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Insurance companies, government steals life insurance benefits from PTSD veterans who commit suicide
by: J. D. Heyes(NaturalNews) There is despicable, there is diabolical, and there are both. This appears to be a story about the latter.
Families of four veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following their tours of duty in combat zones who committed suicide after returning home are charging Prudential Insurance and the Department of Veterans Affairs with refusing to pay life insurance benefits they are due.
Mathew Ecker, the lead plaintiff in the case, which was filed recently in U.S. district court in Newark, N.J., said that his son, Michael - who served in Iraq in 2005-06 - received "at least 11 medals, ribbons and badges for his service."
The complaint goes onto say that following his son's return, "his parents observed a dramatic change in his personality. He was in constant physical pain, suffered memory losses, and was anxious all the time. Michael never left the war behind and after medical treatment efforts failed him, on August 28, 2009, he walked to the garden, saluted his father in military fashion, placed a gun to his head and pulled the trigger."
The complaint says the elder Ecker was the sole beneficiary of his son's SGLI (Servicemembers Group Life Insurance) policy, which amounted to $400,000.
"Mathew has testified under oath that, while alive, Michael never received from Prudential any notice that he could convert his SGLI policy to a VGLI [Veterans Group Life Insurance] policy," the complaint says.
Prudential didn't let beneficiaries know to change coverage?
The families claim Prudential denied them benefits they were due because their veteran children did not switch their SGLI policies to VGLI policies within 120 days of leaving the military. They also say Prudential did not inform their veteran children about switching their coverage in a timely manner.
In the filing, attorneys for the families cited two previous instances where the VA ordered Prudential to pay late claims to the beneficiaries of deceased victims.
In one case, "Prudential paid the benefit in that case even though: 1) the veteran failed to timely convert his SGLI policy to a VGLI policy, 2) more than two years had elapsed between deactivation and death, and 3) the veteran had been able to work at a refinery for period of 15 months between deactivation and death," says the complaint.
In the other case "of information and belief, Prudential was ordered by SVA [the Secretary of Veteran Affairs] or VA [the Department of Veteran Affairs] to pay the VGLI benefit to the beneficiary of a veteran who committed suicide on the basis that Prudential had failed to notify the veteran upon deactivation from the service and/or separation from the Ready Reserve that he could convert his SGLI policy to VGLI," the complaint says.
The plaintiffs charge that Prudential "intentionally denied the benefits of the life insurance of their insured under the SGLI and VGLI programs, with no rational basis for so doing, whereas others identically situated to plaintiffs were paid benefits under the life insurance policies."
History of shortchanging vets and beneficiaries?
It's not the first time Prudential has earned the ire of the beneficiaries of deceased veterans.
In 2010 the parents of six deceased soldiers sued the insurance company in a class-action case for allegedly paying paltry interest on military life benefits while keeping higher interest earnings for itself.
The suit "accuses Prudential of profiting from the dead soldiers' policies with bookkeeping maneuvers and misrepresenting the way the beneficiaries could collect lump-sum payouts," The Associated Press reported then.
The company said it did everything within the letter and spirit of its obligation, but the families alleged that as beneficiaries they received 0.5 to 1.5 percent interest on money parked in Alliance Accounts over the previous several years.
"But the plaintiffs say the checks are equivalent to an IOU, and that the money doesn't actually sit in those accounts as of the time of the soldier's death," AP reported.
Instead, the plaintiffs said in their complaint, Prudential parks the funds in a $200-billion general account that earns five to six percent interest, moves it into the Alliance Account only when requested to do so by the beneficiary, pays out the lower rate and keeps the difference.
Sources:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/07/12/48309.htm
http://www.nj.com
http://www.bloomberg.com
New security fears as Heathrow checks miss terror suspects
Inexperienced new recruits, deployed to shorten queues, are repeatedly 'missing' passengers who may need to be referred to counterterrorism officers. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
• Inexperienced airport staff 'missed five alerts in one day'
• Fears come after fiasco over G4S Olympic stewarding
Terror suspects on the Home Office watch list are entering the UK in the runup to the Olympics without the necessary security checks, according to frontline officials at Heathrow.
One senior border officer told the Observer that inexperienced new recruits, deployed to shorten queues after complaints over lengthy waiting times, are repeatedly "missing" passengers of interest who should be referred to counterterrorism officers when they reach passport control.
The official said he was personally aware that three terror suspects – all of whose names are registered on the Home Office suspect index system – had been waved through by staff on his shifts since the start of July. Border officials should immediately notify counterterrorism police or MI5 if they suspect that "SX travellers" are attempting to enter the UK. Another colleague alleged that five suspects were "missed" in one day earlier this month.
"It's all new faces," said the senior official. "The rest of the staff, I have no idea where they have come from, how long they are here for, what their background is. These are people who have been forced by their own department to come here."
The crisis comes days after G4S, the world's biggest security firm, announced it could not provide enough security guards for the London Olympics, forcing the government to call up 3,500 troops to meet the shortfall. Last month John Evans, head of MI5, said the Games offered an "attractive target for our enemies, and they will be at the centre of the world's attention".
The intelligence and security committee also warned that the Olympics had diverted MI5, MI6 and GCHQ from other potential threats to Britain, citing the "vulnerability of the UK at this critical period". It identified potential sources of threat including al-Qaida and its affiliates planning an attack on the Games or participants, especially US or Israeli nationals, and also the possible threat from republican dissident terrorist groups.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the UK Border Agency official said: "How many other misses have occurred? The missing of counterterrorism 'hits' is a huge thing, but new recruits are not getting enough time to be taught.
"It is vital these people do not get in without being noted and that the information is passed to the police or security services. Once they're in, you've no idea where they might be going."
Many of those drafted in to help cope with border staffing shortages before the Olympics are individuals who have been working elsewhere in the Home Office and have received only basic training to work on airport passport desks. Some have had only a day's training instead of the standard six to eight weeks.
The revelations of lax practice are particularly alarming, coming ahead of pre-Olympic week during which the vast majority of athletes, media and officials will arrive. On 25 July – the day when traffic through Heathrow airport is expected to be most intense – the staffing roster shows, according to union sources, that more than half the employees on duty are from relief staff.
It is understood that counterterrorism police at Heathrow are urgently seeking a meeting with senior UKBA management over the missed alerts. Mark Reckless MP, a Tory member of the home affairs select committee, said: "I know the home secretary would be extremely concerned if the warning index checks were being missed."
Chris Hobbs, a retired police officer who spent more than a third of his service working at Heathrow, Gatwick and in Jamaican airports, said: "Missing passengers who were the subject of security alerts was an extremely rare occurrence. The fact that it appears to be becoming a regular event shows that border controls have all but imploded."
Underlining the inexperience of some of the officials now manning UK borders, a UKBA document recently distributed to staff reassured new recruits that if they did make a mistake their lack of training would be considered.
The document states: "In the event of making a mistake the full circumstances will be carefully considered, including the extent of your training and experience."
Paul O'Connor, Home Office national manager for the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: "Theresa May said she would not compromise border security but you need properly staffed control points with fully trained border officers. They are playing fast and loose with border control."
Last Thursday, the chief inspector of borders and immigration, John Vine, said following an inspection of Heathrow's Terminals 3 and 4, temporary staff were found to process passengers more slowly and ask fewer "probing" questions, satisfying neither the need to deal with lengthy queues nor security concerns.
A border force spokesman said: "All staff being deployed will have the necessary security clearance and will have received the training required to operate effectively. Contingency staff will only be carrying out tasks for which they have been fully trained.
"Contingency staff will operate individually, but are supported by experienced border force officers at all times. If they have any concerns or questions they are told to escalate those concerns immediately."
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