Policy on "Medical Retirement"

[LittleAl]

So, I was reading Robert Kaplan's "Imperial Grunts". Its a bit goofy in places but very well researched, and here's an interesting quote:

"Seriously hurt" was code language in the Special operations community. If you were KIA your widow got only $200,000 and had to move out of military housing in several weeks. But if you had been "medically retired" before death, your wife got a pension and your children's schooling was paid for through college, among other benefits......so when someone had been critically wounded, the race was on to keep him alive, sometimes for only a few hours, until Washington issued a "control number" which began the retirement process......

This book was published in 2005 and researched a bit earlier. Does anyone know if this policy is still in place?

-Alex

 

[MasterBates]

We used to have a checklist/procedure in the SDO binder to get the ball rolling on this.

This was in 2006 though. Don't think it changed lately.

 

[phrogpilot73]

There was an F/A-18 mishap during CAX, and our CASEVAC bird was held on the hospital pad at 29 Stumps so that they could get him medically retired before a doctor declared him dead. This was back in '02, so things may have changed slightly - but I highly doubt it.

 

[Flash]

Benefits have increased to $500,000 from when that book was written, SGLI is $400k (from $200k) and the death gratuity is now $100k (from about $12k).

But as far as I know, medically retiring someone is still a 'better' way for the families to get benefits.

P.S. There are still occasional SNAFU's when it comes families to getting benefits. A father got arrested when he tried to cash the SGLI check recently. It was not the bank's fault, they asked Treasury to verify it but there was a disconnect somewhere and they said the check was fake. It got quickly resolved, and got high level attention to get fixed very rapidly, but still not a good situation.

 

[lmnop]

I'll give the same 'unless something has changed' disclaimer that everyone else has, but the process of medical retirement prior to declaration of death was still being taught in a joint service planning course I attended in 2006.

 

[Herc_Dude]

I have never heard of this before but it makes me very proud to see that when someone is expected to pass-on their 'brothers' have the presence of mind to make sure his family is taken care of.

 

[Jackal8]

Perhaps I am only pointing out the obvious, but.... It seems the rationale behind the death policy compared against medical retirement is purely a matter of money? Meaning, congress decided that the US could not afford to issue medical retirement benefits to a military member KIA? If that is indeed the case then it certainly rubs me the wrong way. If someone gave their life for their country then why can't their family be given benefits that are on par with medical retirement benefits? For the spouses of the deceased, in a sense, they are ostracized from the military and, depending upon the situation, their spouse may have been the only one in the family earning an income. The $500,000 when compared against a lifetime of retirement earnings is a small amount of money.

 

[Flash]

Perhaps I am only pointing out the obvious, but.... It seems the rationale behind the death policy compared against medical retirement is purely a matter of money? Meaning, congress decided that the US could not afford to issue medical retirement benefits to a military member KIA? If that is indeed the case then it certainly rubs me the wrong way. If someone gave their life for their country then why can't their family be given benefits that are on par with medical retirement benefits? For the spouses of the deceased, in a sense, they are ostracized from the military and, depending upon the situation, their spouse may have been the only one in the family earning an income. The $500,000 when compared against a lifetime of retirement earnings is a small amount of money.

You are right, cost is a factor. But you have to keep a couple things in mind; not all of those killed were going to retire, the benefits are much better than what many get in civilian life, there has to be a limit somewhere.

I know that we would all love to set up every KIA's family for life, but it is just not fiscally realistic. Medical and personnel costs are increasing every year, exponentially in just the past 7 or 8 years, and that is all money that is not going to maintaining the current force. Some very hard choices are going to have to be made in the next few years, and I would be surprised to see our current benefit levels survive, even if McCain is elected. The axe is coming......

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a..._fears_healthcare_costs_will_erode_readiness/

 

[LittleAl]

Thanks for that article. It mentioned "basic care" costs are driving up the price. Do you have any sense of what that means or why its going up?

I was all ready to write my Congressman and fire up a petition. I worked for Obama in Chicago for a few months so I know one or two people there and might be able to get some attention that way. However, if you think the current policy is logical, I'll save my energy for something else. I don't want to be one of those civilians who gets excited about the wrong issues when it comes to defense.

 

[Flash]

Thanks for that article. It mentioned "basic care" costs are driving up the price. Do you have any sense of what that means or why its going up?

I was all ready to write my Congressman and fire up a petition. I worked for Obama in Chicago for a few months so I know one or two people there and might be able to get some attention that way. However, if you think the current policy is logical, I'll save my energy for something else. I don't want to be one of those civilians who gets excited about the wrong issues when it comes to defense.

Technology has rapidly advanced along with medicines, but all of that costs money. Couple that with people living longer, and the boomers getting on in age, it all adds up.

Good luck with that.

 

[MIDNJAC]

You are right, cost is a factor. But you have to keep a couple things in mind; not all of those killed were going to retire, the benefits are much better than what many get in civilian life, there has to be a limit somewhere.[/url]

This whole caveat (if you can call it that) makes no sense to me, so forgive the idiot questions. Do you mean that this is sort of an added bonus for a commissioned officer (who theoretically would have made a career of this), vs an enlistee who would possibly be getting out of the service following the tour in question? Maybe I just don't understand "medical retirement"

 

[Flash]

This whole caveat (if you can call it that) makes no sense to me, so forgive the idiot questions. Do you mean that this is sort of an added bonus for a commissioned officer (who theoretically would have made a career of this), vs an enlistee who would possibly be getting out of the service following the tour in question? Maybe I just don't understand "medical retirement"

Most commisioned officers do not serve 20 years, same as most enlistees, so this is nto an extra benefit for officers. I have seen it happen to both officers and enlistees.

Again, it is a 'nice' thing for some if it works out, just not practical to apply to everyone due mainly to the cost.

 

[MIDNJAC]

That was some of the confusion that I was having, since it would be hard to pinpoint at the time of death whether an SM had the intent of making a career out of the service. Your explanation makes sense though. Does the person need to still be technically alive, or is it just enough that they haven't been officially pronounced dead by some sort of competent authority (though they may in fact be very much physically dead)?

 

[phrogpilot73]

Does the person need to still be technically alive, or is it just enough that they haven't been officially pronounced dead by some sort of competent authority (though they may in fact be very much physically dead)?

From what I've seen, it is that they haven't been officially pronounced dead. Like I said, the CASEVAC bird sat on the medical pad (with Angel on board) waiting for paperwork to be done before they launched to the hospital out in town for the individual to be pronounced dead.

 

[FLYTPAY]

From what I've seen, it is that they haven't been officially pronounced dead. Like I said, the CASEVAC bird sat on the medical pad (with Angel on board) waiting for paperwork to be done before they launched to the hospital out in town for the individual to be pronounced dead.

Now here is an interesting situation that could be up for debate. What if said service member was in the middle of getting a divorce and someone other than the soon-to-be ex-wife was named beni for the SGLI? Now, she gets a pension and the SGLI benificiary is screwed. If anyone is familiar with the actual dollar benefits of the medical retirement, I would be interested in seeing what they are versus the $400K+$100K.