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Brooksville, Florida (CNN) -- Freda Green thought the battle was over when her husband returned from the Vietnam War.
But more than seven years after his death in 2003, she says the U.S. Defense Department is demanding she repay more than $41,000 in benefits the government shelled out as part of an insurance policy he paid into.
I sincerely hope this is something that every single one of us, regardless of party or ideology, can agree is just flat out wrong.
What I find the most offensive about this, over and above the general objection to it in the first place, is that the Pentagon is not only asking for her to return the after-tax proceeds, but the entire amount, even though she didn't receive the entire amount. In other words, she not only has to return the sum that ended up in her bank account, but she has to go IN POCKET to PAY the Pentagon money she never received the benefit of, that went straight to the Federal Government in taxes.
This is simply outrageous and I hope she prevails in whatever action she takes to get this reversed in her favor.
I can understand losing certain benefits going forward.
But the Pentagon is going after her to refund the proceeds of an INSURANCE policy that was paid out upon the death of her spouse. A policy that was paid into for that express purpose.
And they don't just want the $35,000 she netted after paying Federal Income Tax, they want her to pay, what amounts to, the same amount in Federal Income Tax again, which would literally be coming out of her pocket.
This is wrong on so many levels. That she questioned it at the time of receipt and was told it was hers, that there was no mistake, should be enough, IMO. Some auditor coming through seven years after the fact and determining a mistake was made is way late to be trying to collect retroactively, IMO.
I hope she has a good accountant, and a good attorney who can work this out for her. Very bad PR for Veterans Affairs to say the least.
After reading the article is sounds as if there was something like a "double dip" going on because of a rule change. She had a choice of benefits, she choose, then the OTHER choice kicked in because of a new rule. I can't tell if that's the problem or not, that people were never meant to benefit from both. In any event the military seems to be going about it the wrong way by demand all the money RIGHT NOW. Even if there was a mistake made or an overpayment or something, very few people have the means to do what they are demanding.
She had to choose between taking his pension or taking a monthly benefit, neither of which had anything to do with the separate insurance policy her husband had taken out. She chose to take the monthly benefit. A Federal Judge later ruled that she was entitled to both, at which time the VA decided to go after her for the insurance policy they had paid out on, with absolutely no explanation as to why they suddenly consider it refundable to them.
Not to mention that they are demanding 6% interest and a refund of the GROSS amount, meaning she will have effectively paid income tax on the money twice, the second time out of pocket, so she'll be $6,000 in the hole.
And instead of waiting for any kind of ruling on the matter, let alone waiting for the time period they gave her for compliance, they are garnishing her checks!
It's completely outrageous and I hope she fights it.
She had to choose between taking his pension or taking a monthly benefit, neither of which had anything to do with the separate insurance policy her husband had taken out. She chose to take the monthly benefit. A Federal Judge later ruled that she was entitled to both, at which time the VA decided to go after her for the insurance policy they had paid out on, with absolutely no explanation as to why they suddenly consider it refundable to them.
Not to mention that they are demanding 6% interest and a refund of the GROSS amount, meaning she will have effectively paid income tax on the money twice, the second time out of pocket, so she'll be $6,000 in the hole.
And instead of waiting for any kind of ruling on the matter, let alone waiting for the time period they gave her for compliance, they are garnishing her checks!
It's completely outrageous and I hope she fights it.
I find everything about this case, very distasteful, and just plain wrong. Don't agree with paying on that money twice either. And out of her own pocket, don't agree at all.
She had to choose between taking his pension or taking a monthly benefit, neither of which had anything to do with the separate insurance policy her husband had taken out. She chose to take the monthly benefit. A Federal Judge later ruled that she was entitled to both, at which time the VA decided to go after her for the insurance policy they had paid out on, with absolutely no explanation as to why they suddenly consider it refundable to them.
Not to mention that they are demanding 6% interest and a refund of the GROSS amount, meaning she will have effectively paid income tax on the money twice, the second time out of pocket, so she'll be $6,000 in the hole.
And instead of waiting for any kind of ruling on the matter, let alone waiting for the time period they gave her for compliance, they are garnishing her checks!
It's completely outrageous and I hope she fights it.
That is how I am reading it. Doesn't seem like they are entitled to the insurance money.
"In addition to the monthly benefit, the Pentagon sent her more than $41,000 from the government-sponsored insurance policy her husband purchased."
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