Retired Uniformed Service Members - Take advantage of your FEDVIP enrollment period

Sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), FEDVIP is a voluntary, enrollee-pay-all dental and vision insurance program. It replaced the former TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP). In general, retired uniformed service members, their families, and survivors are eligible for FEDVIP dental coverage and, if enrolled in a TRICARE health plan, FEDVIP vision coverage. Please note: Opportunities to enroll outside of open season are limited.

The Federal Benefits Open Season is your annual opportunity to enroll in, change, or cancel a FEDVIP dental and/or vision plan. This year, open season runs from November 14 through December 12, 2022, with coverage effective January 1, 2023.
Learn More

Virtual Benefits Fair

The Virtual Benefits Fair is an online health fair that houses 2023 FEDVIP plan information in a single location, allowing military families to browse exhibits, view and download plan brochures, register for educational webinars and chat with BENEFEDS and FEDVIP representatives. BENEFEDS is the secure online portal to enroll in FEDVIP.

Log in anytime during the Federal Benefits Open Season, from November 14 to December 12, 2022. Representatives will be available to take your questions during the four live chat days:

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 10 am-5 pm (ET)

Tuesday, Nov 22, 2022 10 am-5 pm (ET)

Thursday, Dec 1, 2022 10 am-5 pm (ET)

Thursday, Dec 8, 2022 10 am-5 pm (ET)

Learn More and Register

VA opens health care eligibility for Vietnam, Gulf War, post-9/11 Veterans under PACT Act

Washington — On October 1, The Department of Veterans Affairs will expand and extend eligibility for VA health care for certain Veterans of the Gulf Wars and post-9/11 era.

This expansion will increase health care eligibility for hundreds of thousands of toxic-exposed Veterans. Additionally, VA has already expanded health care eligibility for certain Veterans of the Vietnam War. More detailed information about this expansion can be found on VA.gov/PACT.

President Biden signed the bipartisan PACT Act into law August 10, authorizing one of the largest expansions of VA health care and benefits in U.S. history. Veterans can go to VA.gov/PACT to apply for health care or learn more about what this bill means for them and their families. Read the full press release.

Did You Know There is a New, Special myPay Account Just for You?

June 29, 2022 • Defense Finance & Accounting Service

For Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve and Air Force Reserve Gray Area Retirees, there is a new avenue to stay connected and informed between the time they stop drilling and the time they start receiving retired pay.

It’s a new kind of myPay account especially for Gray Area Retirees.

If you are a Gray Area Retiree who uses your new myPay account to keep your contact information updated, you will benefit from receiving important information from DFAS and your Branch of Service, such as news about changes in laws or policies that impact your retirement benefits, reminders about applying for retired pay, and your Service’s retiree newsletter.

Plus, coming soon: with a current email address in your new myPay account, when DFAS receives your completed application for retired pay from your Branch of Service, DFAS will send email status notifications to you. Note: Gray Area Retirees should always work with their Branch of Service to complete their retired pay application.
Learn More

VALife insurance program coming January 2023 for Veterans with service connection

May 30, 2022 • By Mychael Lee Askew, VA Insurance Service

In January 2023, VA will launch a new life insurance program called Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife), which provides guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance coverage to Veterans age 80 and under, with any level of service-connected disability. Some Veterans age 81 and older may also be eligible.
Learn More

2023 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

The 2023 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for military retirees and SBP annuitants is expected to be officially announced in November. DFAS will post the information to their website when the information is available.
DFAS Retired Military

Social Security Benefits Increase in 2023

October 13, 2022 • By Jeff Nesbit, SSA Deputy Commissioner for Communications

Approximately 70 million Americans will see a 8.7% increase in their Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in 2023. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January.

Federal benefit rates increase when the cost-of-living rises, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). The CPI-W rises when inflation increases, leading to a higher cost-of-living. This change means prices for goods and services, on average, are higher. The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) helps to offset these costs.

We will mail COLA notices throughout the month of December to retirement, survivors, and disability beneficiaries, SSI recipients, and representative payees. But if you want to know your new benefit amount sooner, you can securely obtain your Social Security COLA notice online using the Message Center in your personal my Social Security account. You can access this information in early December, prior to receiving the mailed notice. Benefit amounts will not be available before December. Since you will receive the COLA notice online or in the mail, you don’t need to contact us to get your new benefit amount.
Full Article

Keep DFAS informed of life events

Reprint • Army Echoes Aug-Oct 2022

What can you do as a Retired Soldier to ensure your retired pay comes to you accurately and on time? Keep your Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) account up to date. An updated DFAS account refers to mailing and email addresses as well as banking information, allotments, tax withholding status, and beneficiary choices. Be sure to report any change of life events as soon as they happen.

These life-changing events might include:
• Moving
• Marriage or Remarriage
• Divorce
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Death of a spouse or child

Some changes, especially those regarding Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) coverage, have a one-year time limit, so it is important that you notify DFAS when they happen. When you notify, be sure to include photocopies of supporting documents, such as birth or marriage certificates.

If you are making a change to your SBP coverage because of a life event, you can now use the convenient, online askDFAS upload tool to submit your DD Form 2656-6 (Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate) and supporting documents. When you submit a DD Form 2656-6, you’ll get email status notifications to the email you provide in askDFAS, or if you send it by postal mail or fax, to the email in your myPay account.

DFAS occasionally sends out correspondence regarding changes in the law that affect your pay. If your mailing address is not correct and you are not on myPay, we have no way of notifying you about changes. DFAS is also communicating more via email to provide more convenient customer service, so you will be better informed if you have a current email in your myPay account.

The easiest way to keep your account updated is to use myPay. You can use myPay to change your mailing address, your email address, your direct deposit information, some allotments and your tax withholding status. You can also use myPay to verify payment information, including allotment amounts, or tax withholding, or check your SBP coverage on your Retiree Account Statement. See DFAS retired military section for more helpful tools.

Active Duty Service with Honorable Discharge

Effective December 4, 2020, State law (P.L. 2019, c. 413) eliminated the wartime service requirement for the $250 Veterans Property Tax Deduction. Veterans must have active duty service with an honorable discharge. Reservists and National Guard personnel must be called to active duty service to qualify. Active duty for training continues to be ineligible.

You also may qualify if you are a surviving spouse/civil union/domestic partner of an honorably discharged veteran with active duty military service. Learn More.

Active, Guard, Reserve, IRR, IMA Soldiers and Veterans

Do you need to view your iPERMS documents but do not have access to a CAC enabled computer? No problem! You can use your DS Logon to access your documents from the HRC Portal. The HRC Portal link is iperms.hrc.army.mil/login.

Download the guide to assist users with the DS Logon registration, upgrade, and log in process as well as how to navigate to your documents in the HRC Portal at hrc.army.mil/asset/18300.

Guard and Reserve

National Guardsmen and Reservists will receive a Defense Department Form 214 following their completion of service, according a new Pentagon policy published recently.

DoD Instruction 1336.01 dated February 17, 2022 gives the services three years to implement the change. Learn more.

Social Security Account

A Social Security account provides personalized tools for everyone, whether receiving benefits or not. Those not currently receiving benefits can:

• Estimate future benefits and compare different dates or ages to begin receiving benefits.

• Get instant status of the Social Security application.

• Review work history.

• Request a replacement Social Security card (in most states).

Learn more on the SSA website at ssa.gov.

How to Report

Contact the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division anytime by calling (800) 626-3317. You will be immediately referred to a local Casualty Assistance Center, who will report the death to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to stop retired pay and initiate the survivor benefits process. When reporting the death, provide as much of the information below as you have:

• Full name
• Disability Rating
• Copy of death certificate

• Social security number and/or service number

• Circumstances surrounding the death

• Retirement date

• Date and place of birth

• Next of Kin information

• Retired rank

If you or your spouse needs assistance filling out the paperwork, please call 609-500-4327 or email me at marie.s.durling.civ@mail.mil.

Newsletters

• VA VetResources

• VBA Veterans Benefits

• DFAS Survivor SBP

• DFAS Retiree Newsletter

• Social Security Administration

• Army - Survivor Link

• Soldier for Life - Army Echoes

• Navy - Shift Colors

• Marine Corps - Semper Fidelis

• Air Force - Afterburner

• Coast Guard - The Long Blue Line

Websites

• Uniformed Services Blended Retirement System

• eVetRecs - Veterans' Service Records

• Military OneSource Transitioning Veterans

• ETS Sponsorship Program

• eBenefits

• milConnect

• Military LES Requests

• Soldier for Life

• Army Transition Assistance Program

• Army Survivor Outreach Services

• MyArmyBenefits

• Prudential Pathways Seminars for the VA

• Army Board for Correction of Military Records

Downloads

• NJ Veterans' Benefits Guide

• NJ Military, Veterans and Families Resource Guide

• VA Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors

• 2022 Army Retirement Planning Guide

• 2022 Army Retired Soldier Handbook

• Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)

• Line of Duty Process

• Behavioral Health Offerings