Congress is urged to pass financial aid rider for wounded warriors and their families.
Staff Sergeant Ryan Kelly (Ret.) served with the 490th Civil Affairs attached to 3rd ACR. On the morning of July 14, 2003, Sgt. Kelly was on his way to Baghdad to attend a health and education conference when the Humvee he was riding in passed bales of hay by the side of the road. Explosives, hidden in the hay, detonated and shrapnel pierced the Humvee, severing Kelly’s right leg below the knee.
Ryan’s recovery, and rehabilitation—as a patient both in, and out of, Walter Reed Army Medical Center—took 13 months. While this was both an emotionally and physically draining experience, it ended up being financially draining as well. The most gravely injured—amputees, the paralyzed, burned, and blinded-were receiving yet another devastating change in their life: monetary meltdowns.
“My mom left her job for three months to travel from Texas to be by my side during my initial stay at Walter Reed,” said Kelly. “While this was difficult for my family, we made it through. But just imagine a military family, whose main breadwinner is now unable to work because he or she is laid up in a hospital, and the spouse has to leave their job to be by their side. It can be financially devastating for a family.”
Ryan now serves with United Spinal Association’s Wounded Warrior Project.
Sgt. Ryan Kelly (far right) and Director of Public Policy Jeremy Chwat (second from right) meet with Rep. Rick Renzi (second from left) and Legislative Assistant Jim Lester to discuss the financial aid rider. At the meeting, Rep. Renzi assured Kelly, “We can get this done.”
On the morning of January 31, 2005, he landed in Washington, DC, embarking on a new rebuilding mission. He was headed to Capitol Hill to rally support for his plan to create an insurance program that would pay catastrophically disabled soldiers $50,000 upon their admission to a stateside military or Veterans Affairs hospital. Dressed, this time not in his army fatigues, but a dapper
Sgt. Ryan Kelly (far right) and Director of Public Policy Jeremy Chwat (second from right) meet with Rep. Rick Renzi (second from left) and Legislative Assistant Jim Lester to discuss the financial aid rider. At the meeting, Rep. Renzi assured Kelly, “We can get this done.” business suit, this 24-year-old was determined to help his fellow servicemen and servicewomen begin rebuilding their lives with little, or no, financial burdens.
“Even though I am not in the same uniform,” said Kelly, “I’m still helping my fellow soldiers.”
Accompanied by United Spinal’s Director of Public Policy Jeremy Chwat, and armed with a well-researched policy paper, Ryan met with representatives from 16 different congressional offices, including personal meetings with Congressmen Rick Renzi (RAZ) and J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ).
While all of the representatives greeted the idea with respectful accord, it was on the second day—at the meeting with Congressman Renzi-that Ryan heard the words needed to make this mission a success: “We can get this done. You’re going to get a bill.” Congressman Renzi agreed to sponsor the bill and insisted that it be called the Ryan Kelly Service Member Disability Insurance Bill.
The mission continues, but success is imminent. “We have a moral obligation to help our service members and I hope Congress feels the same,” said Kelly.
Donna Fredericksen is director of Public Affairs at United Spinal.
Service-Member Group Disability Insurance Rider:A Legislative Proposal
Legislative IntentUnderstanding the tremendous emotional and fiscal stress faced by newly injured service members, and their families, United Spinal Association’s Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is proposing the creation of a Service-member Group Disability Insurance Program (SGDI) that would award a one time, lump sum payment of $50,000 to seriously disabled veterans upon the determination, made in a stateside military hospital, of a severe injury. This program would be created as a rider on the existing Service-member Group Life Insurance (SGLI) policy and would be structured similar to what is known in the private sector as an “Accidental Death and Dismemberment” policy, but would not include an “accidental death” provision.
Justification and Rationale
As indicated above, WWP understands the emotional, physical, and financial dilemmas that injured soldiers and their families face upon returning home from defending our country overseas. While medical staff are trained to deal with the emotional and physical effects of war, many times the soldier and his/her family is left to struggle financially. We, therefore, believe there is an urgent need to help many of these families financially during this critical time before these wounded soldiers become eligible for all of VA’s benefits and disability compensation programs. WWP recognizes the logistical realities of processing these soldiers from active duty to their discharge, at which time they can begin receiving VA benefits. This program, participation in which is completely optional, is meant as a bridge from the time of injury until the soldier is eligible for VA benefits.
This SGDI payment is intended to help the convalescing soldier, and, just as importantly, his or her family, during the injured soldier’s time of initial hospitalization and rehabilitation. Initial hospitalization and recovery time is especially stressful for the soldier and his/her family since the patient is being forced to recover from a severe injury (i.e., amputation, spinal cord injury, etc.) in a hospital far from home. This hospitalization often requires the soldier’s family to leave work for an extended period of time in order to be with their loved one, thus potentially losing a source of income and incurring tremendous travel expenses during an already stressful time. Although soldiers continue to draw pay while on active duty and hospitalized, the pay is inadequate to meet the needs of the hospitalized service- member and his/her family. Furthermore, many injured soldiers are reservists who are working at a significant pay reduction from what they were making at their civilian jobs prior to active duty. Extended periods of hospitalization will prolong the amount of time that they will be earning these reduced wages and significantly impact the soldier’s long-term solvency.
The intent of this program is to provide an immediate payment for the soldier and his/her family to ease the financial burden until such time as the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) meets to discharge the service member. The amount of time it takes for the MEB to complete military ratings depends upon the severity of the injury and the length of rehab time required. This period can take from 6 to 18 months.
Program Structure
In order to qualify for this benefit, a servicemember would have to be deemed “significantly disabled” at the time of initial stateside hospitalization. For the purposes of payment, the following disabilities would be covered:
• spinal cord injury
• amputation
• loss of sight
• loss of hearing
• significant burnUpon admission to the hospital, each patient is seen by the different medical programs in the facility, with each program evaluating the patient’s condition and needs. Following this evaluation, all of the patient’s injuries and conditions are noted and catalogued in the patient’s medical records with the corresponding ICD-9 codes entered into the service-member’s file. Determination of disability would be based on ICD-9 codes and an insurance payment would be triggered based upon the ICD-9 code input into the patient’s records. The program would pay out for injuries incurred coincidental to service in a combat zone.
Program Cost
After extensive research and investigation, WWP anticipates that this program would be cost neutral for the federal government. Department of Defense (DOD) data indicates that of the 10,000 injuries already incurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, 5,000 of the injured return to duty within 72 hours of injury. WWP estimates that approximately 1,000 injured soldiers will qualify for the $50,000 SGDI payment, representing a total annual cost of about $50,000,000. This amount will be offset through the charge of an additional $3 monthly premium (estimated based on similar private sector premiums) that would be paid by each participating servicemember, just as SGLI premiums are collected. Each servicemember may optout of the SGDI program, but still participate in SGLI.
Conclusion
It is important to consider the needs of our servicemen and servicewomen when they return home, especially when our country is at war and our soldiers have risked their lives for our freedom. As a result of medical and technological advances, the war has resulted in fewer casualties and more injuries. Considering that this is a program soldiers will pay into, we feel it is reasonable to provide for a rider awarding a one-time, lump-sum payment to our veterans with serious disabilities.
