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Servicemembers who want to ensure their family is provided for in the event of a traumatic injury or death have always had the option of obtaining the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance.
SGLI is payable to a servicemember’s beneficiaries upon their death. The amount of money payable depends on how much coverage the servicemember chooses. It can range from $50,000 to $400,000.
The payment for the coverage is taken out of the servicemember’s paycheck each month and is shown in the deduction column of their leave and earnings statement. The amount taken out will range from $3.25 to $27 depending on the amount chosen. SGLI can also be declined if a servicemember elects to not receive the benefit.
“It’s so cheap it’s worth the investment,” said Capt. Ameica Banks, the policy officer for 266th Financial Management Center. “It’s not really for them; it is for their loved ones left behind.”
An important part of SGLI that many servicemembers do not know about is the Traumatic Injury Protection Program, which is automatically included with all SGLI amounts. For TSGLI an extra dollar a month provides payment of up to $100,000 to military members who suffer a traumatic injury on or off duty.
TSGLI is designed to help traumatically injured servicemembers and their families with travel, temporary housing, and loss of income as the result of recovering from a traumatic injury.
“I don’t think that you’ll get better insurance coverage for the price,” said Master Sgt. Patricia Hamilton, the senior military pay adviser with 266th FMC.
Recently, the 266th FMC e-mailed servicemembers asking them to check their LES to verify the amount being deducted corresponds to the amount they want their families to receive.
“We have had Soldiers call and say that it is not being taken out,” Captain Banks said. “They need to fill out form SGLV 8286 at their military personnel department.”
The form can also be completed to stop coverage, reduce or increase coverage, or to change the beneficiaries.
“If they are receiving the lesser amount, they can apply later to receive the higher amount up to the maximum,” Captain Banks said.
Beneficiaries can be anyone chosen by the servicemember, however if they remove their spouse as the beneficiary or lower the coverage, their spouse will be notified. A letter will be sent within 30 days of the change to the address of the spouse listed in the Defense Eligibility Reporting System notifying them of the change.
The beneficiary will only change if the servicemember fills out a new SGLV-8286.
Submitting a marriage license or a divorce decree through the military personnel department will not automatically change the beneficiary a servicemember
had initially appointed.
For more information on SGLI, visit www.insurance.va.gov.
