Have you still not done anything about formalizing an Advance Directive for your medical care? Thousands of people rushed to do it when the Terry Schiavo case mesmerized the nation. But now some years have passed, and we need another reminder to get it done.
This article is prompted by a very nice column by a former LPN, who goes by the name Kyana Belle in her column, urging people to create an Advance Directive for their care. She had brief stories to tell of the nightmarish, ugly situations that could have been averted with some well-thought-out planning ahead.
I might add that hospital staff is obligated to make available to you whatever forms are needed to create this Advance Directive. It need not cost you a thing unless you need to consult an attorney if you have multiple marriages, multiple families from those marriages, or no current spouse.
Kyana explains what a Do Not Resuscitate order really means, and explains the difference between that and a Living Will, plus she provides links for all you need. She has just three basic points to make:
1) A "Do Not Resuscitate," "DNR,"or "No Code" is ONLY an order that prevents attempts to restart your breathing and/or heart beat should either cease.
2) If you have not legally appointed someone to make decisions for you when you are unable to do so yourself, someone will be appointed for you according to your state laws.
3) It can NOT wait - get it done now!
Thank you Kyana! You rock! Readers may find the entire article here at: http://kyanabelle.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/06/2080706-how-to-protect-your-rights-with-advance-directives?email=html&threadId=412008&commentId=4007241#c4007241 .
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
In Honor of the Upcoming Veterans Day – How To Make Claims on Your Military Life Insurance
In honor of Veterans Day this year, I want to help the families of military veterans get their proper benefit checks for life insurance policies held by service persons. IF you have kept up your military group life insurance policy during service (if still in uniform) or after discharge, you (or rather your beneficiaries) should be able to get the VA to accept your claim. Just read this article and go to the link given below to find the claim form.
Several years ago a scandal broke out about the Veterans Administration denying all phone inquiries inre making claims on veterans group life insurance policies. It seemed that the staff was using the funds to pay for department parties and other nonsense.
I was also surprised to hear of one widow of a WWII veteran making a successful claim on her late husband's policy not long before this scandal broke out (about ten years ago). Fortunately for her, she had an adult child who sent in a request for a claim form instead of just accepting the erroneous information that had been received by phone. The veteran had kept policy status updates on file, and so they had a policy number and an address to send the request to.
So to make a long story short, they received the claim form – a mere half-page long – and filled in the necessary information. The only difficult section asked for the veteran's discharge date, an item they luckily had on the discharge papers.
Do you want to guess how much money the widow wound up with? The policy had been paid up some time before and was accruing interest. The final valuation was for over $6200. That was a very welcome hunk of change to help make up for the loss of her husband's pension check from work.
Below is the link to the VA insurance page. There are several forms available but to make a claim, click on the one that says: SGLV 8283, Claim for Death Benefits. There is also a related form to make claims for the death of a spouse (or other covered family member) of a military service person.
http://www.insurance.va.gov/sgliSite/forms/forms.htm
It does not matter how long ago your military service person or veteran died; the policy still accrues value until the claim is made. Just dig up your insurance policy and discharge papers, and you will have enough information to fill out the claim form.
Good luck to all of you, and thank you to all our United States veterans out there (and their families). Have a good day.
[The erroneous information given by phone was possibly a mixup; the VA continually has to deny inquiries about a mythical veterans insurance dividend payout. You can read a full article explaining that confusing urban myth at http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa050698.htm .]
Several years ago a scandal broke out about the Veterans Administration denying all phone inquiries inre making claims on veterans group life insurance policies. It seemed that the staff was using the funds to pay for department parties and other nonsense.
I was also surprised to hear of one widow of a WWII veteran making a successful claim on her late husband's policy not long before this scandal broke out (about ten years ago). Fortunately for her, she had an adult child who sent in a request for a claim form instead of just accepting the erroneous information that had been received by phone. The veteran had kept policy status updates on file, and so they had a policy number and an address to send the request to.
So to make a long story short, they received the claim form – a mere half-page long – and filled in the necessary information. The only difficult section asked for the veteran's discharge date, an item they luckily had on the discharge papers.
Do you want to guess how much money the widow wound up with? The policy had been paid up some time before and was accruing interest. The final valuation was for over $6200. That was a very welcome hunk of change to help make up for the loss of her husband's pension check from work.
Below is the link to the VA insurance page. There are several forms available but to make a claim, click on the one that says: SGLV 8283, Claim for Death Benefits. There is also a related form to make claims for the death of a spouse (or other covered family member) of a military service person.
http://www.insurance.va.gov/sgliSite/forms/forms.htm
It does not matter how long ago your military service person or veteran died; the policy still accrues value until the claim is made. Just dig up your insurance policy and discharge papers, and you will have enough information to fill out the claim form.
Good luck to all of you, and thank you to all our United States veterans out there (and their families). Have a good day.
[The erroneous information given by phone was possibly a mixup; the VA continually has to deny inquiries about a mythical veterans insurance dividend payout. You can read a full article explaining that confusing urban myth at http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa050698.htm .]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
