Final Regulation on Accelerated Benefits Option for SGLI and VGLI

Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 155 / Monday, August 12, 2002 / Rules and Regulations
only the insured member may apply for
SGLI family coverage accelerated
benefits.
The final rule also reflects a change in
the address for submitting an
application for accelerated benefits. For
consistency, this change also revises
§ 9.1(b). In, addition, changes are made
for purposes of clarification.

(d) 16 U.S.C. 825(o)–1(b), Federal
Power Act: from $10,000 to $11,000.
[FR Doc. 02–20284 Filed 8–9–02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 9

Paperwork Reduction Act

RIN 2900–AJ80

This document contains provisions
constituting collections of information
under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. 3501–3520) approved by OMB
under Control No. 2900–0618.

Accelerated Benefits Option for
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance
and Veterans’ Group Life Insurance
Department of Veterans Affairs.
Final rule.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

The Veterans Programs
Enhancement Act of 1998 authorized
the payment of accelerated benefits to
terminally ill persons insured under
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance
(SGLI) or Veterans’ Group Life
Insurance (VGLI). This document
amends the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) regulations to establish a
mechanism for implementing these
statutory provisions.
DATES: Effective Date. August 12, 2002.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg
Hosmer, Senior Attorney/Insurance
Specialist, Insurance Program
Administration and Oversight,
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional
Office and Insurance Center, PO Box
8079, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19101, (215) 842–2000, ext. 4280 (this is
not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a
document published in the Federal
Register on July 20, 2000 (65 FR 44999),
the Department of Veterans Affairs
proposed to establish a mechanism for
the payment of accelerated death
benefits to terminally ill
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance
(SGLI) and Veterans’ Group Life
Insurance (VGLI) policyholders. We
requested comments for a 60-day period
that ended September 18, 2000. We
received no comments. Based on the
rationale set forth in the proposed rule,
we are adopting the proposed rule as a
final rule with minor nonsubstantive
changes.
At the time of the publication of the
proposed rule, the accelerated benefit
provisions were only authorized for
servicemembers and veterans. Recently,
Public Law 107–14 amended 38 U.S.C.
1965 and 1967 to expand the provisions
to SGLI family coverage. Accordingly,
the final rule would apply also to SGLI
family coverage. SGLI family coverage is
provided as a rider to an insured
member’s SGLI coverage and therefore
SUMMARY:

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10:14 Aug 09, 2002

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Unfunded Mandates
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
requires (in section 202) that agencies
prepare an assessment of anticipated
costs and benefits before developing any
rule that may result in an expenditure
by State, local, or tribal governments, in
the aggregate, or by the private sector of
$100 million or more in any given year.
This rule would have no consequential
effect on State, local, or tribal
governments.
Executive Order 12866
This document has been reviewed by
the Office of Management and Budget
under Executive Order 12866.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Secretary hereby certifies that
this regulatory amendment will not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities as
they are defined in the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601–612.
This amendment would not directly
affect any small entities. Only persons
insured under the government’s SGLI
and VGLI programs could be directly
affected. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
605(b), this regulatory amendment is
exempt from the initial and final
regulatory flexibility analysis
requirements of sections 603 and 604.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Number
The Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance number for the program
affected by this document is 64.103.
List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 9
Life insurance, Military personnel,
Veterans.
Approved: June 6, 2002.
Anthony J. Principi,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set out in the
preamble, 38 CFR part 9 is amended as
set forth below:

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52413

PART 9—SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP
LIFE INSURANCE AND VETERANS’
GROUP LIFE INSURANCE
1. The authority citation for part 9 is
revised to read as follows:
Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1965–1980,
unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 9.1(b) is revised to read as
follows:
§ 9.1

Definitions.

*

*
*
*
*
(b) The term administrative office
means the Office of Servicemembers’
Group Life Insurance located at 290 W.
Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, New
Jersey 07039.
*
*
*
*
*
3. Section 9.14 is added to read as
follows:

§ 9.14

Accelerated Benefits.

(a) What is an Accelerated Benefit?
An Accelerated Benefit is a payment of
a portion of your Servicemembers’
Group Life Insurance or Veterans’ Group
Life Insurance to you before you die.
(b) Who is eligible to receive an
Accelerated Benefit? You are eligible to
receive an Accelerated Benefit if you
have a valid written medical prognosis
from a physician of 9 months or less to
live, and otherwise comply with the
provisions of this section.
(c) Who can apply for an Accelerated
Benefit? Only you, the insured member,
can apply for an Accelerated Benefit. No
one can apply on your behalf.
(d) How much can you request as an
Accelerated Benefit? (1) You can request
as an Accelerated Benefit an amount up
to a maximum of 50% of the face value
of your insurance coverage.
(2) Your request for an Accelerated
Benefit must be $5,000 or a multiple of
$5000 (for example, $10,000, $15,000).
(e) How much can you receive as an
Accelerated Benefit? You can receive as
an Accelerated Benefit the amount you
request up to a maximum of 50% of the
face value of your insurance coverage,
minus the interest reduction. The
interest reduction is the amount the
Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life
Insurance actuarially determines to be
the amount of interest that would be lost
because of the early payment of part of
your insurance coverage. This means
that if you have $100,000 in coverage
and you request the maximum amount
that you are eligible to request as an
Accelerated Benefit, you will be paid
$50,000 minus the interest reduction.
(f) How do you apply for an
Accelerated Benefit? (1) You can obtain
an application form entitled ‘‘Claim for
Accelerated Benefits’’ by writing the

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Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 155 / Monday, August 12, 2002 / Rules and Regulations

Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life
Insurance, 290 W. Mt. Pleasant Avenue,
Livingston, New Jersey 07039; calling
the Office of Servicemembers’ Group
Life Insurance toll-free at 1–800–219–
1473; or downloading the form from the
Internet at www.insurance.va.gov. You
must submit the completed application
form to the Office of Servicemembers’
Group Life Insurance, 290 W. Mt.
Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, New
Jersey 07039.
(2) As stated on the application form,
you will be required to complete part of
the application form and your physician
will be required to complete part of the
application form. If you are an active
duty servicemember, your branch of
service will also be required to complete
part of the form.
lllllllllllllllllllll
To Be Completed by Insured
Claim for Accelerated Benefits
Your name: lllllllllllllll
Social Security Number: lllllllll
Your home address: lllllllllll
Date of birth: llllllllllllll
Branch of Service (if covered underSGLI): l
Your mailing address (if different from
above): lllllllllllllllll
Amount of SGLI coverage: $ lllllll
Amount of claim (can be no more than onehalf of coverage in increments of $5,000): l
Type of coverage (check one):
SGLI (circle one of the following): Active
Duty Ready Reserve Army or Air
National Guard Separated or
Discharged
VGLI
Note: If you checked SGLI, you must also
have your military unit complete the
attached form.
I acknowledge that I have read all of the
attached information about the accelerated
benefit. I understand that I can get this
benefit only once during my lifetime and that
I can use it for any purpose I choose. I further
understand that the face amount of my
coverage will reduce by the amount of
accelerated benefit I choose to receive now.
Your signature: lllllllllllll
Date: llllllllllllllllll
Authorization To Release Medical Records
To all physicians, hospitals, medical
service providers, pharmacists, employers,
other insurance companies, and all other
agencies and organizations:
You are authorized to release a copy of all
my medical records, including examinations,
treatments, history, and prescriptions, to the
Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life
Insurance (OSGLI) or its representatives.
Printed name: llllllllllllll
Signature: llllllllllllllll
Date: llllllllllllllllll
A photocopy of this authorization will be
considered as effective and valid as the
original.
Valid for one year from date signed.
lllllllllllllllllllll

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To Be Completed by Physician

(h) How will an Accelerated Benefit be
paid to you? An Accelerated Benefit
will be paid to you in a lump sum.
(i) What happens if you change your
mind about an application you filed for
Accelerated Benefits? (1) An election to
receive the Accelerated Benefit is made
at the time you have cashed or
deposited the Accelerated Benefit. After
that time, you cannot cancel your
request for an Accelerated Benefit. Until
that time, you may cancel your request
for benefits by informing the Office of
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance
in writing that you are canceling your
request and by returning the check if
you have received one. If you want to
change the amount of benefits you
requested or decide to reapply after
canceling a request, you may file
another application in which you
request either the same or a different
amount of benefits.
(2) If you die before cashing or
depositing an Accelerated Benefit
payment, the payment must be returned
to the Office of Servicemembers’ Group
Life Insurance. Their mailing address is
290 W. Mt. Pleasant Avenue,
To Be Completed by Personnel Office of
Livingston, New Jersey 07039.
Servicemember’s Unit
(j) If you have cashed or deposited an
Accelerated Benefit, are you eligible for
(Complete this form only if the applicant for
Accelerated Benefits is covered under SGLI.)
additional Accelerated Benefits? No.
(Approved by the Office of Management
Branch of Service Statement
Servicemember’s name: lllllllll and Budget under control number 2900–
Social Security Number: lllllllll 0618)

Attending Physician’s Certification
Patient’s name: lllllllllllll
Patient’s Social Security Number: lllll
Diagnosis: llllllllllllllll
ICD–9–CM Disease Code *: llllllll
Description of present medical condition
(please attach results of x-rays, E.K.G. or
other tests): lllllllllllllll
Is the patient capable of handling his/her
own affairs? llll Yesll Noll
The patient applied for an accelerated
benefit under his/her government life
insurance coverage. To qualify, the patient
must have a life expectancy of nine (9)
months or less.
Does your patient meet this requirement?
llll Yesll Noll
Attending Physician’s name (please print): l
State in which you are licensed to practice:
Specialty: llllllllllllllll
Mailing address: lllllllllllll
Telephone number: lllllllllll
Fax Number: llllllllllllll
Signature: llllllllllllllll
Date: llllllllllllllllll
*ICD–9–CM is an acronym for
International Classification of Diseases, 9th
revision, Clinical Modification.
lllllllllllllllllllll

Branch of Service: llllllllllll
Amount of SGLI coverage: $ lllllll
Monthly premium amount: $ lllllll
Name of person completing this form: lll
Telephone Number: lllllllllll
Fax Number: llllllllllllll
Title of person completing this form: lll
Duty Station and address: llllllll
Signature of person completing this form: l
Date: llllllllllllllllll
Notice: It is fraudulent to complete these
forms with information you know to be false
or to omit important facts. Criminal and/or
civil penalties can result from such acts.

(g) Who decides whether or not an
Accelerated Benefit will be paid to you?
The Office of Servicemembers’ Group
Life Insurance will review your
application and determine whether you
meet the requirements of this section for
receiving an Accelerated Benefit.
(1) They will approve your
application if the requirements of this
section are met.
(2) If the Office of Servicemembers’
Group Life Insurance determines that
your application form does not fully and
legibly provide the information
requested by the application form, they
will contact you and request that you or
your physician submit the missing
information to them. They will not take
action on your application until the
information is provided.

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(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1965, 1966, 1967, 1980)
[FR Doc. 02–20278 Filed 8–9–02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[AZ 112–0052c; FRL–7253–7]

Interim Final Determination That the
State of Arizona Has Corrected
Deficiencies and Stay of Sanctions,
Maricopa County Environmental
Services Department
AGENCY: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Interim final determination.

Elsewhere in today’s Federal
Register, EPA has published a direct
final rulemaking fully approving the
State of Arizona’s submittal of a revision
to the Maricopa County Environmental
Services Department (MCESD) portion
of the State Implementation Plan (SIP).
We have also published a proposed
rulemaking to provide the public with
an opportunity to comment on EPA’s
action. If a person submits adverse

SUMMARY:

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