Examining VA Benefits: Pension and Fiduciary, and VA Life Insurance Options

1[House Hearing, 119 Congress]2[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]34                         EXAMINING VA BENEFITS:5                       PENSION AND FIDUCIARY, AND6                       VA LIFE INSURANCE OPTIONS7=======================================================================89                                HEARING1011                               BEFORE THE1213                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISABILITY14                   ASSISTANCE AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS1516                                 OF THE1718                     COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS1920                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES2122                    ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS2324                             SECOND SESSION2526                               __________2728                        TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 20262930                               __________3132                           Serial No. 119-563334                               __________3536       Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs3738[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]3940                    Available via http://govinfo.gov4142                              __________4344                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE4563-818                      WASHNGTON : 202646=======================================================================4748                     COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS4950                     MIKE BOST, Illinois, Chairman5152AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN,       MARK TAKANO, California, Ranking53    American Samoa, Vice-Chairwoman      Member54JACK BERGMAN, Michigan               JULIA BROWNLEY, California55NANCY MACE, South Carolina           CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire56MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa       MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky57GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina    DELIA RAMIREZ, Illinois58DERRICK VAN ORDEN, Wisconsin         NIKKI BUDZINSKI, Illinois59MORGAN LUTTRELL, Texas               TIMOTHY M. KENNEDY, New York60JUAN CISCOMANI, Arizona              MAXINE DEXTER, Oregon61KEITH SELF, Texas                    HERB CONAWAY, New Jersey62JEN KIGGANS, Virginia                KELLY MORRISON, Minnesota63ABE HAMADEH, Arizona64KIMBERLYN KING-HINDS, Northern65    Mariana Islands66TOM BARRETT, Michigan6768                       Jon Clark, Staff Director69                  Matt Reel, Democratic Staff Director7071       SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISABILITY ASSISTANCE AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS7273                    MORGAN LUTTRELL, Texas, Chairman7475AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN,       MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky, Ranking76    American Samoa                       Member77JACK BERGMAN, Michigan               CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire78NANCY MACE, South Carolina           MAXINE DEXTER, Oregon79KEITH SELF, Texas                    KELLY MORRISON, Minnesota8081Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public82hearing records of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs are also83published in electronic form. The printed hearing record remains the84official version. Because electronic submissions are used to prepare85both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process86of converting between various electronic formats may introduce87unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the88current publication process and should diminish as the process is89further refined.90                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S9192                              ----------9394                        TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 20269596                                                                   Page9798                           OPENING STATEMENTS99100The Honorable Morgan Luttrell, Chairman..........................     1101The Honorable Morgan McGarvey, Ranking Member....................     2102103                               WITNESSES104                                Panel I105106Mr. Tim Sirhal, Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for107  Benefits, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of108  Veterans Affairs...............................................     4109110        Accompanied by:111112    Ms. Jennifer Bover, Executive Director, Pension & Fiduciary113        Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S.114        Department of Veterans Affairs115116                                Panel II117118Mrs. Tamra Sipes, National President, Gold Star Spouses of119  America Inc....................................................    20120121Mr. Joseph Barnet, Vice President, Office of Servicemembers Group122  Life Insurance, Prudential Financial...........................    21123124                                APPENDIX125                    Prepared Statements Of Witnesses126127Mr. Tim Sirhal Prepared Statement................................    33128Mrs. Tamra Sipes Prepared Statement..............................    34129Mr. Joseph Barnet Prepared Statement.............................    38130131                       Statements For The Record132133Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Prepared Statement.    51134Defense Credit Union Council Prepared Statement..................    53135136                         EXAMINING VA BENEFITS:137                       PENSION AND FIDUCIARY, AND138                       VA LIFE INSURANCE OPTIONS139140                              ----------141142                        TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026143144   Subcommittee on Disability Assistance &145                          Memorial Affairs,146                    Committee on Veterans' Affairs,147                             U.S. House of Representatives,148                                                    Washington, DC.149    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:15 p.m., in150room 360, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Morgan Luttrell151(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.152    Present: Representatives Luttrell, Self, and McGarvey.153154         OPENING STATEMENT OF MORGAN LUTTRELL, CHAIRMAN155156    Mr. Luttrell. The subcommittee will come to order. Without157objection, the chair may declare a recess at any time.158    Good afternoon. I want to thank our witnesses for being159here today. Thank you both.160    Today, we are taking a closer look at how the U.S.161Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers several of the162most important benefits programs. VA's Pension, Fiduciary, and163Insurance programs provide critical support for many veterans164and their families. Often our veterans and or their families165seek to assist--seek the assistance of the benefits during a166financial and challenging times.167    Pension is a need-based benefit. It is meant to make life168more affordable and provide a baseline level of financial169support for wartime veterans and surviving spouses who may not170have other means. For some, this is what keeps the lights on171for veterans and their families. That means the eligibility172process needs to be clear, consistent, and work that the--and173work that way as it was intended. This is not a small174population we are actually talking about. It is in the175millions. For the current benefit this year--for current176benefits this year, the maximum net worth limit for Pensions177eligibility is $163,699. That threshold determines whether many178low-income wartime veterans and survivors can access this179support.180    We will also be looking at the Fiduciary program. This is181one of the most serious responsibilities the VA has. When a182veteran cannot manage their own financial affairs, the VA must183step in and appoint someone else to do that in their behalf.184That requires a high level of trust. When that trust is broken,185whether through misuse, fraud, or lack of oversight, the186consequences are very real. When we are talking about veterans187who are already in a vulnerable position, the VA must188absolutely get this correct. That includes how fiduciaries are189selected, how they are monitored, and how the VA responds when190something goes wrong.191    I also want to acknowledge the Department's recent work192related to second amendment considerations, including steps193taken to revisit how certain beneficiaries' information is194handled and shared across agencies. Given the subcommittee's195engagement on this issue, we will continue to monitor VA196actions closely and ensure that veterans' rights are protected197across the benefits delivery system.198    At the end of the day, veterans accessing these benefits199they have--the veterans accessing the benefits they have earned200should not come on the expense of their constitutional201freedoms. That is absolutely not a tradeoff. We want to make202sure VA is getting this right and that the changes are203implemented clearly and transparently to the veterans they204impact. This is an area where oversight matters, and the205committee intends to stay engaged as the Department moves206forward.207    Finally, we will examine the VA's Life Insurance programs.208These insurance--these insurance products are meant to provide209financial stability for veterans and their families who,210through their military service, may not be able to acquire life211insurance in the private market. These programs operate on a212real--a very real scale. In 2023 alone, Servicemembers' Group213Life Insurance (SGLI) covered more than 2.2 million service214members. Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance covered215roughly 2.5 million spouses and dependent children. Veterans'216Group Life Insurance (VGLI) covered more than 451,000217individuals.218    We want to understand how these programs are being219administered, how veterans are navigating their options, and220whether VA is doing enough to help families make information--221informed decisions, excuse me. We will also examine who is222administering these benefits and if they are providing the223right level of value and service to veterans and the taxpayers.224At the end of the day, that comes down to a simple question: is225VA delivering these benefits in a way that is clear,226accountable, and centered on the veteran? If the system is too227complicated, too slow, or not properly overseen, the people who228feel the first--feel that first are obviously the veterans and229their families, and that is not acceptable.230    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. With231that, I yield to the Ranking Member.232233      OPENING STATEMENT OF MORGAN MCGARVEY, RANKING MEMBER234235    Mr. McGarvey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and absolutely share236your thoughts on that about making sure we are putting the237veterans from front and center in everything we do. Thanks for238being here. For--we need--we need to do this. This is one we239have got to examine, the VA's Insurance, Pension, and Fiduciary240programs.241    Right now, the VA's Insurance program provides more than242$1.25 trillion in coverage to more than 5.1 million243beneficiaries. That is enormous. Despite the size and244importance of these programs, Congress has not really taken a245close look at them in quite some time. I am glad we are doing246it today.247    I think that on this subcommittee, you are going to find we248do generally good work and we work together to make sure that249we are doing exactly what you have heard both of us say,250putting the veteran at the heart of what we do. We try to251conduct real oversight. We try to stay away from some of the252theater that you might see, especially in something like this,253because it is important. We are good at keeping the veterans at254the heart of what we do. I think that is especially important255as we talk about today's topic, because although pensions and256insurance and fiduciaries might seem like sort of dry topics,257there is a really painful story and reality behind so many of258these numbers.259    When you think about someone who receives a life insurance260payment, that is someone who has lost a loved one. When you261think about someone who is in the Fiduciary program, that is262someone who is really struggling and in pain and in need of263help. When you think about someone who is in the Pension264program, this is--we are usually talking about a veteran. We265are usually talking about someone who is in the later stages of266life who is facing real financial strain and difficulty. We got267to make sure that these programs continue to exist, continue to268thrive for the people who need them. For the stories behind269these numbers.270    On the Insurance program specifically, I am happy that this271portion of the hearing is not being driven by bad headlines or272incriminating Inspector General (IG) reports, but rather273because Congress is actually doing some forward-leaning274oversight for a change. I think that is how it should be.275Although I will also mention that I do intend to engage the276Government Accountability Office to do a deeper dive into these277programs, I hope you will join me in that effort, Mr. Chairman,278I am eager to hear from you all today and to learn more about279how this program supports our veterans, active duty service280members, and their families.281    Shifting to the Pension and the Fiduciary programs, these282are areas, unfortunately, that have been in the news for the283wrong reasons. They have been the focus of multiple Inspector284General reports, and all too often, we see criminal behavior in285these programs. Just this past February, there was a report of286a fiduciary stealing more than $158,000 from elderly and ill287veterans. That is beyond unacceptable. It is exactly why this288kind of oversight matters. The people in these programs are289some of the most vulnerable people that the VA serves. To see290someone who is taking advantage of people who are uniquely291vulnerable is obviously despicable and something all agree we292want to root out.293    The VA's got to have strong protections in place to make294sure that these veterans are not being made victims and the295people who try to defraud them are being held fully296accountable. In their testimony for today's hearing, the VA297just gave us five paragraphs, mostly basic overviews of what298these programs are and how they work. There is very little299about actual oversight. It gives me a little pause that the VA300is simply stating what the programs are and that they are being301modernized. We are talking about a system that some of the302Nation's most vulnerable veterans rely on. To see IG reports303titled, Lapse in Fiduciary Program Oversight Puts Some Veterans304at Risk and failure to flag fiduciaries who are removed from305results and risk to vulnerable beneficiaries also makes me306deeply concerned.307    We need more from the VA than bare bones information on308these topics. We need real, honest accounting of the challenges309of running these programs, the risks involved in running these310programs, and the work being done to protect veterans, their311families, and taxpayer dollars.312    I am glad we are holding this oversight hearing today, both313for a program that rarely makes the news and another that, when314it does make the news, makes bad news. This will not be our end315of--this will not be the end of our work on this and on these316programs.317    Mr. Chairman, I am excited to continue this oversight and318work with you today. Thank you. I yield back.319    Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. McGarvey.320    I would like to welcome our first panel. We appreciate your321time and your willingness to speak candidly about these322programs.323    Today on the panel, we have Mr. Tim Sirhal, Acting324Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits, Veterans Benefits325Administration, and Ms. Jennifer Bover, Executive Directors,326Pension and Fiduciary Services, Veterans Benefits327Administration. Thank you.328    Again, I ask that you both stand and raise your right hand.329    Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to330provide is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the331truth, so help you God?332    Thank you. Let the record reflect that the witnesses have333answered in the affirmative.334    [Witnesses sworn.]335    Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Tim Sirhal, you are now recognized for 5336minutes, sir.337338                    STATEMENT OF TIM SIRHAL339340    Mr. Sirhal. Good afternoon. Chairman Luttrell, Ranking341Member McGarvey, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for342the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the343Pension, Fiduciary, and Insurance programs within the Veterans344Benefits Administration. I appreciate the committee's continued345commitment to improving the lives of our Nation's veterans,346their families, and their survivors. Joining me today from the347Veterans Benefits Administration is Ms. Jennifer Bover,348Executive Director, Pension and Fiduciary Service.349    At VA, we take our responsibility to serve and protect350veterans and their families very seriously, especially those351who may be more vulnerable and need extra support. For example,352VA's Pension program offers vital assistance to veterans and353their survivors, particularly in their time of need. In Fiscal354Year 2025, VA provided over $2.8 billion in benefits to more355than 200,000 beneficiaries. Through the dedication and hard356work of employees and our leadership teams, we have taken great357strides to expedite the delivery of these critical benefits.358    As a result, we have reduced processing times by more than359110 days for veterans' Pension claims, by more than 100 days360for Survivors Pension claims, and by more than 90 days for361Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) claims, all while362upholding quality standards with an accuracy rate of 96363percent. Veterans' Pension claims are currently being completed364in 57 days on average, and VA is completing Survivors Pension365and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation claims in 73 days on366average.367    Another way VA protects veterans and survivors is through368the Fiduciary Program. The program supports more than 104,000369veterans and survivors who are unable to manage their own VA370monetary payments. VA appoints and oversees fiduciaries to371manage the VA monetary benefits in the best interest of the372veteran or survivor.373    VA also oversees several Life Insurance programs that374provide valuable financial security for service members,375veterans, and their families. Programs open to new applicants376include Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance for those377currently serving, Veterans' Group Life Insurance for those378transitioning out of service, and our newest program, Veterans379Affairs Life Insurance or VALife, open to all service-connected380veterans.381    VALife launched in January 2023. Each applicant can elect382up to $40,000 in coverage at any time up to age 80. We designed383the VALife application process to be quick and transparent. On384average, it takes just 11 minutes to apply and confirm coverage385online, and more than 90 percent of applications are automated.386VA is proud to share that the VALife Program has been a387tremendous success. Currently, there are approximately 80,000388active policies totaling $2.5 billion in coverage.389    Customer satisfaction is a top priority. Recent surveys390show that well over 80 percent of respondents saying they are391highly satisfied. Applications received are close to double392those of the Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance program that393the VALife program replaced. Importantly, 80 percent of394veterans insured under VALife are 70 percent or more service-395connected, meaning that the program is operating as designed to396ensure those most in need are more--or who are more likely to397struggle finding insurance coverage in the market and get their398coverage through VA.399    Overall, VA is deeply committed to serving and protecting400veterans and their families while ensuring we are efficient in401delivering on our promises.402    Mr. Chairman, thank you for your oversight of these403critical programs and for the opportunity to speak with you404today. My colleague Ms. Bover and I welcome any questions that405you or other members of the subcommittee may have.406407    [The Prepared Statement Of Tim Sirhal Appears In The408Appendix]409410    Mr. Luttrell. The written statement of Mr. Sirhal will be411entered into the hearing record.412    I now recognize the Ranking Member for 5 minutes of413questioning.414    Mr. McGarvey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.415    Mr. Sirhal, the Fairness for Service Members Act was signed416into law last December and requires the VA to review insurance417coverage amounts every 5 years and report to Congress about418adjusting those amounts for inflation. The first review and419report were due in January 2026 this year, but Congress still420has not received it. When can we expect that review to be421finished and the information sent to Congress?422    Mr. Sirhal. Thank you for that question, sir. The review is423complete. It has not been provided yet. We will look into it--I424will look into why it has not been provided yet, but the425analysis has been completed by the actuaries.426    Mr. McGarvey. Thank you. I will not speak for the Chairman,427but a lot of times we agree up here on what we call428``government speak'' and saying, `I am going to look into it.'429That is something we hear a lot. Who has that report, and how430do we get a hold of it?431    Mr. Sirhal. I do not know which office has the report. I432will--I will find out.433    Mr. McGarvey. Okay, we are going to--he has it. Is it your434job to have that report?435    Mr. Sirhal. My--the team that is under me generates the436information for that report and then puts it through for437release. The analysis has been completed.438    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. We--we need that report because it was439due to us by January. Again, I am not--I did not actually plan440on this being adversarial at all. It is your team, your team441underneath you, that has completed the report. You do not have442the report?443    Mr. Sirhal. I do not have the report. That is----444    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. You should have the report, right? If445it has been completed and it was due to us in January, you446should have it at least.447    Mr. Sirhal. I have seen the report and it has cleared my448office.449    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. You have seen it, but you do not have450it. Who has it?451    Mr. Sirhal. I do not know which office has it at this time.452I will find out, though.453    Mr. McGarvey. I know. You cleared it?454    Mr. Luttrell. Who did you send it to after you cleared it?455    Mr. Sirhal. It should be with the department for final456review.457    Mr. McGarvey. Okay.458    Mr. Luttrell. After the final review, your signature is the459one that is going to send that to us?460    Mr. McGarvey. Yes.461    Mr. Luttrell. Forgive me.462    Mr. McGarvey. No, no, please. Please, Mr. Chairman.463    Mr. Luttrell. This is what the Ranking Member was talking464about. You are playing a chess game with us. That is not going465to work in this committee, sir. You are this--you are the466official signature on the bottom of that report that your team467is the one that created it, and you either handed it off. You468cannot say you handed it off to the department. You mean you469gave it to the secretary, and he is the one that has not given470it to us. That is not how this works either. You are471responsible for this department, and that report was due to us.472We can play this game for a very long time, sir, and we can473make it very uncomfortable in here. I think the answer to your474question is, sir, most likely is, Mr. Ranking Member, I will475have that to you by the end of the day, if you will. I will let476you answer that question.477    Mr. Sirhal. I will find out where the report is and get it478and make sure it is given to you as soon as I possibly can.479    Mr. Luttrell. When you say ``as soon as you possibly can''480in your calendar, what does that look like? For me, that means481when you walk out of here.482    Mr. Sirhal. I will make the appropriate phone calls as soon483as I walk out here to try to move it.484    Mr. Luttrell. It was due in January.485    Mr. McGarvey. You have seen it and you have cleared it. I486think that is kind of what we are getting at here. If you told487me it is not finished yet, we would have been like, please get488that finished. Can we be pushing? We need a date when it was489due in January. You are telling me it is finished. You have490seen it, you have cleared it, you do not know who has it, you491do not know where it is. We will get it somehow, someway,492somehow, at some point, which I hope you see why that seems493evasive to us.494    Mr. Sirhal. It is not my intent to be evasive, sir. The495actuaries have completed the information. The information has496been validated by our financial folks. It is being cleared497before it is released. I will find out where it is.498    Mr. Luttrell. You are the guy. You are the guy, and you499said that. Now, if you want to take that back, you can if you500were just trying to hope we did not--we were not paying501attention. Is there a signature on there that we need--that you502need that you are not telling us?503    Mr. Sirhal. I mean, there is no--I will find out where the504report is and what signature is missing that needs to be on505there before it gets released to you. I promise that.506    Mr. McGarvey. I will tell you we could do this all day507long, and we might come back to this even. I think what you are508hearing from both of us, again, I am going to go back to what I509said in the opening. This is not--we are not--I in no way510intended for this to be adversarial. I expected just kind of a511plain answer. I am surprised at the answer I have been given.512The report exists; it is finished. It is your team; you have513cleared it. We do not have it, and you do not know where it is,514and you cannot tell us when we are going to get it. For us,515that--that is not acceptable because again, these reports,516these audits, this--the reason this is a 5-year oversight, why517we are supposed to see this is because it takes care of our518veterans, and sometimes we get really frustrated with the VA519because it seems like a black hole. What we really want and520what we might even get with you offline before we get out of521here is exactly when, and I am talking like today, tomorrow, by522the end of the week, when we get that report, especially if it523is finished. That is what we need.524    Mr. Luttrell. He and I, and Mr. Self here, have to answer525these questions to every single person that is sitting behind526you right now. We do. They deserve those answers. I can assure527you, sometimes the conversation is a way more abrasive than528what you are receiving right now. Because you are doing this to529us, you are going to hear this from me as the Chairman. Do not530dance around these answers and hope that we are not paying531attention, sir. Do you understand?532    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, I will give you direct answers.533    Mr. Luttrell. The department, in its history, will come to534these hearings and then walk out, and that is the end of it.535That is not something the Ranking Member and I tolerate. Do you536understand, sir?537    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, I fully understand, and you have my538commitment. I will find out what is missing from that.539    Mr. Luttrell. I will hold a hearing every single day with540you. I will make this so uncomfortable if you choose to come in541here and do this dance with me. Do you understand?542    Mr. Sirhal. Yes, sir.543    Mr. Luttrell. Thank you.544    Mr. McGarvey. A couple more questions, and I will yield545back because I know we have got stuff to do. Thank you, Mr.546Chairman.547    Mr. Sirhal, I am going to ask you a few more questions. I548am from Kentucky. It is a--it is a southern State. Sometimes549people ask questions they mean as statements. These are actual550questions. I do not know the answers to these questions and551would love to get answers to these questions. In your testimony552you state that there are approximately 104,000 beneficiaries in553the Fiduciary program. How many total fiduciaries represent the554104,000 beneficiaries?555    Mr. Sirhal. I would defer that question to Ms. Bover.556    Ms. Bover. Thank you for that question, sir. There are557about 76,000 fiduciaries that oversee about the 104,000558veterans and beneficiaries in the program.559    Mr. McGarvey. Thank you for that. I was looking through560this stuff, getting ready for the hearing, and I am just561curious about how this program actually operates. Is there a562maximum number of beneficiaries a fiduciary may represent?563    Ms. Bover. Thank you for that question, sir. I had a564similar one when I first took over this position a little less565than 6 months ago. There is not a maximum, but there are566additional oversight measures that are put in place if a567fiduciary has more than one beneficiary.568    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. This is again just a--this is a legit569question. In your experience, do you think there should be a570maximum, or is the monitoring program you have right now, do571you think that is sufficient?572    Ms. Bover. Based on what I know about the program right573now, no matter how many beneficiaries a fiduciary may have,574each beneficiary deserves to receive the same level of care. If575we find through our oversight measures that that same level of576care does not exist, we move to take appropriate actions.577    Mr. McGarvey. How do you find that out?578    Ms. Bover. We can find that out through a number of579different ways. One of the ways is every single year, each580beneficiary receives a letter from us reminding them that they581are in the Fiduciary program, letting them know what their582rights are, and letting them know to contact us if they think583anything is not working as they think it should, or they are584not receiving the care that they believe they should. They also585receive a phone call from us as well as in person visit, and586that alternates every year as well. Then for our fiduciaries,587we have oversight measures where they have to complete certain588actions in a timely manner. There are annual accountings where589they must tell us how that money is being spent. We can do fund590usage reports, which is 3 months' worth of bank statements, and591we also do in-personsite visits with them as well, as592appropriate.593    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. I will just ask one more question and594yield back to you, Mr. Chairman. We might have time for more595questions later. Has a Fiduciary program or the Office of596Inspector General found that fraud and abuse is more or less597likely with what we would consider, for lack of a better word,598professional fiduciaries as opposed to, like, family members or599loved ones?600    Ms. Bover. I am not sure I have the exact answer to your601question, sir, to be honest with you. What I can tell you is602that we always aim to assign the fiduciary of the--of the603veteran or beneficiary's choosing. That may be a spouse, a604family member, a friend. As a last resort, is when we assign605professional fiduciaries, and I can tell you that it is less--606less than 2 percent of all fiduciaries are professional.607    Mr. McGarvey. Thank you for that. Mr. Chairman, before I608yield back, I would just be remiss if I did not say, Mr.609Sirhal, we need that report, and we need to know exactly when610we are going to get it. I yield back.611    Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. McGarvey.612    Mr. Self, you are recognized for 5 minutes, sir.613    Mr. Self. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.614    Mr. Sirhal, I am going to throw you a lifeline here. From615your answers I am trying to parse them. Is this report in one616of your boss's offices and you have no control over it?617    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, the analysis is complete on the report.618    Mr. Self. Nope. My answer is a yes or no question. I am619trying to throw you a lifeline here. If it is not a lifeline,620just let me know. Is it in one of your boss's offices?621    Mr. Sirhal. I will confirm what is pending signature and622what is--what is pending review.623    Mr. Luttrell. I can assure you, you are about--I am about624to get the hold of you again. Okay? Now, if we are in a place625where we can no longer hold this committee hearing because you626are way outside your comfort zone and do not want to give us627our answers, then I will do that. I warned you earlier, sir,628not to play this chess game with me. Okay? Are we clear?629    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, I assure you I am not trying to play a630chess game.631    Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Self.632    Mr. Self. I agree with the Chairman. When you come here, we633kind of need--we ask simple, direct questions. We need simple,634direct answers.635    I want to talk about the veteran engaged in asset transfer636to meet the Pension requirements. Okay? Now, if I--if my memory637serves me correct, there are a couple of elder benefits that638is, it is perfectly acceptable to divest yourself of your639assets in order to meet the criteria. Are we talking about a640true transfer, true asset transfer here, in other words, giving641it all to your kids, your grandkids, or something? Are you--are642we suggesting that you are hiding your assets in order to meet643the criteria?644    Mr. Sirhal. I will defer that question to Ms. Bover.645    Ms. Bover. Thank you for that question, sir. In terms of646the 3-year look-back, that is to ensure that beneficiaries, the647veterans, or the survivors are receiving the needs-based648benefit that they have earned and making sure that their income649and net worth limitations are under the rate that is set by650Congress every year, sir.651    Mr. Self. Okay, I am not sure that answers the question. I652am trying to determine if this is consistent with our other653policies and elder benefits. This 3-year look-back and the654criteria, is this a statute or is this a rule in the VA? This655requirement for no more than $163,699, is that statute or is656that rule?657    Ms. Bover. I am going to need to look into that and get658back to you to find out if it is in a statute or if it is659something that the VA did prior to my time to be able to ensure660that the veterans and the survivors were receiving the right661amount of needs-based benefit based on their assets that they662have.663    Mr. Self. Okay. The veteran, and I think this is true, can664be banned for up to 5 years if they are not meeting the actual665requirement. Is that correct?666    Ms. Bover. Thank you for that question, sir. I believe that667is correct, sir.668    Mr. Self. Let us move on to something you might be able to669answer. Your VALife risk. We like to talk about outputs here.670Let me get to the right document here. You have got--you are671very satisfied with it. You now have 2.5 billion in coverage,672but you do not tell us--and people are very satisfied with it.67382.6 percent are very satisfied with it. What is the loss ratio674on this? What is the risk to the Federal Government? How does675this--how does the loss ratio work in this particular Insurance676policy?677    Mr. Sirhal. A life policies are whole life policies, so678they build cash value. The program, by statute, must be self-679supporting, which it is.680    Mr. Self. Okay.681    Mr. Sirhal. Our reserves have been building over the last 3682years since January 2023. We have the appropriate reserves for683the number of folks in the program, which is approximately68480,000.685    Mr. Self. Okay. You are meeting the commercial reserve686standards?687    Mr. Sirhal. Yes, sir. We have an actuary team who sets that688every year and revisits premiums every year to ensure that689premiums and expenses align with the appropriate reserves.690    Mr. Self. Okay, very good. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.691    Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Sirhal, since the Servicemembers' Group692Life Insurance and the Veterans' Group Life Insurance programs693were created in 1965 and respectively 1974, has VA ever sought694additional insurance providers outside of Prudential to provide695coverage to veterans? If not, why?696    Mr. Sirhal. Thank you for that question, sir. I cannot697attest to whether there was competes 15-20 years ago, but I can698tell you that there has not been formal market research in the699last 10 years. That program, the SGLI and VGLI program under700the current construct, has been able to consistently increase701coverage available, most recently in 2023, with 500,000.702    Mr. Luttrell. Would it make sense in 2026 to compete these703programs for lower costs?704    Mr. Sirhal. While testing the market could bring705advantages, doing so would just have to be done very carefully706so as not to inadvertently disadvantage those veterans in the--707--708    Mr. Luttrell. I think the transition from one program to709another, if it was more cost-effective for the VA but more710beneficial for the veterans, would make sense.711    Mr. Sirhal. Understood.712    Mr. Luttrell. Has your office competed that in any way713since you have been in this seat?714    Mr. Sirhal. Our office has done initial research.715    Mr. Luttrell. What does that mean?716    Mr. Sirhal. It means that we validated that under the717current statutory construction, very few companies would be718eligible to compete for the--for the product. Our office has719also done analysis to ensure that administrative costs for720Prudential are----721    Mr. Luttrell. Prudential has been there since 1965. They722are so dug in on this, after so many years, no other company723can carry that kind of weight?724    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, the statute has requirements of who is725even eligible.726    Mr. Luttrell. Say that one more time?727    Mr. Sirhal. The statute has requirements on what companies728could even compete. It is less than 10.729    Mr. Luttrell. Less than 10 companies in the continental730United States?731    Mr. Sirhal. Based on our analysis. The requirements are,732and they are pretty simple requirements, but they are difficult733to satisfy. A company can only compete for this product if they734are licensed to issue insurance in every State and DC, and they735have 1 percent or more of the total group policy life insurance736in place in the Nation. It is essentially the top.737    Mr. Luttrell. How often do we compete this?738    Mr. Sirhal. It has not been competed to my knowledge.739    Mr. Luttrell. Since 1974?740    Mr. Sirhal. To my knowledge, it has not. I do not know if741there was an effort made prior to that time or prior to the742last time.743    Mr. Luttrell. Congress needs to request a report to see if744there is any other company besides Prudential that can lower745the cost for the VA and increase the benefits for our veterans.746Is that what you are telling me? Out of the 10 that you said747exist.748    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, we have looked into and conduct robust749oversight. We are very comfortable with our level of oversight.750As I noted, testing the market there can definitely be751advantages to that. However, we want to be sure that in doing752so, we do not inadvertently do more harm than good by753disrupting this important benefit. Which I will have to note754that in the VGLI program, for example, that there is no755underwriting for the first 240 days. Not only is there no756underwriting, there is also no health questions, which is very757unique, and the private insurers are not used to doing.758Typically, even an insurance program in the private industry759where they say there is no underwriting, there is still----760    Mr. Luttrell. All right, just to clarify something for me.761We have not competed this contract since 1974?762    Mr. Sirhal. That is correct.763    Mr. Luttrell. We are okay with that?764    Mr. Sirhal. We are okay with the level of oversight and the765performance of Prudential. Is there an opportunity to test the766market to see if there are improvements? Yes, there is that767opportunity.768    Mr. Luttrell. We have not done that.769    Mr. Sirhal. We have not done that as of now.770    Mr. Luttrell. That is 50 something years, right? We might771want to take a look at that. What is the conversation rate at772transition from SGLI coverage to VGLI coverage?773    Mr. Sirhal. Thank you for that question. In general, for774SGLI, the application rates are around 23 to 25,000 a year, and775the conversion rate is around between 8 and 12 percent.776    Mr. Luttrell. I does not make sense to have more options777inside the coverage network to lower rates. Obviously not since778we have not done it in over 50 something years.779    Mr. Sirhal. I will say, sir, that the current construct780allows us to focus our oversight on Prudential so that we can781ensure that their rates are competitive. VA sets the rates,782which we have been able to drop consistently over the years.783Our last time in July 20,000--2025, we dropped the rates for784all active-duty service members, all veterans, and all spouses.785It should save them, based on our projections, over $2 billion786over the next 10 years.787    Mr. Luttrell. That is great. I mean, those are fantastic788numbers. Just out of morbid curiosity, I would think they are,789out of the other 10 that are--that exist that could possibly do790this, could it be better? We do not know that because we have791not done it in over 50 something years.792    Mr. Sirhal. The one other note I could make, if you would793not mind, is because the contract was put in place in 1965794without getting into the details here in a public forum, there795are advantageous----796    Mr. Luttrell. Is it classified?797    Mr. Sirhal. It is not classified.798    Mr. Luttrell. Okay.799    Mr. Sirhal. There is advantageous provisions in that800contract. I would want to be very careful not to disrupt that801and inadvertently put VA in a position where we had less802bargaining power if we were to either engage with Prudential or803test the market.804    Mr. Luttrell. I feel like I should unpack that. You got805anything?806    Mr. McGarvey. I am going to go kind of go into an area that807the Chairman was just getting into a little bit as well. This808is about the Life Insurance program. I want to raise a real809concern I have about the transition from Service Disabled810Veterans Insurance (SDVI) to VALife. You know, kind of what you811are, I hope you are gathering from this committee, this812committee is not about scoring points or getting one over on813one another. This is about doing what is right for our814veterans, our men and women who put on that uniform, who put815that flag on their shoulder and said we are going to, we are816going to serve and be willing to sacrifice everything to keep817this country safe and free.818    When the grace period expired, veterans lost the ability to819keep their existing SDVI coverage during the 2-year waiting820period before VALife coverage began. Now that created a821coverage gap. I understand, and I grant you this. It is one822thing to apply a 2-year waiting period to new applicants,823people who were not previously enrolled in an insurance plan.824It is a totally different thing to talk about people who are825doing the right thing, who were carrying life insurance, who826were paying their premiums, but then are being told that they827have to go without coverage for 2 years before the new plan828kicks in. That is administrative, right? That is not829acceptable. I do not think we should put our veterans at that830sort of risk, a 2-year gap. We all know a lot can happen in 2831years just because of an administrative change.832    Has the VA tracked how many SDVI policyholders have833switched to VALife insurance since January, when the ability to834carry both policies expired?835    Mr. Sirhal. I can confirm that number, sir.836    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. Okay, this is one we want those837numbers. I understand you do not have it today, but we want it,838and we want it as soon as you can gather.839    You know, just a couple of quick things I wanted to get to840in our first round of questioning. Go back to the fiduciaries.841You know, obviously, this is something I am very concerned842about because for a veteran who is using a fiduciary, that is843someone who is in trouble, right? You know, they are in crisis.844They have something in their life where they need a fiduciary845to handle their affairs. I want to talk about what is happening846when fiduciaries are assigned to minors, minors related to847veterans, because, you know, obviously, there is a lot of848opportunity for potential wrongdoing or abuse in that type of849system. How often does the VA review the finances of a850fiduciary assigned to a minor?851    Ms. Bover. Thank you for that question. All of our852fiduciaries do--we do have oversight over all the fiduciaries.853There are, for example, annual accountings that we would do,854and then we assign a fiduciary for a minor, as it is based in855statute.856    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. Again, I am asking you legit questions.857You guys are the experts on this. We are just trying to make858sure our veterans and their families are taken care of. Tell us859if you do not think this is the case, like we want to help. Do860you think that--do you think that is often enough?861    Ms. Bover. I think the oversight procedures that we do have862in place, you know, I have mentioned some of the accountings863and fund usage reports and insight visits, also reaching out to864the beneficiaries themselves, not if they are a minor. We also865run clear reports on them every single year just to make sure866that nothing has changed in their life that may lead them down867a path that is--that is not acceptable. We also try to assign868the fiduciary of the beneficiary's choosing.869    I do believe the oversight that we have is adequate and870that we have to continue with what we are doing to ensure that871every single veteran and beneficiary is being well taken care872of and that their funds are being well managed for their own873benefit.874    Mr. McGarvey. Thanks. That is what I mean. These are not875trick questions, right? Like, if you think it is adequate and876it is working, we want to know that. If you do not think it is877adequate, we want to get you what you need to make sure that it878is adequate.879    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir.880    Mr. McGarvey. I think, Mr. Chairman, I can--I think we can881stop there.882    Mr. Luttrell. Mr. Self.883    Mr. Self. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.884    Mr. Sirhal, the criteria used to determine when a885beneficiary requires a fiduciary, what due process protections886are in place? Specifically, I want to talk about the--in the887past, the allegations that someone that might have been able to888handle his finances at a fiduciary because of other factors.889Criteria, due process, and exactly who gets a fiduciary?890    Mr. Sirhal. Sir, I can address parts one and two of that891question. Part three, I will defer to Ms. Bover.892    The new fiduciary should be appointed unless there is893medical evidence of their incompetency to handle their--their894VA funds. I will make that distinction. The medical895determination is only about managing VA funds. It does not896extend beyond that into your ability to conduct yourselves in897any other way.898    As far as a due process, prior to any finding of a need for899a fiduciary, there is a due process period. It is at least 60900days. After the expiration of that 60-day notice, the veteran901or beneficiary could submit any information or evidence to902dispute and show that they, in fact, can handle their funds.903After that point, if the incompetency rating is completed, it904is referred to the Fiduciary hub, who then finds a fiduciary905and works with the veteran or beneficiary.906    As far as the process, once the referral happens to the907Fiduciary hub, I will defer that to Ms. Bover.908    Ms. Bover. To assign a fiduciary, we have to first do our909due diligence to make sure that the right person is assigned910that can appropriately care for that veteran or beneficiary. We911do a criminal background check on the fiduciary as well as a912credit history check. In addition, we personally meet with913the----914    Mr. Self. No, I am sorry. My question deals with the915veteran, him or herself. Is it only--do you decide on mental916acuity? Are there other factors outside of a mental acuity to917handle financial funds that you might assign a fiduciary?918    Ms. Bover. The VA does not necessarily make that919determination. We are taking the medical evidence, as Mr.920Sirhal said. There, for example, a doctor may state that a921particular veteran or beneficiary, for whatever reason, is not922able to manage their VA finances. That is what we use as our923evidence to make a decision. We do not override what a medical924doctor would say.925    Mr. Self. Okay. Mr. Sirhal, how many allegations of926misconduct have you received in the last year in the fiduciary927world?928    Mr. Sirhal. I would refer that to Ms. Bover for the data929points.930    Ms. Bover. Thank you for that question. On average, we have931about 165 cases a year that are substantiated for misuse.932    Mr. Self. That is confirmed misuse. 165?933    Ms. Bover. Correct. That is less than 1 percent of our934complete portfolio.935    Mr. Self. Okay, so what is the restitution process? Is936there one?937    Ms. Bover. Thank you for asking that. I think first and938foremost, as we have talked about, we are always looking at out939for the best interest of our veterans and beneficiaries. If940misuse is substantiated, the most important thing to know is941that that veteran or beneficiary is made whole, meaning they942get that money back. Additionally, when that happens, we also943refer all of these cases to the Office of Inspector General. If944there is a surety bond on the financial account, we will go945after getting back that money through the surety bond. We also946encourage any time that somebody believes that some kind of947misuse has happened to report that to the Federal Trade948Commission as well.949    Mr. Self. Okay. Mr. Sirhal, last--in my last 30 seconds,950why does VA allow surviving spouses who remarry but later to951divorce to reapply for DIC and Survivors Pension?952    Mr. Sirhal. I will defer that question to Ms. Bover.953    Ms. Bover. I think your question was if there is a survivor954that is currently receiving a Pension or DIC. I believe your955question was what happens if they remarry? Is that correct?956    Mr. Self. No, it is the surviving spouse who remarries and957then divorces can reapply for the benefits?958    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir.959    Mr. Self. Surviving spouse.960    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir.961    Mr. Self. Do you believe that that is what Congress962intended with the black and white letter law?963    Ms. Bover. I believe that what we all want is for964veterans--for surviving spouses to receive earned benefits.965    Mr. Self. Well, the question is earned benefits when they966remarry are terminated.967    Ms. Bover. There are remarriage restrictions for both our968Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, as well as our Pension969benefits. For Pension benefits, if they remarry at any age,970they lose that benefit. For Dependency and Indemnity971Compensation, if they remarry before the age of 55, they lose972that benefit, sir.973    Mr. Self. Right. My time is up. Without answers, Chairman,974I yield back.975    Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. Self.976    You know, if the VA just let them keep it and did not take977it away from them in the first place, we would not have that978problem.979    Ms. Bover, what do you believe are the biggest980communication challenges for surviving spouses and what they981face with the VA today?982    Ms. Bover. I think this is an area that the VA has made983tremendous strides in over the past year. I can tell you, since984I have been----985    Mr. Luttrell. Over the past year?986    Ms. Bover. Since I have been here about the last 6 months,987I have done--done my part in ensuring that I am actively988engaging with the survivor community to hear what their989concerns are and take action on their concerns. We want nothing990more than to ensure that they are--they know about what991benefits they are eligible for----992    Mr. Luttrell. How are we doing that?993    Ms. Bover [continuing]. and able to apply for them.994    Mr. Luttrell. Generationally, it can be challenging. The995younger spouses, I do not mean any disrespect when I say this,996but the younger generation is very engaged in digital media.997The older generation may not be. How are we touching them both?998    Ms. Bover. I appreciate that question. While VA is moving999more toward a digital platform, we still have our paper. So1000the--so we still send things out via mail. Surviving spouses1001are still able to come and see us in one of our public contact1002team units in-person. There is one in every State. For those1003that are comfortable, there is online resources they can apply1004online for all of our benefits, research our benefits. For1005those that are not comfortable, again, we do have paper forms1006of paper of explaining those benefits.1007    Mr. Luttrell. I am sure the digital pipeline is very1008streamlined. It is start to finish from the spouse to whomever1009is on the--on the receiving end. What does a paper trail look1010like? How many hands does that have to go through? Then it has1011to be inputted digitally from somebody internal to the VA.1012Correct?1013    Ms. Bover. I will--I will answer that twofold. If the1014surviving spouse goes online to VA.gov and applies, that1015information is automatically received by the VA to be worked.1016If they choose to fill out a paper form and mail that, that1017goes to our scanning vendor, and our scanning vendor then scans1018that and puts that into our system. If something is mailed,1019right, we have that delay of the postal service. It is a little1020bit quicker if they go online. If they do not have those1021resources, to your point, sir, we can assist them with that in1022one of our public contact team units in every State, or we also1023encourage them to work with an amazing veteran service1024organization.1025    Mr. Luttrell. How does the VA respond, and how long to a1026spouse that submits it through the mail? Do they--they will1027have to obviously respond with a letter. If it--when it hits1028the VA, then it has to be scanned in. Then once it is scanned1029in, it will--they will--they will populate a report, or it1030says, hey, this is done. Then that report has to be mailed back1031to the spouse. Correct?1032    Ms. Bover. Whether they apply online or----1033    Mr. Luttrell. No, no.1034    Ms. Bover [continuing]. via paper----1035    Mr. Luttrell. Not online, just snail mail.1036    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir. Either way that they apply, we are1037providing those decisions about 100 days sooner. Those benefits1038are getting into their hands well within under 90 days.1039    Mr. Luttrell. I am kind of running in a different lane all1040of a sudden. I apologize. I want--some of the questions that we1041get is, I am not getting any response from the VA that this has1042been done. Again, my question is if snail mail comes in and is1043scanned into the system, now they are in the system, but they1044do not know that. Does the VA populate a letter and mail it1045back to them or are they just kind of?1046    Ms. Bover. Great question, sir. Years ago, because1047processing times were so high, there used to be a lot of1048different communication going out so that people knew that they1049were not forgotten, and that their claim was being processed.1050Because we are processing claims so quickly now, as well as1051accurately, they do not receive as much communication because1052that time span has greatly shortened.1053    Mr. Luttrell. Okay. You are still--we are still kind of1054dancing around my question here. How does my mother, who does1055not know how to turn on a computer, receive a response from the1056VA in the mail, or will she receive a letter in the mail from1057the VA----1058    Ms. Bover. Yes.1059    Mr. Luttrell [continuing]. that we have scanned your1060information, and it is in the system?1061    Ms. Bover. Because we are processing those cases so quickly1062now, a lot of those interim communication points are no longer1063existing. However, when a decision----1064    Mr. Luttrell. Does that mean no? I am sorry.1065    Ms. Bover. Yes. When a decision is made, they will receive1066something via paper, sir. I can also tell you that for a1067dependent----1068    Mr. Luttrell. When the decision is made, but not, hey, we1069have received your letter?1070    Ms. Bover. Correct.1071    Mr. Luttrell. Now, help me out on this, because where I1072live, it is country, all right? My veterans, which I have107340,000 veterans in my district, and some of their biggest1074complaints to me, is like, I do not know if the VA has received1075me.1076    Ms. Bover. One of the advances that we have made or changes1077we have made over the last year, especially with our Dependency1078and Indemnity Compensation cases, is that we are reaching out1079via telephone personally to these survivors. If we are missing1080information, we are reaching out and making sure that they1081understand what they need to get us so that we can quickly1082provide them this--the earned benefits that they have.1083    Mr. Luttrell. Okay. We have got kind of an--and every1084district is different. Some of my folks do not have telephone,1085oddly enough, and they absolutely do not have a cell phone. I1086live--that is the kind of folks that I represent. They are all1087in. Do I need to have my VA--how did--they are not getting the1088information. I guess it is, basically, how I am saying this;1089they are not receiving any notifications whatsoever by mail1090because they do not have Internet. They do not do the phone1091thing. I think my question now is, does the VA respond by paper1092mail once an applicant's information is input into the system?1093That is a yes or no question.1094    Ms. Bover. Understood, sir. No, not----1095    Mr. Luttrell. No, they do not. Okay, we are going to have1096to--we are going to have to figure that one out. That is a big1097deal. All right? Not so much for folks who live around the city1098and can do all the live in the metaverse, but for the country1099folks that I represent, they need that. All right? We are going1100to have to figure something out. Fair enough?1101    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir.1102    Mr. Luttrell. All right. What are the most common financial1103mistakes or missed opportunities, the survivors, kind of--1104what--that happened to them, that is there a--is the VA1105tracking? Like, if they submit an application and it is1106processed, and they are going to resubmit, it is like, hey, you1107missed something. I think that is a breakdown of communication.1108Is there a--do we have a, oh, if you want to take a survey or1109kind of a--is there a language model that we are utilizing1110inside the VA that populates something for the spouses to say,1111hey, make sure you are taking a look at things, at this? We--we1112have noticed that most of the spouses may miss this1113opportunity.1114    Ms. Bover. We do not have something like exactly what you1115are talking about. What I can tell you is that we have made a1116lot of changes over the last year. For example, we have started1117sending pre-need pre-planning information to veterans while1118they are still alive so they can have these conversations with1119their spouses on what benefits they may be eligible for. When1120we hear that a veteran has passed away, we are immediately, to1121your point, sending a letter to let them know what benefits1122they may be eligible for. I think something that is super1123important that we have done is that if, in certain1124circumstances, and I will give you an example, if a veteran is1125100 percent service-connected for more than 10 years and they1126pass away and they have a spouse on record, VA is automatically1127providing them their survivor benefits without them having to1128apply within 6 days. We have done about 100,000 of those just1129so far this fiscal year.1130    Mr. Luttrell. Within 6 days?1131    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir.1132    Mr. Luttrell. Okay. If I pass away--just talking1133hypotheticals.1134    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir.1135    Mr. Luttrell. If I pass away, my spouse will receive1136benefits.1137    Ms. Bover. So----1138    Mr. Luttrell. There is a 6-day gap or----1139    Ms. Bover. From the--again, there are certain situations.1140If we know that, for example, if you are 100 percent service-1141connected for more than 10 years and you pass away, because we1142do not have to look into whether the cause of death was related1143to service, and there was a spouse on the award, yes, sir. We1144are automatically paying those benefits from the time we find1145out about the death to that spouse on record within 6 days. In1146fact, about 40,000 of those this year have been within 1 day,1147and the spouse does not have to apply for those benefits, sir.1148    Mr. Luttrell. The Survivors Pension application is roughly114920 pages long, correct?1150    Ms. Bover. The current application is. Yes, sir.1151    Mr. Luttrell. In that application, does it describe every1152single Pension benefit possible for the spouses or is it1153something they got to go hunt for?1154    Ms. Bover. So the----1155    Mr. Luttrell. I may not be asking that right. Go ahead.1156    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir. That exact form, the 21-534EZ, is a1157claim for three benefits, which is the accrued benefit pension,1158as well as Dependency and Indemnity cost.1159    Mr. Luttrell. Three benefits?1160    Ms. Bover. Yes, it is three benefits.1161    Mr. Luttrell. Is there only three or is there more than1162that?1163    Ms. Bover. There is also burial benefits, and there is a--1164there is, it is a little nuanced, there is a separate form for1165burial benefits. However, if we do grant service-connected1166death, we can also automatically pay burial benefits.1167    Mr. Luttrell. Can or do?1168    Ms. Bover. We do. If we grant service-connected death, we1169can automatically pay those benefits based on the form they1170submitted, sir.1171    Mr. Luttrell. Why cannot we package all that together?1172    Ms. Bover. That--that is our, our way of having all three1173benefits on one form. Sometimes, for burial benefits, it is not1174necessarily the surviving spouse who may have incurred that--1175that cost, or it may not be service-connected. Again, when it1176is, we are paying those benefits based on that one application.1177    Mr. Luttrell. There is five total, if I understand?1178    Ms. Bover. Uh----1179    Mr. Luttrell. Burial is the other one you mentioned.1180    Ms. Bover. There is accrued--the 21-534EZ has accrued1181Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and Pension. Three, then1182again, if we do grant service-connected DIC, we will1183automatically pay that benefit.1184    Mr. Luttrell. How would a surviving spouse that lives in--1185that lives in Cold Spring, Texas, know all that is available?1186If you do not know where Cold Spring, Texas is, I mean, we are1187really excited about that. They just got power out there. We do1188not lose water. You know, that kind of thing. It is a very1189remote place. I am--if you are listening, Cold Spring, I love1190you to death. I am here for you. The surviving, those spouses1191out there, they are not--how do they--how do they know all that1192information? They are not going to get online to get it.1193    Ms. Bover. Yes, sir. In those cases where we are not able1194to process automatically, we are sending them a letter. They1195will--those folks will receive a letter in the mail.1196    Mr. Luttrell. Okay. You got anything? Mr. Self. Okay.1197    Ms. Bover, Mr. Sirhal, thank you very much for your time1198today. Mr. Sirhal, I look forward to hearing from you, the1199Ranking Member and I. Okay? Thank you.1200    [Recess.]1201    Mr. Luttrell. Are we ready? Ms. Sipes, you ready?1202    Mrs. Sipes. Yes, sir.1203    Mr. Luttrell. It will be--it is going to be a great day. It1204is going to be a great day.1205    We appreciate you guys coming to chat with us.1206    I would like to introduce Ms. Tamra Sipes, National1207President, Gold Star Spouses of America, and Mr. Joseph Barnet,1208Vice President of the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life1209Insurance, Prudential Financial. I am sure you got a kick out1210of what I was just--we will talk about that.1211    I ask that the witnesses please stand and raise your right1212hand?1213    Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to1214provide is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the1215truth, so help you God?1216    Let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in1217the affirmative.1218    [Witnesses sworn.]1219    Mr. Luttrell. Ms. Sipes, you are now recognized for 51220minutes to present the testimony on behalf of Gold Star Spouses1221of America.12221223                    STATEMENT OF TAMRA SIPES12241225    Mrs. Sipes. Thank you. Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member1226McGarvey, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank1227you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of Gold Star1228Spouses of America.1229    My name is Tamara Sipes, and I serve as the National1230President. I am also a surviving spouse. Like so many others I1231represent, many here today, my life and my family's life was1232changed forever by my husband's service and sacrifice.1233    For us, VA programs are not abstract benefits. They are the1234foundation of our financial stability, our access to care, and1235our ability to move forward. Surviving spouses navigate grief,1236financial transition, and complex administrative systems all at1237the same time without clear guidance, timely communication, or1238processes that reflect the realities of their lives. These are1239not minor inconveniences; they have real consequences.1240    While there have been improvements, further efforts are1241needed across the Pension, Fiduciary, and VALife programs. Many1242surviving spouses are confused about how the Survivors Pension1243works, especially alongside Dependency and an Indemnity1244Compensation, DIC.1245    Survivors turn to the Pension program only to find that the1246income threshold, approximately $11,700 annually, is set well1247below the poverty level. The term ``pension'' can be confusing1248for survivors as it is understood as a collective benefit, as1249opposed to just one component of possible survivor benefits. As1250a result, many survivors spend time and emotional energy1251applying only to be denied.1252    The issue is not just eligibility; it is clarity. Survivors1253need plain language explanations up front so they can1254understand whether they qualify before entering the process,1255and we urge Congress to examine the current threshold for1256Survivor Pension eligibility to better align at least up to the1257Federal poverty level.1258    While we appreciate the VA's efforts to modernize, a1259digital-first approach will unintentionally leave many1260survivors behind. Nearly a quarter of seniors do not regularly1261use the internet, or they live in rural areas. For many1262surviving spouses, mailed correspondence is not outdated; it is1263essential. An annual benefits letter, while many do not receive1264sent to all surviving spouses, would serve as a reliable touch1265point.1266    We have also heard from survivors who were not informed1267about the 1-year window to move death gratuity and SGLI1268benefits into tax-advantaged accounts. By the time they make1269these decisions, the opportunity has often passed. Survivors1270should be proactively informed and given structured options1271before funds are distributed, rather than be expected to1272navigate these decisions during the first year of profound1273loss.1274    One of the most immediate and personal issues for many of1275our members is the Fiduciary program. We have heard consistent1276concerns about burdensome and confusing requirements1277specifically involving biological children. In some instances,1278surviving spouses who were previously recognized as competent1279beneficiaries for their children are required to establish1280fiduciary arrangements solely due to remarriage. This can feel1281misaligned reality and adds unnecessary stress. While oversight1282is important, current policies create unnecessary burdens on1283surviving spouses.1284    In addition, we would like to recognize and commend the VA1285for voluntarily moving the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA)1286back under the Office of the Secretary in May 2025. Although1287this administration action alone is not a durable safeguard1288without a statutory requirement, OSA can be moved again,1289leaving survivors without consistent access, authority, and1290visibility at the department's highest level.1291    We respectfully ask for action on H.R. 1228. Clarifying the1292law is necessary to ensure this does not happen again.1293Enclosing unclear communication and eligibility requirements1294can result in delayed benefits, financial instability, and1295unnecessary hardship during an already difficult chapter in1296life.1297    We can better honor our surviving spouses with not only our1298gratitude, but our commitment to ensuring the systems designed1299to support them are clearly communicated, equitable, and1300responsive. Gold Star Spouses of America stands ready to work1301with this subcommittee and the VA to advance solutions.1302    Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your1303questions.13041305    [The Prepared Statement Of Tamra Sipes Appears In The1306Appendix]13071308    Mr. Luttrell. The written statement of Ms. Sipes will be1309entered into the hearing record.1310    Mr. Barnet, you are now recognized for 5 minutes, sir.13111312                   STATEMENT OF JOSEPH BARNET13131314    Mr. Barnet. Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member McGarvey, and1315members of the subcommittee, my name is Joe Barnet, and I am1316Vice President of the Office of Servicemember Group Life1317Insurance. On behalf of Prudential, thank you for the1318opportunity to testify today. Prudential is proud to serve as1319the administrator of the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance1320Program, also known as SGLI. We recognize the trust the VA has1321placed in us to support service members, veterans, and their1322families during moments of profound loss, injury, and1323transition, and we take that responsibility very seriously.1324    Today, the program provides approximately $1.25 trillion in1325life insurance coverage to more than 5.1 million service1326members, their dependents, and veterans. Since inception, the1327program has paid more than $35.2 billion in benefits, including1328life insurance benefits and traumatic injury payments under1329Traumatic Servicemember Group Life Insurance.1330    Prudential was founded more than 150 years ago with a1331simple purpose: to help working families find peace of mind at1332a time when few financial protections existed. As our Chief1333Executive Officer (CEO), Andy Sullivan, a veteran himself,1334often notes, Prudential started with something as basic and1335human as burial insurance. While our business has evolved over1336generations, our focus remains the same: being there for people1337when it matters most.1338    That commitment is reflected in Prudential's role in1339partnership with the Department of Veterans' Affairs,1340administering life insurance programs for the military1341community, beginning with Servicemember Group Life Insurance.1342    The SGLI program was established by Congress to ensure that1343servicemembers have access to affordable, guaranteed issue life1344insurance. Under the statutory framework, Congress sets the1345requirements, the VA provides oversight and issues implementing1346regulations, and Prudential administers the program through the1347Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, or OSGLI in1348strict accordance with those requirements. Coverage under the1349program is automatic for servicemembers and includes1350continuation of coverage following separation, extensions for1351totally disabled service members, and protection for qualifying1352traumatic injuries.1353    Through OSGLI, Prudential administers claims with care,1354processing claims initiated through military service in1355accordance with VA Policy and communicating directly with1356beneficiaries as appropriate.1357    In addition, to SGLI, OSGLI disburses timely payments of1358Traumatic Servicemember Group Life insurance-or TSGLI--1359benefits, which provides tax-free lump sum financial support to1360servicemembers who suffer qualifying traumatic injuries, and1361VGLI, which allows veterans to continue their life insurance1362coverage following separation from service. OSGLI also plays a1363central role in outreach during transition, helping ensure1364awareness of continuation of coverage under VGLI after military1365service, including the opportunity to apply for coverage1366without the need to qualify medically and the potential for1367disability extension coverage.1368    In closing, Prudential's role in regards to these programs1369is not simply an operational responsibility; it is a solemn1370trust. We deeply value our close partnership with the1371Department of Veterans' Affairs in fulfilling these promises to1372those who serve and the families who stand behind them.1373    Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look1374forward to answering any questions that you might have.13751376    [The Prepared Statement Of Joseph Barnet Appears In The1377Appendix]13781379    Mr. Luttrell. The written statement of Mr. Barnet will be1380entered into the hearing record.1381    Mr. McGarvey, sir, you are recognized.1382    Mr. McGarvey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.1383    Ms. Sipes, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for1384your service. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for1385turning that pain into purpose and for helping so many people1386across the country. I will start with you.1387    You raised concerns in your testimony about the fiduciary1388program and how it treats minor children, especially those1389receiving Dependency and Indemnity Care, or DIC, as we call it,1390and who are living with a parent who just happened to remarry1391and find love again. Can you elaborate a little bit on that,1392please?1393    Mrs. Sipes. Well, if you are a parent, if you are a1394surviving spouse, and you have minor children, you receive1395Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for your children, for1396yourself. There is no site visits. There is no quarterly1397reports that I have to give as a parent. There is no--I am1398their biological parent. When I--if I were to remarry or that1399surviving spouse remarries, all of a sudden, it turns into1400well, you are not the parent anymore. Now you are a fiduciary.1401You have to go through site visits, you have to go through1402quarterly reporting, you have to account for, you know, if all1403of those funds come in, where they go. As a biological parent,1404you are treated differently.1405    Mr. McGarvey. Which makes no sense.1406    Mrs. Sipes. Correct. Thank you.1407    Mr. McGarvey. You know, it makes absolutely zero sense to1408me whatsoever. I think it highlights another aspect of how1409completely unreasonable and out of touch the remarriage penalty1410is for survivors and why passing the Love Lives On Act is so1411important for us to get done this Congress.1412    Do not clap for me. The biggest champion of this in1413Washington is sitting right here at the head of the dais, and1414the Chairman, Morgan Luttrell.1415    I say all that. None of those were applause lines. I mean,1416we really----1417    Mrs. Sipes. We have a handful of folks.1418    Mr. McGarvey. He does this, we do this because it is the1419right thing to do by our veterans and their families. Again,1420Ms. Sipes, I really appreciate your willingness to speak up. I1421know it is not easy. The fact that you are doing it is going to1422help a lot of people in this country out.1423    I also want to ask you a little bit about the income limits1424for VA Pension programs. In your opinion, are those limits high1425enough?1426    Mrs. Sipes. The Pension program is set up, I mean, $11,700.1427You have to be destitute. I mean, they are--they do not qualify1428for anything else. They are not even at a Federal poverty1429level. It is just an offset. If you are making $10,000, they1430are going to send you a $1,700 check for the year to get to1431that $11,700. I mean, how can you even live off of that?1432    Mr. McGarvey. You cannot.1433    Mrs. Sipes. No.1434    Mr. McGarvey. The Federal poverty level is just above1435$15,000.1436    Mrs. Sipes. Correct.1437    Mr. McGarvey. This is just above $11,000. Of course, you1438are dealing with all the other complexities that go with losing1439a spouse and all of the other paperwork----1440    Mrs. Sipes. Correct.1441    Mr. McGarvey [continuing]. and forms, and potential needing1442to get yourself back on your feet, or whether you have a job or1443do not have a job, or can keep a job, and just everything.1444Then, you are filling out these paperwork--you fill out this1445paperwork to either one, go all the way through it, and then1446find out you do not get it.1447    Mrs. Sipes. Right.1448    Mr. McGarvey. Or two, find out you get it, and it is, I1449mean, I guess it is better than nothing, but it is still a1450little bit of a slap in the face that it is so low.1451    Mr. Barnet, in my remaining time, I am going to switch to1452you. As I understand it, premiums in the Insurance program1453increase with 5-year age increments. They increase with age in14545-year increments, I should say. Logically, that makes sense.1455The older someone gets, the more it costs to insure them. I1456worry that these rate increases hit just as policyholders are1457moving into their later years and often on to a fixed income.1458That makes the insurance harder to afford at the moment they1459need it most.1460    Do you or VA track how many people drop their insurance1461coverage? If you do, do you get reasons for why they do it?1462    Mr. Barnet. Thank you for that question, Ranking Member. I1463would be able to--I do not have that information with me right1464now--I would be able to go back and bring that to the1465committee.1466    Mr. McGarvey. Yes. I think, you know, having both the1467numbers--having the number is helpful just in and of itself. To1468the extent you have the reasons why, also instructive for us.1469Again, the goal of this committee is to do right by our1470veterans and find out what is happening to them, what is1471impacting their lives, what we can do to make that better and1472easier for their service.1473    What kind of flexibility are you able to offer when a1474policyholder is having trouble making payments?1475    Mr. Barnet. Thank you for that question. With respect to1476policyholders who are struggling with payments, what we--what1477we would do is, you know, counsel the individual. They have the1478opportunity to lower their coverage, obviously, to save cost. I1479know that is not necessarily the best solution, but as1480individuals age, they may not have a need for a higher level of1481insurance coverage. Other than that, what we do is we operate1482the program, under the terms as dictated in Title 38, statute,1483and the regulations approved by the VA.1484    Mr. McGarvey. I will just ask you one more question, Mr.1485Chairman, if I can. One of the selling points of VA's Insurance1486programs that they offer better rates and better premiums than1487most private sector insurance. That is not true in every1488circumstance, is it?1489    Mr. Barnet. Generally speaking, with respect to, you know,1490what is available in the open market versus what the VGLI1491program represents, the again, with guaranteed issue coverage1492at time of separation for a servicemember, provided you apply1493within a 240-day window, there is no need to provide evidence1494of good health. What we have under the VGLI program is a mix of1495individuals who are healthy and a mix of individuals who may1496not be and would not be able to receive, you know, private1497insurance in the open market. It really is going to depend on1498the underlying insured whether or not they would be able to1499obtain those rates in the market.1500    Mr. McGarvey. Normally, I do not accept ``it depends'' as1501an answer, but in this particular instance, I know that it is a1502little bit complicated with how it does. I think what I want1503you to take away from my question, and hopefully what you have1504heard throughout today's testimony, we want to do everything we1505can to help our veterans. We want to do everything we can to--I1506think, it is an honor we made. We make our veterans two1507promises. All right? We make them a promise: we are going to be1508there for them. That promise is a legal promise, and, in my1509opinion, that promise is a moral promise, and I think we have1510to honor both of those.1511    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.1512    Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. McGarvey.1513    Mr. Barnet, how much does Prudential collect off the1514veteran community as opposed to they pay out each year?1515    Mr. Barnet. Thank you, Chairman, for that question.1516    Mr. Luttrell. You said that you are going to drop rates on1517someone who cannot make the payments. I am curious on how much1518money you guys make as opposed to how much you pay out.1519    Mr. Barnet. Yes, sir.1520    Mr. Luttrell. Would you actually have to take that money1521from the veterans if they are in need?1522    Mr. Barnet. Yes, yes. First thing, if I could just refer1523back to the last question. You know, premium rates are set by1524the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Prudential simply serves1525as administrator of those. With respect to VGLI, we would be1526providing the billing, you know, the recordkeeping and billing1527for those. We are not responsible and do not influence what1528those rates are.1529    With respect to--I am sorry, can you repeat your question?1530    Mr. Luttrell. How much do you guys collect?1531    Mr. Barnet. Oh, yes. Prudential receives premium under the1532contract. Right?1533    Mr. Luttrell. Which is how much?1534    Mr. Barnet. For premium, we receive about $1.4 billion in1535premium.1536    Mr. Luttrell. $1.4 billion each year is how much you guys1537collect?1538    Mr. Barnet. $1.2-1.4 billion in premium.1539    Mr. Luttrell. How much goes out?1540    Mr. Barnet. $1.2-1.4 billion.1541    Mr. Luttrell. You pay out? Every penny you bring in, you1542pay out each year?1543    Mr. Barnet. Yes, sir. For the way in which the program1544works under statute, is it needs to be self-sustaining. Right?1545That means the premiums need to be able to support the1546administrative expenses and the claims being paid under the1547program. It is defined by statute; it is a regulation.1548    Mr. Luttrell. All right. Administrative expenses aside----1549    Mr. Barnet. Okay.1550    Mr. Luttrell [continuing]. how much do you pay out to the1551spouses?1552    Mr. Barnet. To the beneficiaries?1553    Mr. Luttrell. Yes.1554    Mr. Barnet. Yes, approximately $1.25 billion last year.1555    Mr. Luttrell. What do you pay your admin? Admin expenses1556aside, because if I understand how you just said that, you take1557in $1.2 billion and you pay out $1.2 billion. Aside of admin1558costs, how much go to the beneficiaries?1559    Mr. Barnet. $1.4----1560    Mr. Luttrell. Do you pay your admin staff $1 billion, and1561you pay the spouses $2----1562    Mr. Barnet. No.1563    Mr. Luttrell [continuing]. $ 2million?1564    Mr. Barnet. No, the claims----1565    Mr. Luttrell. I am just throwing that at you. I know it is1566not the case.1567    Mr. Barnet. Out the door is the claims being paid is $1.21568billion.1569    Mr. Luttrell. Claims being paid----1570    Mr. Barnet. Yes.1571    Mr. Luttrell [continuing]. is $1.2 billion?1572    Mr. Barnet. Yes. If I could? Premiums come in, claims get1573paid out, administrative expenses get paid out. In the instance1574that there is a net gain in that situation, that money is1575retained by the program and held under a reserve under the1576group policy to protect against adverse mortality in the1577future. That means if there was a situation where all of a1578sudden, death claims----1579    Mr. Luttrell. Skyrocketed.1580    Mr. Barnet. Yes.1581    Mr. Luttrell. Okay. Still trying to do the math on $1.2 is1582taken in, $1.2 is given to the beneficiaries, and I am trying1583to figure out where the admin money is.1584    Mr. Barnet. Oh, so Prudential--yes. One other thing is,1585right, so Prudential, in taking in this premium and holding1586this money in reserves, we do invest those funds within1587Prudential. We are subject to regulatory oversight by the New1588Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, again, under strict1589insurance regulations, with the VA approving how returns are1590reflected through the crediting rate. At the beginning of every1591policy year, Prudential declares a crediting rate for the1592reserves held under the group policy, and then that is applied1593to the reserves that are being held.1594    Mr. Luttrell. Seems like I need to take a deeper dive on1595this. Does Prudential--I am assuming you guys are aware of each1596beneficiary in the program, correct? Their names on your books1597and how much is going out, correct?1598    Mr. Barnet. Yes.1599    Mr. Luttrell. All right, here is my question. The VA is a1600very large machine.1601    Mr. Barnet. All right.1602    Mr. Luttrell. Please do not take away what happened earlier1603today. It is normally not the case, but when they warrant the1604wire brushing, they will absolutely get it from the Ranking1605Member and I. Okay? As large as this machine is, and Ms. Sipes1606even hit on this, communication to each beneficiary is very1607challenging. Does Prudential engage in communications or is all1608communications to the beneficiaries done by, with, and through1609the VA only?1610    Mr. Barnet. This would be through Prudential.1611    Mr. Luttrell. It will be?1612    Mr. Barnet. It is through Prudential.1613    Mr. Luttrell. You are the one reaching out to all the1614beneficiaries, not the VA?1615    Mr. Barnet. Correct.1616    Mr. Luttrell. Then you are the problem.1617    Mr. Barnet. With respect to?1618    Mr. Luttrell. Well, the lovely young lady sitting next to1619you says that the beneficiary is receiving--receiving1620information is not adequate. If it is not adequate, it is got1621to be coming from you guys, which you just said it was. Now my1622conversation is directed at you, not the VA.1623    Mr. Barnet. I did not hear that specific to the Life1624Insurance programs.1625    Mr. Luttrell. Did I miss something?1626    Mr. Barnet. What was it?1627    Mrs. Sipes. Specific to the--the--my apologies. To the----1628    Mr. Luttrell. No, you are good.1629    Mrs. Sipes. Insurance programs in regards to options1630available for1631    Mr. Barnet. Oh.1632    Mrs. Sipes [continuing]. investments within the 1 year1633after their loss.1634    Mr. Barnet. Yes. What Prudential does is, right, we will1635provide a Beneficiary Election Form to individuals. They are1636able to elect whether they receive that payment via Electronic1637Funds Transfer (EFT) or check. We do offer beneficiary1638financial counseling services to those individuals under the1639terms of the program. Again, this is all under the oversight of1640the VA. You know, it is a non-solicitous program that allows1641for 20 hours of financial counseling for individuals. We do1642send those under the oversight of the VA. I am not aware of--1643this is the first time I am hearing of that being an issue.1644    With respect to being able to place those funds into----1645    Mrs. Sipes. Like a Roth or something.1646    Mr. Barnet. Yes, a Roth.1647    Mrs. Sipes. Yes, yes.1648    Mr. Barnet. We are unable as Prudential to provide1649financial advice or solicit any type of products under the SGLI1650program.1651    Mr. Luttrell. I will come back to you, Mr. Barnet. Thank1652you.1653    Mr. Barnet. Sure thing.1654    Mr. Luttrell. Ms. Sipes, this is a request.1655    Mrs. Sipes. Mm-hmm.1656    Mr. Luttrell. The amount of information that you and the1657other young ladies and gentlemen in the room have, because1658again, you are on the receiving end of all this. As hard as the1659VA works--and they do. I will say that all day long. They do.1660The amount of information that they can kind of take in and1661process is coming from every direction, a thousand different1662directions from a thousand different issues. Okay.1663    How do we, to help the VA navigate these challenging1664waters, how do we get out in front of it, so to speak? How do1665we take all the information that you all have that is1666challenging for you all and put that in a place that the VA can1667either--either it may exist already, and they just need a1668little streamlining, or is there a way that we can provide that1669information to remove the problem entirely? By the time it1670shows up here, it is a problem. Do you have the ability to1671communicate with the VA openly, and are they listening?1672    Mrs. Sipes. They are listening. They are. I do believe they1673are. They are trying, and they are trying to find some1674solutions. However, I can tell you that if you asked everyone1675in this room, even on the--on if they receive a letter of1676benefits or not, you are going to have a different response.1677    Mr. Luttrell. Say it one more time?1678    Mrs. Sipes. That you are going to have a different response1679on surviving spouses on whether or not they receive annual1680benefits letters, on what is on that letter, on the1681communication that they receive from the VA. Having clear1682communication has been our most challenging. It really has1683been. The 1-year timeframe for folks to be able to invest1684funds, the SGLI, the Death Gratuity, there are spouses that1685have not been able to do that within that 1-year timeframe.1686They did not even know it was available.1687    Mr. Luttrell. Mm-hmm.1688    Mrs. Sipes. We do have a--it is a communication----1689    Mr. Luttrell. How do we help the spouses that do not know1690that? Do not throw it back at the VA.1691    Mrs. Sipes. Right?1692    Mr. Luttrell. They are on there, they are going to--I got1693it. How else can we fix that problem? How else can we1694communicate to our servicemembers and the spouses to kind of,1695hey, front-load this issue? I am going to be dead 1 day. I know1696that.1697    Mrs. Sipes. Well, we have moved the Office recently of the1698Survivor's Assistance back to under the Secretary.1699    Mr. Luttrell. What is the best way to get that information1700to folks that do not get it on the World Wide Web?1701    Mrs. Sipes. They need to mail it.1702    Mr. Luttrell. They need to mail it, yes.1703    Mrs. Sipes. They need--the need to do a multi-1704communication. They need to do a digital and a mail. They need1705to get the information because there is not a lot of us.1706    Mr. Luttrell. You know, and we are transitioning into a1707generation that knows nothing but digital. It is our older1708veterans that are absent of that. I have had conversations with1709many folks, good, better, and different. How long do you wait1710to make the full transition, or do you go, put it in place, and1711do whatever you can to make sure that our World War II, Korea,1712Vietnam, and Gulf War veterans are taken care of? That is a1713very hard question to ask because, where we currently sit with1714the advancements in machine learning and artificial1715intelligence, everybody in this room has got a phone in your1716pocket. That is where we are going. We are there. We are not1717going. We are there. We are on, the VA, on a daily basis to say1718you need to upgrade and advance your Artificial Intelligence1719(AI) systems to take care of our veterans, and you leave a1720small segment of those--of those veterans behind because they1721do not--they do not touch the digital space.1722    Back to the question that asked you is like, how do we1723continue to do that? Now the VA will mail out as best they can,1724and touch those folks.1725    Mrs. Sipes. Rather than--rather than automatic, can they1726not have an opt-in? Can they not--can they not work alongside1727the rest of the world? How they choose to opt in to something1728electronic?1729    Mr. Luttrell. We are talking about a generation that is1730already--and we can do that with servicemembers that are1731entering into the VA space now. What about the ones that are--1732we got to, you know, then we would have to find them.1733    Mrs. Sipes. Right. Well, there is that, yes.1734    Mr. Luttrell. That is the challenging part.1735    You got anything?1736    Mr. McGarvey. Mr. Chairman, as usual, I appreciate your1737work and your advocacy in all these areas.1738    Ms. Sipes, I could not help but when thinking about some of1739the things you are talking about right now and these issues, as1740you said, Mr. Chairman, for the people, not just you, but all1741the people behind you and all the people who are not in this1742room, who I know are working on this. You guys have a lot of1743really valuable insight and input to share. There is a1744Veterans, Family, Caregivers, and Survivors Advisory Committee1745within the VA. I just looked it up really quickly. From what I1746can tell online, it has not met since June 2024. Is that1747correct? Am I missing something there?1748    Mrs. Sipes. Well, I am not aware of it.1749    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. Do we know who was appointed to that1750committee?1751    Mrs. Sipes. We do not. I am sure that our--the office could1752tell us who that was, but----1753    Mr. McGarvey. Okay. I think that is a--we have that there1754for a reason. I think that is something we should also look1755into. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.1756    In closing, after being here and hearing some of the things1757we have heard today, I am actually--aside from the promise we1758have made to our veterans to honor their service, to honor1759their sacrifice, to be there for them after they have served1760us, to keep us safe and free--I am reminded actually of a quote1761I sometimes use from an old John Prine song: ``It don't make no1762sense that common sense don't make no sense no more.'' I think1763we could use a lot of common sense on some of these issues, Mr.1764Chairman.1765    When you have Gold Star spouses, they do not--they need to1766be treated as heroes and as parents, not as guardians and1767fiduciaries. When we have Gold Star spouses, they should be1768allowed to remarry without penalty of losing their benefits.1769When we have reports that are due to Congress by January 2026,1770and apparently, they are completed, reviewed, and cleared, we1771should know where they are and be able to see them and feel1772like we have a partnership, not a black hole in certain areas.1773    The commonsense thing to do is again to take care of our1774veterans. I think that is something that you will see us1775continue to do, and Mr. Chairman, something I appreciate your1776approach to these matters on, and look forward to working with1777you with.1778    Mr. Luttrell. Absolutely. Thank you, sir.1779    The VA staff is still with us, and your job is never1780supposed to be easy. I am saying that as a veteran. You get up1781every single morning and you show up to work, and it is a1782grind. You are never going to have the right answer. You are1783always going to make somebody upset. You keep showing up and1784you keep grinding. For that, you have my utmost respect. Thank1785you so much.1786    In this wonderful place that we live in, there has to be1787oversight. There has to be the hard questions. You have to1788field those questions because you touch the veterans directly.1789We hear from our veterans. You are the touch point. It will1790never be easy. If it is easy, you are in the wrong department.1791It is necessary. The Ranking Member and I have made an1792agreement when we got in this thing together that we would be1793unified on our efforts to hold the VA accountable for1794everything that our veterans are asking for. We will not stop1795because they deserve it.1796    To our Gold Star families that are in the room with us1797today, we pray for you every single day. I do not have the1798right answers. I do not have the perfect thing to say, and I1799never will. The weight that you carry every day and the things1800that you ask for are very warranted. No one will ever know that1801more so than you. Period.1802    Mr. McGarvey and I and the rest of the members in this1803subcommittee and on the main committee will do everything in1804our power to get you what you ask for, because we know you1805deserve. We do. That communication goes from us. It goes to the1806VA, goes to the secretaries, it goes to the president, it goes1807to the vice president, goes to everyone because there is no1808more chairs to asset in the United States of America than the1809veterans, service members, and their families. Period. We would1810not be sitting here today if it was not for you. I am no longer1811in the game of fist fighting, but I would argue that with1812anybody all day long.1813    This oversight hearing pulled out a lot of information that1814we are going to be paying attention to. Ms. Sipes, God bless1815you. Mr. Barnet, I am not going to ask you if you are the1816greatest insurance provider on the planet, because you have1817been doing this for over 60 years for our veterans. Obviously,1818you are doing something right. Okay?1819    Mr. McGarvey, that is all I have got. With that, this1820hearing is adjourned.1821    [Whereupon, at 2:52 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]1822=======================================================================18231824                         A  P  P  E  N  D  I  X18251826=======================================================================18271828                    Prepared Statements of Witnesses18291830                              ----------18311832                    Prepared Statement of Tim Sirhal18331834    Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member McGarvey, and other Members of1835the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting us to discuss the1836administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pension,1837Fiduciary, and Insurance programs within the Veterans Benefits1838Administration. Joining me is Ms. Jennifer Bover, Executive Director,1839Pension and Fiduciary Service, Veterans Benefits Administration. VA1840takes the protection of our most vulnerable beneficiaries very1841seriously, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share with the1842Subcommittee our commitment to safeguarding those served by these1843programs.18441845Pension Program18461847    Pension is a tax-free, income-based monthly benefit paid to1848eligible Veterans or survivors of Veterans. Pension also considers non-1849service-connected disabilities for Veterans, net worth, wartime1850service, and in the case of survivors, dependency requirements. Pension1851payments are designed to supplement a beneficiary's income by helping1852with daily living expenses and improving overall quality of life.1853    Continued eligibility for Pension is regularly assessed to ensure1854the accurate payment of benefits. VA relies on Federal data sharing1855agreements and information reported by beneficiaries to ensure payment1856accuracy. Once benefits are approved, VA continues to use this1857information to adjust benefits in a timely manner and avoid1858overpayments.1859    VA is committed to working with beneficiaries to provide a better1860understanding of the Pension program. Specific efforts include1861improvements to forms, letters, and customer experience by providing an1862electronic submission method through VA.gov for certain claims. Over1863the past year, we have also made significant progress in modernizing1864and accelerating the processing of Pension claims. Since January 20,18652025, the average processing time for Veterans Pension claims and1866Survivors Pension claims has been reduced by 113 days and 99 days,1867respectively. As of March 31, 2026, it is currently taking1868approximately 57 days to complete a Veterans Pension claim and 73 days1869to complete a Survivors Pension claim.18701871Fiduciary Program18721873    VA's Fiduciary Program protects over 104,300 Veterans and other1874beneficiaries who are unable to manage their own VA benefit payments1875because of injury, disease, advanced age, or being under the age of1876majority. VA protects these vulnerable beneficiaries by appointing and1877overseeing fiduciaries who manage a beneficiary's VA benefits. The VA1878Fiduciary Program has undergone significant modernization focused on1879expediting processes while ensuring the well-being of beneficiaries1880remains protected.1881    These modernization efforts include improvements to letters,1882technology, and overall customer experience. Examples include sending1883automated annual written contact letters to every beneficiary in the1884program to remind them of their rights and that a Fiduciary is managing1885their VA payments; the August 2020 release of the Fiduciary Accountings1886Submission Tool, which streamlines the review of financial documents;1887and the establishment of a dedicated Fiduciary Contact Center, which1888has handled all fiduciary-related calls since April 2024.18891890VALife Insurance18911892    VA administers and provides oversight of several life insurance1893programs that provide financial security for Service members, Veterans,1894and their families. Programs that are open to new applicants include1895Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI), Family Servicemembers'1896Group Life Insurance (FSGLI), Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance1897Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI), Veterans' Group Life Insurance1898(VGLI), and Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife). Prudential1899administers SGLI, FSGLI, TSGLI, and VGLI under contract with VA. VA1900administers all other insurance programs available to Veterans,1901including VALife.1902    Established under P.L. 116-315, VA launched VALife on January 1,19032023, as a guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance program for1904Veterans with service-connected disabilities aged 80 and under. The1905maximum amount of coverage per applicant was and remains at $40,000,1906with lesser amounts available in $10,000 increments.1907    VALife is a self-funded program for service-connected Veterans who1908may have difficulty obtaining commercial life insurance coverage due to1909their medical conditions. When implementing VALife, a key objective for1910VA was to provide a streamlined application process for Veterans.1911VALife applications take an average of 11 minutes to complete, and more1912than 90 percent of all applications are fully automated.1913    VA is proud to share that implementation of the VALife program has1914been a tremendous success. As of March 1, 2026, there are 78,053 active1915accounts totaling $2.5 billion in coverage. On January 1, 2025,1916policyholders first became eligible to receive full coverage following1917their initial waiting period, and VA has paid out 269 such claims.1918While VA is always looking for ways to improve, customer satisfaction1919with VALife has been strong. According to VSignals, a survey and data1920analytics tool that collects and analyzes customer experience data and1921insights, VALife has an average survey score of 4.53/5 for new1922insurance applications, which means 82.6 percent of respondents are1923highly satisfied. Service recovery efforts have shown that Veterans who1924were not highly satisfied primarily indicated two primary concerns:1925that VA does not offer enough coverage, or that the cost of coverage1926was too high. In response, Insurance Service has focused on increasing1927education around the differences between whole life and term life1928coverage to help Veterans make informed decisions.19291930Conclusion19311932    Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member McGarvey, and Members of the1933Subcommittee, thank you for your oversight of these critical programs1934and for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to your1935questions.19361937                   Prepared Statement of Tamra Sipes19381939    Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member McGarvey, and distinguished1940members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify1941today on behalf of the members of Gold Star Spouses of America.1942    Gold Star Spouses of America, Inc. (GSSA) represents surviving1943spouses of our Nation's fallen servicemembers, individuals whose lives1944were permanently changed in service to this country. While their1945spouses wore the uniform, they carried the weight of service at home,1946and now carry the lifelong responsibility of preserving their legacy1947while rebuilding their own lives.1948    The programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs1949(VA) are the foundation of financial stability, access to resources,1950and, in many cases, a measure of whether a surviving spouse can move1951forward with dignity and security.1952    Surviving spouses often navigate grief, financial transition, and1953administrative requirements at the same time. They are too often left1954to navigate complex systems without clear guidance, timely information,1955or processes that reflect the realities of their lives. These are not1956administrative inconveniences; they directly affect the financial1957stability, access to benefits, and long-term security of surviving1958spouses.1959    GSSA remains committed to ensuring that surviving spouses receive1960not only the benefits they have earned, but also the clarity and1961support they deserve. We are proud to continue advocating for our top1962legislative priorities, including the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson1963Veterans Benefits Expansion Act (H.R. 6047), the Caring for Survivors1964Act (H.R. 2055 & S. 611), and the Love Lives On Act (H.R. 1004 & S.1965410). As we do so, we appreciate the opportunity to share our1966perspective on key VA benefits that directly impact the lives of1967surviving spouses across the country.19681969Survivors Pension19701971    GSSA members report ongoing confusion regarding the interplay1972between Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and the Survivors1973Pension. While DIC is the primary benefit for our members, as it is1974predicated on a service-connected death, many survivors find themselves1975navigating the Survivors Pension program if service connection is1976denied or still being adjudicated.1977    The Survivors Pension is reserved for surviving spouses of wartime1978veterans whose deaths were not service-connected, provided their income1979falls below the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR). For a surviving1980spouse with no children, the MAPR, set by Congress, is currently1981$11,699.\1\ This threshold sits significantly below the 2026 Federal1982Poverty Level of $15,960 for a single-person household,\2\ effectively1983excluding thousands of survivors who are struggling financially but do1984not meet this restrictive definition of indigence.1985---------------------------------------------------------------------------1986    \1\ U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Survivors Pension Rate1987Tables, effective December 1, 2025, https://www.va.gov/pension/1988survivors-pension-rates/.1989    \2\ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ``2026 Poverty1990Guidelines,'' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and1991Evaluation, last modified January 2026, https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-1992guidelines.1993---------------------------------------------------------------------------1994    As a result, surviving spouses often spend time completing1995applications only to learn that their income exceeds the eligibility1996threshold. Many describe the program as effectively requiring near-1997poverty to qualify, but this is not clearly communicated at the outset.1998    GSSA supports efforts to improve transparency in how eligibility is1999explained. Providing plain-language guidance, including examples of2000income thresholds and how countable income is calculated, would allow2001applicants to better assess eligibility before applying. GSSA also2002recognizes that the VA has taken steps to automatically consider2003applicants for both DIC and Survivors Pension. While this is a positive2004development, many survivors remain unaware that this review is taking2005place and would benefit from clearer communication about how their2006claims are being evaluated.2007    GSSA encourages Congress to examine whether the MAPR should be more2008closely aligned with the Federal Poverty Level to ensure that surviving2009spouses are not excluded from support despite clear financial need.20102011Outreach and Communication20122013    While we appreciate the VA's shift toward ``Digital First''2014communication, this overlooks a significant portion of GSSA's2015constituency. As of 2023, there are more than 350,000 surviving spouses2016receiving DIC or Pension benefits,\3\ a large percentage of whom are2017over the age of 65.2018---------------------------------------------------------------------------2019    \3\ Veterans Benefits Administration, Annual Benefits Report:2020Fiscal Year 2024 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,20212025), 10-12.2022---------------------------------------------------------------------------2023    Data suggests that nearly 25 percent of seniors do not use the2024internet,\4\ meaning a digital-only notification strategy effectively2025disenfranchises nearly 90,000 survivors from receiving critical updates2026about their livelihood.2027---------------------------------------------------------------------------2028    \4\ Michelle Faverio, ``Internet Use Climbs Among Older Adults,''2029Pew Research Center, last modified May 2024, https://2030www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/05/internet-use-among-seniors/.2031---------------------------------------------------------------------------2032    GSSA members have confirmed that many surviving spouses are not2033effectively reached through digital communication. Some do not have2034reliable access to online systems, while others are not comfortable2035navigating VA websites. As a result, survivors may not receive timely2036or complete information about available benefits or changes that affect2037them.2038    GSSA supports expanding the use of direct communication to2039survivors. For many surviving spouses, particularly those without2040reliable access to digital platforms, mailed correspondence remains the2041most dependable and sometimes only source of information about their2042benefits. The VA's annual benefits letter could provide a consistent2043point of contact and could be strengthened to include more detailed,2044survivor-focused information. Clear explanations of available benefits,2045eligibility requirements, and recent changes would help ensure that2046survivors are not left unaware of programs they have earned and may2047depend on for financial stability.2048    GSSA recommends that the VA adopt a multi-channel communication2049standard, ensuring that all critical benefit information is delivered2050through both digital and non-digital methods.2051    Gold Star Spouses of America also applauds the VA for its decision2052to return the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) to the Office of the2053Secretary. This long-overdue correction restores OSA to its intended2054role as a direct advisor to VA leadership on the needs of surviving2055spouses and dependents, as envisioned in the Veterans' Benefits2056Improvement Act of 2008. For years, surviving spouses have raised2057concerns about the marginalization of OSA within the VA's bureaucracy,2058which has limited its ability to advocate effectively on their behalf.2059Reestablishing OSA within the Secretary's office has strengthened2060accountability and created an opportunity to improve how information is2061communicated to survivors across the VA system.20622063Life Insurance Programs20642065    GSSA members have also identified concerns related to beneficiary2066designations and structural differences between VA life insurance2067programs and civilian policies.2068    Many servicemembers and their families do not fully understand that2069life insurance beneficiary designations are separate from a will. A2070will does not override the named beneficiary. In some cases,2071servicemembers did not update their beneficiary designation after2072marriage, resulting in benefits being paid to a parent rather than a2073surviving spouse. Survivors often believed the will would control2074distribution, leading to more confusion and unintended outcomes that2075create financial hardship for spouses at a time when stability is most2076critical.2077    GSSA also has concerns regarding limited awareness of the tax-2078advantaged protections provided under the Heroes Earnings Assistance2079and Relief Tax (HEART) Act of 2008. This law allows survivors to roll2080over death gratuity and SGLI payments into a Roth IRA or Coverdell2081Education Savings Account without being subject to standard2082contribution limits. However, this must be done within 1 year of2083receiving the funds.2084    Many survivors report they were never informed of this strictly2085enforced 12-month window. By the time they are able to focus on long-2086term financial planning, this opportunity for tax-free growth has often2087expired.2088    GSSA is exploring legislative options to extend or provide2089flexibility in the 1-year rollover window, recognizing the realities of2090grief and delayed financial decision-making. In the best interest of2091the survivor we recommend pursuing a policy that automatically directs2092the VA to provide the two options to a survivor prior to distribution2093of funds. They have a choice on whether the funds are put into a Roth2094IRA or into an Alliance account. This would ensure spouses can fully2095benefit from this unique tax-advantaged opportunity without requiring2096immediate action during their first year of profound loss.2097    Additionally, GSSA is concerned about the growing disparity between2098VA life insurance programs and private-sector standards, particularly2099regarding Waiver of Premium provisions.2100    In the private sector, approximately 85 percent of group life2101insurance plans include a provision where premiums are waived if the2102insured becomes totally disabled.\5\ Historically, the VA offered this2103through the Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) program.2104However, with the sunsetting of S-DVI and the 2023 launch of VALife,2105this critical safety net has been eliminated for new enrollees.2106---------------------------------------------------------------------------2107    \5\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``Employee Benefits in the United2108States--March 2025,'' news release no. USDL-25-1850, September 25,21092025, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ebs2.pdf.2110---------------------------------------------------------------------------2111    Historically, the VA offered this through the S-DVI program, which2112waived all premiums for veterans deemed totally disabled. However, with2113the sunsetting of S-DVI and the 2023 launch of VALife, this critical2114safety net has been eliminated for new enrollees. VALife requires2115premiums from all veterans, regardless of the severity of their2116service-connected conditions.2117    Similarly, veterans transitioned to Veterans' Group Life Insurance2118(VGLI) find that no such waiver exists, nor has historically,2119regardless of a 100 percent P&T (Permanent and Total) disability2120rating. By removing or failing to include these waivers in modern2121programs like VALife and VGLI, the VA places a significant financial2122burden on the most severely disabled veterans and their surviving2123spouses at the exact moment their earning potential disappears.21242125Fiduciary Program21262127    GSSA has significant concerns regarding recent actions related to2128the fiduciary program.2129    At the end of Fiscal Year 2024, the VA identified more than 3,0002130beneficiary accounts that needed a fiduciary established and issued2131letters requiring such, so benefits could continue. Approximately 1,0002132of those cases involved dependent children who were living with someone2133who was not receiving DIC. In many instances, the individuals with whom2134the children were living were actually biological parents who were not2135receiving DIC due to remarriage, essentially implying that upon2136remarriage, a biological parent becomes untrustworthy to manage his or2137her child's welfare and benefits.2138    Members have also reported challenges in meeting required2139timelines. In one case, a surviving spouse was given 30 days to2140complete all requirements, including interviews, approval, and2141establishment of a fiduciary account. Her financial institution2142indicated that the process would take approximately 5 weeks. She was2143informed that failure to meet the deadline could result in a2144determination of noncompliance and loss of benefits.2145    GSSA members understand the purpose of the VA fiduciary program and2146support the need for oversight when benefits are paid on behalf of a2147minor. However, concerns arise in cases where biological parents who2148were previously recognized by the VA as competent beneficiaries while2149receiving DIC are suddenly subject to fiduciary requirements solely due2150to remarriage. These parents have been continuously responsible for the2151care and well-being of their children, and remarriage alone does not2152inherently change their capacity or trustworthiness.2153    The current process can be burdensome and, at times, feels2154misaligned with the lived reality of these families. GSSA does not seek2155to eliminate the VA's ability to provide oversight, but instead2156encourages a more streamlined and proportional approach for biological2157parents in these circumstances. Options such as a simplified fiduciary2158designation, reduced administrative requirements, or an annual2159certification process similar to existing Department of Defense2160verification practices would preserve accountability while reducing2161unnecessary barriers. A more efficient process may also reduce2162administrative workload for VA staff by limiting the need for extensive2163review and account establishment in cases that present low risk.2164    A more balanced approach would reinforce trust in surviving2165families, minimize administrative strain, and allow the VA to maintain2166appropriate safeguards without disrupting benefits or placing undue2167burden on those who have consistently acted in the best interest of2168their children.2169    GSSA supports clearer guidance regarding when fiduciary2170arrangements are required, how determinations are made, and what steps2171beneficiaries must take to comply. Additionally, we would support the2172development of a streamlined program for biological parents. Timelines2173should reflect the realities of financial institutions and2174administrative processing. When timelines do not align with real-world2175processes, surviving spouses risk being found noncompliant through no2176fault of their own and may face unnecessary disruption or loss of2177benefits.21782179Conclusion21802181    Thank you again for the opportunity to provide testimony today and2182for your continued attention to the needs of surviving military2183families. The issues we have outlined are not isolated concerns; they2184represent systemic challenges that affect surviving spouses across the2185country.2186    For many of our members, these programs are essential. When2187communication is unclear, when trimlines are unrealistic, or when2188eligibility requirements are difficult to understand, the result is not2189simply frustration; it can mean delayed benefits, financial2190instability, and unnecessary hardship during an already difficult2191chapter of life.2192    There are meaningful opportunities to improve these systems through2193clearer communication, more accessible processes, and thoughtful policy2194adjustments that better reflect the realities faced by surviving2195spouses.2196    Gold Star Spouses of America stands ready to work with this2197Subcommittee and the VA to advance solutions that strengthen these2198programs and ensure they serve survivors as intended.2199    We owe surviving spouses not only our gratitude, but our commitment2200to ensuring that the systems designed to support them are clear, fair,2201and responsive.22022203Gold Star Spouses of America, Inc.22042205Gold Star Spouses of America is a national nonprofit organization2206dedicated to supporting the surviving spouses of military service2207members and veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of2208our country. Our mission is to provide meaningful support, advocacy,2209education, and a sense of community for Gold Star families. Through our2210programs, we work to ensure that the needs of these spouses and their2211families are heard, addressed, and prioritized by policymakers at the2212Federal, State, and local levels.22132214GSSA is listed as an approved resource in the National Resource2215Directory (NRD.gov). GSSA is also recognized by the Department of2216Veterans Affairs for volunteer opportunities within the department's2217Center for Development and Civic Engagement.22182219                  Prepared Statement of Joseph Barnet2220[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]22212222                       Statements for the Record22232224                              ----------22252226  Prepared Statement of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States22272228    Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member McGarvey, and members of the2229subcommittee, on behalf of the men and women of the Veterans of Foreign2230Wars of the United States (VFW) and its Auxiliary, thank you for the2231opportunity to testify on these vital benefits. These programs provide2232critical financial security during times of hardship and serve as an2233essential safety net, particularly for our most vulnerable veterans,2234service members, and their families.2235    The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers several life2236insurance programs that serve active duty service members, veterans,2237and in certain cases their families. Due to service-connected2238disabilities, many veterans are either uninsurable in the commercial2239market or face prohibitively high premiums. In recognition of this2240reality, VA provides guaranteed acceptance life insurance options that2241ensure access to coverage regardless of health status.2242    The VFW supports the creation of Veterans Affairs Life Insurance2243(VALife) as a significant modernization of VA's life insurance2244offerings. This program provides guaranteed acceptance whole life2245coverage of up to $40,000 available in $10,000 increments for veterans2246with service-connected disabilities rated at zero percent or higher.2247VALife replaced Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) and does2248not require proof of good health. There is no time limit to apply for2249veterans age 80 and under, while those age 81 and older must apply2250within 2 years of receiving a new service-connected disability rating.2251While the program represents meaningful progress in expanding access,2252the 2-year waiting period before full coverage takes effect remains a2253concern, particularly for veterans facing serious or terminal2254conditions.2255    Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) provides low-cost term2256coverage of up to $500,000 for eligible service members. Upon2257separation, most service members receive 120 days of free coverage with2258an extension of up to 2 years available for those who are totally2259disabled. Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (FSGLI) extends2260coverage to spouses and dependent children, ensuring that military2261families have access to essential financial protection.2262    Veterans may convert SGLI coverage to Veterans' Group Life2263Insurance (VGLI) to maintain continuous coverage after leaving service.2264However, this conversion is not automatic. Veterans must apply within 12265year and 120 days of separation. Those who apply within 240 days are2266not required to provide evidence of good health. After that period,2267they must provide proof of insurability.2268    While VGLI offers an important bridge to continued coverage, its2269premium structure presents a significant challenge. Premiums increase2270in 5-year age bands, resulting in substantial cost escalation over2271time. In some cases, these premiums may eventually exceed comparable2272private market options, forcing veterans to choose between2273affordability and continuity of coverage. Veterans' insurance needs do2274not always align with rigid enrollment deadlines. Many veterans are2275navigating the complex transition to civilian life, managing new2276disabilities, or pursuing VA disability compensation claims. Survivors2277of military sexual trauma in particular may delay filing claims for2278years, which can hinder awareness of eligibility for programs such as2279VALife. Access to life insurance benefits should not be constrained by2280arbitrary timelines that fail to account for these realities.2281    To improve these programs, the VFW recommends eliminating or2282extending the 240-day window for guaranteed VGLI enrollment without2283requiring evidence of good health, reducing or eliminating waiting2284periods for programs such as VALife, and modernizing premium structures2285to mitigate steep age-based increases. Alternative pricing models2286should be considered to ensure long-term affordability and2287sustainability for elderly veterans. Also, during Transition Assistance2288Program briefings, facilitators must emphasize the need for2289transitioning service members to fully understand the limits of their2290active duty insurance and take proactive steps to ensure continuous2291coverage throughout their transition.2292    Enhanced administrative oversight would also strengthen these2293programs. Routine audits of beneficiary records and improved data2294accuracy would help ensure timely and correct payment of claims.2295Survivors must be able to access benefits quickly and without2296unnecessary administrative burden, particularly during the immediate2297period following a veteran's death when financial needs are often most2298urgent.2299    In addition to life insurance programs, VA pension benefits serve2300as a critical safety net for low-income wartime veterans and their2301survivors. These means-tested benefits are designed to ensure a minimum2302level of income sufficient to meet basic needs, including housing and2303health care. However, the complexity of income and net worth2304determinations continues to create barriers to access. The VFW supports2305policies that promote clear and transparent income calculations,2306reasonable asset look-back periods, and consistent guidance regarding2307unreimbursed medical expenses and net worth thresholds.2308    Finally, the VFW strongly supports legislation to ensure that2309survivors receive the full final month of a veteran's pension,2310regardless of the date of death. This common-sense, modest, but2311meaningful reform would provide critical financial stability during a2312time of grief and help families cover immediate end-of-life expenses.2313    Chairman Luttrell, Ranking Member McGarvey, this concludes my2314testimony. Thank you for the opportunity to present the VFW's views on2315these important programs.23162317Information Required by Rule XI2(g)(4) of the House of Representatives23182319Pursuant to Rule XI2(g)(4) of the House of Representatives, the VFW has2320not received any Federal grants in Fiscal Year 2026, nor has it2321received any Federal grants in the two previous Fiscal Years.23222323The VFW has not received payments or contracts from any foreign2324governments in the current year or preceding two calendar years.23252326           Prepared Statement of Defense Credit Union Council2327[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]23282329                                 [all]