Military

  • 1973 0523 and 0612 - GOV (Senate) - Review of Veterans' Insurance Programs - 2 parts
  • 2008 0902 (Updated) - Kiplinger's - Taking Aim at Military Scams: The men and women who protect our country are getting ripped off, by Kimberly Lankford - [link]
    • Five years ago Kiplinger's revealed that many soldiers had been pitched high-fee investments that included a whopping 50% sales charge the first year.
    • Several months later other news media reported that young service members were being sold expensive life-insurance policies that they didn't need -- and didn't even realize that they had bought.
  • When an issue begins is sometimes difficult to discern.
    • This particular issue may be traced to an address to the American Life Convention Annual Meeting in 1968.
    • The late Senator Hart advised the insurance industry that it should improve cost disclosure.
    • Senator Hart had become somewhat frustrated when the Veterans Administration had told him that they could not advise veterans as to which policies might be attractively priced for conversion of GI insurance.

--  Norman K. Martin

1981 - SOA - Individual Life Insurance Cost Disclosure Issues, Society of Actuaries - 22p

  • governmentattic.org/6docs/VA-Prudential_2010-2012.pdf
  • congress.gov/committees/video/house-veterans-affairs/hsvr00/UNXQVlVIp1M
  • GOV - House Committee on Veterans' Affairs GOP -.youtube.com/c/HouseVetsAffairs
  • 1987 - GOV (Deprtment of Veterans Affairs) - Actuarial analysis of 1987 operations for life insurance programs administered by the Veterans Administration - [PDF-53p-GooglePlay]
  • iucat.iu.edu/call_browse/previous/8244886?campus=iub&id=8244312
    • Continuance of national service life insurance : information for veterans of World War II, United States. Veterans Administration. Central Office, VA 1.2:L 62/9/945
    • New and liberal features of national service life insurance ... July, 1945. Suppl. to ... Continuance of national service life insurance, United States. Veterans Administration, VA 1.2:L 62/10/945
    • Actuarial analysis of 1987 operations for life insurance programs administered by the Veterans Administration, United States. Department of Veterans Benefits, VA 1.2:L 62/12
    • Audit of administration of invested funds for the servicemen's group life insurance and veterans' group life insurance programs, United States. Department of Veterans Affairs. Office of Inspector General, VA 1.2:L 62/14
    • The Lincoln legacy, VA 1.2:L 63
  • 1998 0918 - Washington Post - Pentagon Bars Life Insurance Firm Because of 'Deceptive' Practices - [link]
  • The NAIC and its members have been working closely with the U.S. Department of Defense to facilitate information sharing and to protect military personnel and their families from improper sales of insurance and investment products on military bases. (p16)

--  Eric Dinallo (NYSID) - Written Testimony - 17p

2008 0416 - GOV (House) - Examining Proposals on Insurance Regulatory Reform - [PDF-188p]

  • Military Sales Working Group – NAIC
  • Model 568: Military sales practices model regulation - 8p
  • ...separate file for a chart of state adoption of named model law - 5p
  • 2004 1116 - GOV (Senate) - Oversight Hearing on Insurance Brokerage Practices, including Potential Conflicts of Interest and the Adequacy of the Current Regulatory Framework, aka Insurance Brokerage and Regulation Practices - [PDF-166p]
    • (p11) - Serio (Superintendent of Insurance, State of New York, on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners)
      • The Congress’ recent work in the area of military sales of life insurance could well provide a workable model of joint Federal-State regulation.
      • Federal declarations of the authority of State insurance departments to regulate insurance sales, together with oversight, is a good way to go about this.
  • 2007-2, NAIC Proceedings, (2007 0604 - p147-150) - Project History: Military Sales Practices Model Regulation
  • 2007-3, NAIC Proceedings, (2007, p36) - 14. Hear Report of the Military Sales Practices Model Regulation
  • 2007-3, NAIC Proceedings (2007 0930, p45-46) - 1. Adopted Report of the Military Sales (EX) Working Group
  • 2010 0813 - Letter - Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) to Chris Dodd (D-CT) - 1p
    • Recent press reports have raised concerns....
    • Because the regulation of insurance falls under the Banking Committee's jurisdiction, it is the Committee's obligation to ensure that insurance regulation adequately protects our service members and their families.
    • Accordingly, I believe that the Banking Committee should hold a hearing to examine these reports and determine if any unfair practices exist.
    • I have already instructed my staff to begin investigating this issue in preparation for a hearing.
  • 2000 0515 - DoD - Cuthbert Report - Final Report: Life Insurance Solicitation Practices on Department of Defense Installations - 126
    • 127p-The Black Vault
    • 2004 0909 - ACLI - Testimony - Frank Keating - 6p
      • 2004 0909 - GOV (House) - G.I. Finances: Protecting Those Who Protect Us, Richard Baker (R-LA)  ---  [BonkNote]
  • 2001 - DOD-OIG - Disposition of Insurance Allotment Payments - Report No. D-2001-147 - 27p 
  • 2005-3, NAIC Proceedings - 2005 0922 -  Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee
    • Commissioner Voss said an issue has come up to the Market Analysis (D) Working Group about some products being offered that are a term life insurance policy with an annuity side fund.
    • The issue first arose in sales on military bases, but it appears the products are being sold elsewhere.
    • She requested that the A Committee review these products. - (p115)
  • 2005-3, NAIC Proceedings - 2005 1010 - LIAC - Review life insurance sold with a side fund to recommend a position on the products being offered in the marketplace. - (p121)
  • 2005 11 - GAO - Financial Product Sales: Actions Needed to Better Protect Military Members - 88p ---  [link]  ---  [BonkNote]
  • 2005 1117 - GOV (Senate-Banking) - A Review of the GAO Report on the Sale of Financial Products to Military Personnel  ---  [BonkNote]  ---  [PDF-89p]  
  • 2006 0710 - DOD / Federal Register - Personal Commercial Solicitation on DoD Installations, A Rule by the Defense Department on 07/10/2006 - [link]
  • 2007 03 - SEC - Report on Refunds, Sales Practices, and Revenues from Periodic Payment Plans - As Required by Section 4(c) of the Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities and Exchange Commissioner - 48p
  • 2007 0329 - NAIC to GOV - Report - Life insurance sales to members of the armed forces: report to Congress, March 29, 2007  ---  [BonkNote]  ---  50p 
  • 2007 0928 - NAIC to GOV - Report - Life Insurance Sales to Members of the Armed Forces - Second Report to Congress - 22p
  • 2008 0407 - (DoD) - Report - Commercial Solicitation of Military Personnel on DoD Installations - Inspector General Report (Department of Defense) - Report No. D-2008-075 April 7, 2008 -  47p --- [BonkNote]
  • 2008 0731 - Kiplingers - Taking Aim at Military Scams: The men and women who protect our country are getting ripped off, Kimberly Lankford - [link]
    • Five years ago Kiplinger's revealed that many soldiers had been pitched high-fee investments that included a whopping 50% sales charge the first year.
    • Several months later other news media reported that young service members were being sold expensive life-insurance policies that they didn't need -- and didn't even realize that they had bought.
  • 2009 05 - GAO - Insurance Sales to Military Personnnel: Additional Actions Needed to Prevent Improper Life Insurance Sales and Pay Allotment Transactions, GAO-09-452 -
  • govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-109hrpt40/html/CRPT-109hrpt40.htm
  • congress.gov/108/crpt/hrpt725/CRPT-108hrpt725.pdf
  • NAIC - Military Life Insurance Reform - Archived June 03, 2015 - 1p
  • congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/418/actions?r=30&s=1
  • 1973 0523 and 0612 - GOV (Senate) - Review of Veterans' Insurance Programs - 2 parts
    • Part 1 - 0523 - [PDF-651-GooglePlay] ->Not on govinfo.gov
    • Part 2 - 0612 - [PDF-545p-GooglePlay] ->Not on govinfo.gov
    • Senate - Committee on Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance
  • 1975/1976 111275 / 042076 - GOV (Senate) - Review of Veterans Housing and Insurance Programs
    • [PDF-917p-GooglePlay]
    • Senate - Committee on Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance
  • 1975 1203/1204 - GOV (Senate) - Veterans Insurance Information Disclosure - Senator Stone
  • 1977 0628/0630 - GOV (Senate) -  Disclosure of Insurance Policy Information to Veterans - Senator Stone
    • [PDF-415p-GooglePlay] ->Not on govinfo.org
    • NAIC Testimony - Herbert H. Anderson, Commissioner of Insurance in the State of Iowa and Chairman of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' task force on life Insurance cost companson - 33p 
    • Senate - Committee on Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Housing, Insurance, and Cemeteries
  • Hart - 1969, 1973 GOV
  • 1993 0923 - GOV (House) - Operation of VA Life Insurance Programs, CHRG-103hhrg75302
    • [PDF-79p, VIDEO-?]
    • House - Committee on Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Compensation, Pension, and Insurance
  • 1999 0310 - DoD (Office of the Inspector General) - Commercial Life Insurance Sales Procedures In DoD, Evaluation Report,  Report No. 99-106 - 54p
  • 2004 0922 - GOV (Senate-Banking) - Examination and Oversight of the Condition and Regulation of the Insurance Industry
    • [PDF-104p, VIDEO - Error] - <mp3, mp4> - R 
    • Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL)
      • With insurance playing such a meaningful role for consumers and the economy, I think it is our responsibility to consider some basic questions about the industry.
        • For instance: Is it financially sound and able to meet its responsibilities, that is, the industry?
        • What is the nature of the prevailing business and operational conditions?
        • Finally, what challenges will the industry face as it moves into the future?
      • As I noted previously, insurance is a very important industry.
        • Because of its importance to the economy, it has long been subject to an intricate regulatory scheme.
        • I look forward to beginning a thorough review of it with our witnesses this afternoon.
      • As an aside, I want to mention that Senator Sarbanes and I are sending a letter to the General Accountability Office requesting an... examination of the troubling reports that military personnel were sold insurance and mutual funds that appear to have excessive premiums coupled with minimal benefits.
    • CFA - J. Robert Hunter, Consumer Federation of America - 31p
    • NAIC - Gregory Serio, Chair, Government Affairs Task Force, National Association
      of Insurance Commissioners and Superintendent, New York Department of Insurance
  • 2004 0909 - GOV (House) - G.I. Finances: Protecting Those Who Protect Us - [PDF-176p, VIDEO-?]
    • 2004 0909 - ACLI - Testimony - Frank Keating - 6p
      • We at the ACLI are glad that the revelations of this summer have finally opened communications among those whose responsibility it is to solve the reported problems.
      • For more than a year the ACLI has been aware of allegations of misbehavior.
      • We have sought attention for them at the highest administrative levels.
      • We surely do not want our many good companies and agents unfairly tarred by a brush intended for a few.
      • Burns Bill
        • ...the description of the product in the legislation goes far beyond contractual mutual funds to prohibit all kinds of insurance and annuities that have a variable element in them.
      • Further, it is in the complete absence of effective enforcement of all relevant rules that has caused some of our soldiers to become victims of scams.
    • 2004 0909 - NAIFA - Testimony - David F. Woods (CEO) - 11p 
    • 2004 0909 - Mercer E. Bullard - Testimony, President and Founder, Fund Democracy, Inc. and Assistant Professor of Law (University of Mississippi School of Law) - 14p
  • 2005 0201 - GOV (Senate) - Death Benefits and Services Available to Survivors of Military Personnel and Legislative Proposals to Enhance These Benefits - Committee on Armed Services, ("Military Survivor Benefits") - [PDF-128p,  CSPAN-VIDEO]
  • 2005 1117 - GOV (Senate) - A Review of the GAO Report on the Sale of Financial Products to Military Personnel - [PDF-89p] - VIDEO --- [BonkNote]
  • 2004 1005 - GOV (House) - Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act (H.R. 5011) - 23p
  • 2005 0413 - GOV (House) - Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act (H.R. 458) - 19p
  • 2006 0713 - GOV (Senate) - Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act, Shelby, Report 109-282  - [PDF-17p-GooglePlay]
    • (p2) - HEARINGS
      • On November 17, 2005, the Committee held a hearing entitled " A
        Review of the GAO Report on the Sale of Financial Products to Military Personnel.”
      • The following witnesses testified at the hearing: Mr. Richard J. Hillman, Managing Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment, U.S. Government Accountability Of fice; Ms. Lori Richards, Director, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ; Mr. John Molino, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Com munity and Family Policy, U.S. Department of Defense; Ms. Mary Schapiro, Vice Chairman and President, Regulatory Policy and Oversight, NASD ; and Mr. John Oxendine, Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, State of Georgia.
    • BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
      • Since the Vietnam War era, members of the Armed Forces have been targets of unscrupulous salesmen marketing costly 1 and su perfluous 2 financial products
  • govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-109publ290
  • 2004 12 - Best's Review - Selling to Soldiers, by Ronald J. Panko - [link]
    • Allegations of inappropriate sales of insurance and investments on military bases may forge a stronger partnership between the insurance industry, state regulators and the Department of Defense.
    • Cost vs. Value
      • But American Amicable stands behind the product the agents sold, Palmer said.
        • It is a combination of life insurance and a fixed annuity that the company calls Horizon Life.
        • Palmer said American Amicable also sells whole life and universal life, and it has entered the final-expense life market, but that Horizon Life is the company's most popular product. 
        • "It's a blended product designed to offer insurance coverage and a financial foundation, especially for a young person," he said.
          • "It's a fairly popular product in the general marketplace outside the military."
        • About 40% of American Amicable's sales are to members of the military, he added.
      • As the Times story pointed out, the insurance part of Horizon Life is expensive at first.
  • (p94) - 2004 1019 - NYT - Subpoena Issued to Insurer Over Sales to G.I.'s, by Diana B. Henriques -  [link-2p]
    • American Amicable Life Insurance Company of Waco, Tex.
    • Department of Justice
    • This month, the nation's leading insurance ratings agency, A.M. Best Company, announced that it was reviewing, with negative implications, the financial strength ratings of the American Amicable Holding affiliates based on "the adverse publicity within the military base life insurance market surrounding improper sales practices by some agents with enlisted military personnel."

2005 0201 - GOV (Senate)Death Benefits and Services Available to Survivors of Military Personnel and Legislative Proposals to Enhance These Benefits, Committee on Armed Services - [PDF-133p-GooglePlay]

  • 2011 0823 - GOV (Department of Defencse, Inspector General) - Additional Actions Needed to Mitigate Risks of Unsuitable Life Insurance Sales to Junior Enlisted Service Members, Report No. D-2011-099 - 54p
  • 2018 - GOV (House) - Review of VA's Life Insurance Programs
    • [PDF-34p,  VIDEO-YouTube (Starts around 43:00)
    • House - Committee on Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Disabilit  Assistance and Memorial Affairs
  • 2021 - DoD - Personal Commercial Solicitation on Army Installations, Army Regulation 210–7 - 22p
  • 2022 (Update) - CRS - Military Families and Financial Readiness, (R46983) - 27p
  • See Analysis of the Survivor Benefit Plan and Alternative Estate Building Options (Apr. 1, 1987) (available from DOD Office of the Actuary)
  • (this study compares the cost and benefits of the SBP to the cost and benefits of term life insurance, investments, and universal life insurance)

1990 01 - The Army Lawyer, Department of the Army Pamphlet 27-50-205 - [link]

  • (p14) - 27 "See Analysis of the Survivor Benefit Plan and Alternative Estate Building Options (Apr. 1, 1987) (available from DOD Office of the Actuary) (this study compares the cast and benefits of the SBP to the cost and benefits of term life insurance, investments, and universal life insurance);

2004 1005 - GOV (House) - Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act (H.R. 5011) - 23p

  • SEC. 9. IMPROVING LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCT STANDARDS.
    • (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of the Congress that the NAIC should, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense and within 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, conduct a study and submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate on ways of improving the quality of and sale of life insurance products sold by insurers and producers on military installations of the United States, which may include limiting sales authority to companies and producers that are certified as meeting appropriate best practices procedures or creating standards for products specifically designed for members of the Armed Forces regardless of the sales location.
    • (b) CONDITIONAL GAO REPORT.—If the NAIC does not submit the report to the committees as described in subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall study any proposals that have been made to improve the quality and sale of life insurance products sold by insurers and producers on military installations of the United States and report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate on such proposals within 6 months after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (a).