Rule2021-12017
Extension of Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) Application Periods in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 9, 2021
Effective
June 9, 2021
Issuing agencies
Veterans Affairs Department
Abstract
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule to extend the deadline for former members insured under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) to apply for VGLI coverage following separation from service in order to address the inability of former members directly or indirectly affected by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency to purchase VGLI. This rule will be in effect until December 11, 2021.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 109 (Wednesday, June 9, 2021)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 9, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30541-30543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12017]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 9
RIN 2900-AR24
Extension of Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) Application
Periods in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Interim final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this
interim final rule to extend the deadline for former members insured
under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) to apply for VGLI
coverage following separation from service in order to address the
inability of former members directly or indirectly affected by the 2019
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency to purchase VGLI.
This rule will be in effect until December 11, 2021.
DATES: This interim final rule is effective June 9, 2021.
Comment date: Comments must be received on or before July 9, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted through <a href="http://www.Regulations.gov">www.Regulations.gov</a> or
mailed to Director, VA Insurance Service (29), 5000 Wissahickon Avenue,
Philadelphia, PA 19144. Please note that due to circumstances
associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, VA discourages the submission of
comments by mail. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in
response to ``RIN 2900-AR24 Interim Final Rule--Extension of VGLI
Application Periods in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health
Emergency.'' Comments received will be available at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> for
public viewing, inspection or copies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Weaver, Department of Veterans
Affairs Insurance Service (310/290B), 5000 Wissahickon Avenue,
Philadelphia, PA 19144, (215) 842-2000, ext. 4263. (This is not a toll-
free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1977 of title 38, United States
Code, authorizes the VGLI program, which provides former members
separating from service with the option of converting existing SGLI
coverage into renewable, 5-year term group life insurance coverage in
amounts ranging from $10,000 to $400,000 based upon the amount of SGLI
coverage. See 38 U.S.C. 1967(a), 1968(b)(1)(A), 1977(a), (b). Section
9.2 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, provides the effective
dates of VGLI coverage and application requirements. VGLI coverage may
be granted if an application, the initial premium, and evidence of
insurability are received within 1 year and 120 days following
termination of duty. 38 CFR 9.2(c). Evidence of insurability is not
required during the initial 240 days following termination of duty. Id.
On October 7, 2020, VA published a final rule in the Federal
Register (85 FR 63208) that amended 38 CFR 9.2 by adding new paragraph
(f)(1) to extend by 90 days the time periods under 38 CFR 9.2(c) during
which former members may apply for VGLI. Thus, former members who
submit a VGLI application and the initial premium within 330 days
following separation from service will not be required to submit
evidence of insurability. Former members who do not apply for VGLI
within 330 days following separation from service may still receive
VGLI coverage if they apply for the coverage within 1 year and 210 days
following separation from service and submit the initial premium and
evidence of insurability. The 90-day extensions for former members to
apply for VGLI are in effect from June 11, 2020, through June 11, 2021.
Between June 11, 2020 and March 31, 2021, 14,855 former members
utilized these 90-day extensions to purchase VGLI coverage.
The rationale for applying the rule for one year was that VA is
obligated to manage VGLI according to sound and accepted actuarial
principles (see 38 U.S.C. 1977(c), (f), (g)), and that VA would be able
to utilize this one-year time period to gather and analyze data on VGLI
claims experience to determine if it would be actuarially sound to
further extend the applicability date. VGLI is funded by premiums from
insured Veterans, and VA has determined that current premium amounts
that insured Veterans pay for VGLI coverage are sufficient to absorb
the cost of any additional VGLI claims that would be paid due to VA
extending that application deadline period for an additional six
months. Considering the continuing challenges involved with obtaining
necessary medical records brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and
that VA has determined that it would be actuarially sound to extend
VGLI application deadlines, VA will be extending the deadline for VGLI
applications received between June 12, 2021 and December 11, 2021. This
interim final rulemaking will continue to provide separating service
members an additional 90 days to apply for VGLI during the COVID-19
pandemic and is intended to ease some of the financial consequences of
the COVID-19
[[Page 30542]]
pandemic for former members, especially those with disabilities
incurred while in service, since many of these former members would
otherwise not qualify for a private commercial plan of insurance due to
such disabilities.
Administrative Procedure Act
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs finds that there is good cause to
dispense with the opportunity for prior comment with respect to this
rule and to make the rule effective upon publication. Pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the opportunity for advance public comment is not
required with respect to a rulemaking when an ``agency for good cause
finds (and incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons
therefor in the rules issued) that notice and public procedure thereon
are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.''
VA previously published an interim final rule on June 11, 2020
which expires on June 11, 2021. In this interim final rulemaking, we
are extending the prior rulemaking by an additional six months. If the
interim final rulemaking is not published prior to the expiration date,
then there will be a gap in the application deadline extensions for
those individuals applying for VGLI.
The need for this interim final rule was unanticipated because the
data pertaining to COVID-19 was continuously evolving and VA had to
evaluate data from an actuarial perspective to ensure that another
extension of the application deadlines would not put upward pressure on
VGLI premiums or otherwise negatively impact the financial stability of
the program. The Secretary finds that it is impracticable to delay this
regulation for the purpose of soliciting public comment because former
members cannot receive VGLI coverage if they do not satisfy the
application requirements within the deadlines established by 38 CFR
9.2(c). The VGLI statute does not authorize retroactive adjudication of
applications for VGLI coverage, and former members who wish to apply
for VGLI would be significantly harmed if these extensions lapse, since
many former members choose to purchase VGLI because these former
members are unable to qualify for private commercial plans of insurance
coverage due to disabilities incurred while in service. Section 553(d)
also requires a 30-day delayed effective date following publication of
a rule, except for ``(1) a substantive rule which grants or recognizes
an exemption or relieves a restriction; (2) interpretative rules and
statements of policy; or (3) as otherwise provided by the agency for
good cause found and published with the rule.'' Pursuant to section
553(d)(1), the Secretary finds that this interim final rule should be
effective immediately upon publication because this is a substantive
rule which relieves restrictions, i.e., extends deadlines for VGLI
applications. Also, pursuant to section 553(d)(3), the Secretary finds
that there is good cause to make the rule effective upon publication
because of the impracticability of delaying implementation of the
regulatory amendment, as discussed above.
For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs is
issuing this rule as an interim final rule with an immediate effective
date. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs will consider and address
comments that are received within 30 days of the date this interim
final rule is published in the Federal Register.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess the
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, and other advantages; distributive impacts;
and equity). Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory
Review) emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and
benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined that
this rule is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order
12866. The Regulatory Impact Analysis associated with this rulemaking
can be found as a supporting document at www.<a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Secretary hereby certifies that this interim final rule will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601-612. The provisions contained in this interim final
rulemaking are applicable to individual Veterans, and applications for
VGLI, as submitted by such individuals, are specifically managed and
processed within VA and through Prudential Insurance Company of
America, which is not considered to be a small entity. Therefore,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the initial and final regulatory
flexibility analysis requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604 do not apply.
Unfunded Mandates
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C.
1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and
benefits before issuing any rule that may result in the expenditure by
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for
inflation) in any one year. This interim final rule will have no such
effect on State, local, and tribal governments, or on the private
sector.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.),
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this rule
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This interim final rule contains no provisions constituting a
collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501-3521).
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number and title for the
program affected by this document is 64.103, Life Insurance for
Veterans.
List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 9
Life insurance, Military personnel, Veterans.
Signing Authority
Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved this
document on May 24, 2021, and authorized the undersigned to sign and
submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Jeffrey M. Martin,
Assistant Director, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office of
the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department of Veterans
Affairs amends 38 CFR part 9 as set forth below:
PART 9--SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE AND VETERANS' GROUP
LIFE INSURANCE
0
1. The authority citation for part 9 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1965-1980A, unless otherwise noted.
[[Page 30543]]
0
2. Section 9.2 is amended by revising paragraph (f)(2) to read as
follows:
Sec. 9.2 Effective date; applications
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(2) Paragraph (f)(1) of this section shall not apply to an
application or initial premium received after December 11, 2021.
[FR Doc. 2021-12017 Filed 6-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 9, 2021.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.