. Bob Filner introduced a bill several times to change this rip-off and it would get 50 co-sponsors and then go nowhere.

Dad retired an 0-6, but served all but the last few years of his time in the draft military where salaries were flat but compensated through benefits and financial security. Ha!

Thank you for your service and my condolences on your loss.

[michellefitz]

5. Thank you

Thank you for your condolences. Yes, they assume we will take it. Partly because we have. Having served I think we fall under a blanket of security that tells us that in the event the worst that can happen becomes a reality, the government will surely take care of our loved ones. We don't read the fine print, and we don't ask the hard questions, partly because we don't know the questions to ask. I had never heard of DIC (dependency and indemnity compensation) prior to my husband's death, and I certainly did not know it would offset SBP in the event that he died. He did not know it either. When we hear Survivor Benefit Plan we think it is a benefit worthy of the name. Not so. It is bare bones.
Widows take it because we are a vulnerable group. Many of the newer widows of this war are doing all they can just to deal with what is happening to them. On top of the lose of their husband's, they have to find new housing in a year, which often means a move. Which probably means kids leave one school and enroll in another. Etc. They have often sacraficed careers or education because they have PCS'd with the soldier. We sign up for it when we marry into the military. That is what we want to do because we love the men we marry. It is a sacrafice of love, but things like that should be taken into consideration when we loose our men. Most often the widows do not live in the state where grew up, therefore they do not know their Senators or Congressmen because of the military moving lifestyle.
We are a vulnerable group, unfortunate, but true. We don't make enough noise, but we are trying.
Michelle

[unhappycamper]

7. Military Families Speak Out may be able to help.

They're good at making noise.

http://mfso.org/

[Captain Hilts]

8. Michelle [if I may]...

when you compare how the survivors of Foreign Service Officers have been treated in my mother's and your circumstances, the contrast is stunning. They know that the Foreign Service community won't be so compliant, and, as a result, they don't deal with the same offsets as the military community.

Keep up the Good Fight!

[unhappycamper]

4. Thanks for stopping in Michelle.

Words fail me; I'm so sorry for your losses.

When you're up to it, can you post more in this forum about your journey? We have a large contingent of veterans here who would like to know what's going on.

Peace,
uhc

[michellefitz]

6. widow journey

I can tell you what is going on with the SBP, is that what you are asking? Actually, I don't know how to navigate around the DU website. The only reason I posted at all is because I googled my name to search for the Air Force Times article and found a response to the article and clicked on it. I did go to the DU website but have no idea how to find the article written by Rick Maze or the responses to it. This "thread" thing is new to me. I have to Google my name to find responses. So, if you can instruct me how to do that on the website, I will. Thanks.
Michelle

[unhappycamper]

10. If you look at the my original post, you'll see

Widow battles offsets in survivor benefits


When you something on this web site that has text a different color with an underline, it's usually a case of something linked. In the Windoze environment, you can make sure by placing tour cursor over the text. You'll see the web site appear on the bottom left of your browser.

Another way to check it out is to click on the text & see what happens. In this instance, you'll see the Rick Maze article at Marine Corps Times.


Navigating Democratic Underground is 'relatively' simple. All posts have (on the top left side) Home - Discuss - and whatever forum you're in (in this case, Veterans). Click on Home & you'll be at DU's home page. You can click on anything on that page & see the thread. (Each article is a thread.) If you click on Discuss, you'll see the posts as they come into DU.

If you're curious, I'd recommend you just click around and see what happens. There are State forums, Topics forum, and DU Groups on a whole range of subjects.

I hope this helps a bit.

[pwb]

9. Your husband excelled to become an E-8

He was the man we followed during his rise in rank. When someone says follow me, and men do, it says a lot. Bless you both.

Wonder what Blackwaters death benefits are.?????

[rasputin1952]

11. Welcome to Du Michelle...I only wish this cold be under far better

circumstances.

As a Vet, I offer my condolences upon your loss.

I join in the fight to ensure that survivors receive a better shake. While financial compensation can never come close to replacing the loss, at the very least, it should keep pace with the realities of the situation.

I thank you, and your late husband for your service to our nation.

[michellefitz]

12. Thanks to each and everyone of you

Thank you so much for your kind words, condolences and support. Thank you also for your service to our country and for your efforts to make it better for the next GI and his/her family. It seems even though my husband and so many others have died, the military family and those taking care of their own lives on. That is so comforting. Now if we can just get those who enact the laws of the land to take care of their own, that would be good. Thanks guys, much appreciated, by all of us.
Michelle