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the promises made about their future care will be kept.” MOAA’s written statement for the sub- committee listed 12 specific recommenda- tions. (Read the written statement at www .moaa.org/hasc-testimony.aspx.) MOAA will continue to work to make

improvements to the military health care system.

Repeal the C

MOAA’s Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF (Ret), second from left, testifies on the widows’ tax Dec. 9, 2015.

“Widows’ Tax” MOAA testifies on the SBP/ DIC offset.

ol. Steve Strobridge, USAF (Ret), MOAA’s director of Gov- ernment Relations, testified

before the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Dec. 9, 2015, about the huge financial penalty imposed on about 63,000 military survivors. Current law unfairly makes military survivors forfeit part or all of their military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity when military service caused the member’s death. SBP provides the survivor 55 percent of the servicemember’s military retired pay. Enrollment is elected at the time of retire- ment, and the retired member pays 6.5 percent of retired pay as a premium.

Dependency and Indemnity Compen- sation (DIC) is a VA program providing a $1,254 monthly annuity for survivors of veterans whose death is ruled service-con- nected. SBP payments are reduced dollar- for-dollar by DIC. This often is called the “widows’ tax.” MOAA has been seeking repeal of this unfair law for decades. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), whose pro- posed legislation (H.R. 1594) to end the offset has gathered 176 bipartisan cospon- sors, reiterated at the hearing his determi- nation to see an end to the offset. In 2008, MOAA convinced Congress to authorize a modest Special Survivor Indem- nity Allowance (SSIA) for SBP/DIC widows as a step toward phasing out the offset. “Because of budget issues, our hope has been Congress would do that by steadily in- creasing the SSIA amount,” Strobridge said. “As of FY 2017, the $310 monthly SSIA will restore about 25 percent of the offset.” However, SSIA is set to expire Oct. 1,

2017, and Congress needs to extend au- thority to pay it in the upcoming FY 2017 defense bill or survivors will forfeit the $310 monthly allowance. “You have [our] support, because you

have been so effective outside of this hear- ing in our offices. … The argument that you’ve made, in my opinion, is incontro- vertible, and you’ve made it on its merits, on the facts,” Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) told Strobridge and the other witnesses. Though committee members acknowl- edged the inequity of the offset, Ranking Member Susan Davis (D-Calif.) pointed out a full repeal has a price tag approaching $7 billion, and securing funds will be difficult. “We’re sensitive to the [funding] challenge,” Strobridge said. “But when congressional leaders recently managed to find far larger [funding] to provide Medicare premium relief to millions of wealthier beneficiaries, it’s hard to explain to SBP/DIC widows — who have suffered

32 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2016 PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT