Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 06/18/2007

Are there any benefits for a woman who just divorced after 18 years of marriage? I was married to a military man the whole time and have three children.

Thank you,

Celoris

Via the Internet

Dear Celoris:

My source at the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) advises me that as an unremarried former spouse divorced after September 1988, you are eligible for medical coverage for one year after the date of the divorce, provided you do not have an employer-sponsored health plan.

Upon expiration of this one-year period, you are entitled to elect coverage within 60 days, at a cost, under a Defense Department continued health benefits program. Cost is $933 per quarter. You are no longer eligible for commissary, exchange, or morale, welfare and recreation programs.

Your children will retain their medical benefits and exchange privileges, but lose commissary entitlement if they live outside the sponsor's household. You will need to get a new ID card. Your former husband's service makes the final determinations about entitlement to benefits. If you remarry, all benefits are forfeited.

You also may be entitled to a share of your former spouse's retirement pay, but that's up to state divorce court to decide.

Shaft Notes
A recent hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunity showed the need for increased levels of specially adapted housing (SAH) grants to meet the requirements of seriously disabled veterans and their families.

The SAH program provides grants up to $50,000 to severely service-disabled veterans and service members to help them modify their homes to accommodate their disabilities.

"The program is relatively small in comparison to the GI bill, but is vitally important to those who qualify," said Rep. John Boozman of Arkansas, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee. "A major issue continues to be the buying power of the grants. There is also significant inflation in construction costs, especially in high-cost areas, causing it to become difficult to completely modify a home. Along with that is the issue of differences in regional costs."

The Department of Veterans Affairs has two types of SAH grants: a $10,000 grant for those who are blind or have lost the use of both hands, and a $50,000 grant for those who have lost the use of both lower extremities, upper extremities above the elbow, a combination of blindness plus loss-of-extremity use, or a combination of loss-of-extremity use plus residuals from organic disease.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, and ranking Republican Sen. Larry E. Craig of Idaho sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee's subcommittee responsible for VA funding, urging a significant increase in the appropriation for VA's Medical and Prosthetic Research Program. The senators stressed that VA requires increased funds to sustain research and to continue to make advances. The letter reads in part:

"We strongly urge the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs to demonstrate this Nation's commitment to its veterans by providing an increase for Fiscal Year 2008 substantially above last year's funding level for VA's Medical and Prosthetic Research Program. ...

"VA provides the best health care within its means, but research is necessary if we are to enable VA to adapt and improve care. This is of obvious importance as OEF/OIF combat wounded return with complicated injuries such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and as veterans of previous wars face an increasing number of age-related health issues. TBI has become the signature wound of the war in Iraq and we must commit the proper resources to deal with and treat all aspects of the injury.

"Past VA research projects have resulted in the first successful liver transplant performed in the U.S., the development of the cardiac pacemaker, as well as theory-building that led to the development of the CT scan. Current research is needed in areas such as colorectal cancer, a common form of cancer of increased concern to aging veterans.

"A robust research program is also essential if VA is to match the needs of service members returning from combat who are suffering injuries that would have been fatal in previous wars. VA leads the way in making that happen through research, but it is up to Congress to give them the financial support they require."

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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