[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 18, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59478-59479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27644]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 9

RIN 2900-AN39


Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance--Dependent Coverage

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its 
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) regulations in order to 
implement sec. 402 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. 
Section 402 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 extended 
SGLI dependent coverage to an insured member's stillborn child. This 
final rule defines the term ``member's stillborn child.''

DATES: Effective Date: November 18, 2009.
    Applicability Date: VA will apply this rule to deaths occurring on 
or after October 10, 2008, the date of enactment of the Veterans' 
Benefits Improvement Act of 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Hosmer, Senior Attorney-Advisor, 
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office and Insurance Center 
(310/290B), P.O. Box 8079, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101, (215) 842-
2000, ext 4280. (This is not a toll free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Veterans' Survivor Benefits Improvements 
Act of 2001, Public Law 107-14, established a program of family 
insurance coverage under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) 
through which the dependents of SGLI-insured service members could also 
be insured. Section 4 of Public Law 107-14 amended section 1965 of 
title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), which defines various terms for 
SGLI purposes, to define the term ``insurable dependent'' as a member's 
spouse or a member's child (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(4)(A)). Section 
101(4)(A) defines the term ``child'' in part as an unmarried person 
who: (1) Is under the age of 18 years; (2) became permanently incapable 
of self support before attaining the age of 18; or (3) after attaining 
the age of 18 and until completion of education or training (but not 
after attaining the age of 23) is pursuing a course of instruction at 
an approved educational institution. Under Public Law 107-14, stillborn 
children were not eligible for coverage under SGLI as insurable 
dependents. Effective October 10, 2008, section 402 of the Veterans' 
Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Public Law 110-389, amended 38 U.S.C. 
1965(10) to include a service member's stillborn child as an insurable 
dependent under the SGLI program.
    We are adding to 38 CFR 9.1 a new paragraph (k) to define the term 
``member's stillborn child'' as a member's natural child whose death 
occurs before expulsion, extraction, or delivery and: (1) Whose fetal 
weight is 350 grams or more; or (2) if the fetal weight is unknown, 
whose duration in utero was 20 or more completed weeks of gestation, 
calculated from the date the last normal menstrual period began to the 
date of expulsion, extraction, or delivery. Our definition of the term 
excludes a fetus or child extracted for purposes of an abortion.
    Our definition is consistent with Congressional intent that VA 
issue regulations that define the term ``stillborn child'' consistently 
with the 1992 recommended reporting requirements of the Model State 
Vital Statistics Act and Regulations (Model Act) as drafted by the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health 
Statistics. S. Rep. No. 110-449, at 41 (2008); Joint Explanatory 
Statement on Amendment to Senate Bill, S. 3023, as Amended, 154 Cong. 
Rec. S10,445, S10,452 (daily ed. Oct. 2, 2008). Congress did not intend 
the term ``stillborn child'' to cover the deaths of fetuses or children 
at any gestational age or under every circumstance. S. Rep. No. 110-
449, at 41. The Model Act recommends a state reporting requirement of 
fetal deaths involving fetuses weighing 350 grams or more, or if weight 
is unknown, of 20 completed weeks or more of gestation, calculated from 
the date the last normal menstrual period began to the date of 
delivery. Model Act section 15. The Model Act defines ``fetal death'' 
to mean ``death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its 
mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration 
of pregnancy and which is not an induced termination of pregnancy. The 
death is indicated by the fact that[,] after such expulsion or 
extraction, the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of 
life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or 
definite movement of voluntary muscles. Heartbeats are to be 
distinguished from transient cardiac contractions; respirations are to 
be distinguished from fleeting respiratory efforts or gasps.'' Model 
Act section (1)(b). We do not include in Sec.  9.1(k) the portion of 
the Model Act definition that describes what indicates death because a 
child who is not stillborn but later dies, is already a dependent 
covered under SGLI. Therefore, nuanced distinctions are unnecessary. 
Pursuant to Congressional intent, our definition fully complies with 
the Model Act.

Administrative Procedure Act

    Because this final rule merely interprets a statutory term, it is 
an interpretive rule exempt from the prior notice-and-comment and 
delayed-effective-date requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b).

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 an 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 rule would have no such effect on 
State, local, and tribal governments, or the private sector.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule contains no provisions constituting a collection of 
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Executive Order 12866

    Executive Order 12866 directs agencies to assess all 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, 
and other advantages; distributive impacts; and equity). The Executive 
Order classifies as a ``significant regulatory action,'' requiring 
review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) unless OMB waives 
such review, any regulatory action that is likely to result in a rule 
that may: (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or 
more, or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of 
the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public 
health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or 
communities; (2) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere 
with an action taken or

[[Page 59479]]

planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the budgetary impact of 
entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and 
obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel legal or policy 
issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or 
the principles set forth in the Executive Order.
    VA has examined the interagency, economic, legal, and policy 
implications of this final rule and has determined that it is not a 
significant regulatory action under the Executive Order because it 
merely interprets existing law and does not raise any novel legal or 
policy issues and will have little to no effect on the economy.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Secretary hereby certifies that this 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 et 
seq. This final rule will directly affect only individuals and will not 
directly affect small entities. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), 
this final rule is exempt from the initial and final regulatory 
flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program number and the 
title for this regulation is 64.103, Life Insurance for Veterans.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 9

    Life insurance, Military personnel, Veterans.

    Approved: October 6, 2009.
John R. Gingrich,
Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs.

0
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs is amending 38 CFR part 9 as follows:

PART 9--SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE AND VETERANS' GROUP 
LIFE INSURANCE

0
1. The authority citation for part 9 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1965-1980A, unless otherwise noted.


0
2. Section 9.1 is amended by adding paragraph (k) to read as follows:


Sec.  9.1  Definitions.

* * * * *
    (k)(1) The term member's stillborn child means a member's natural 
child--
    (i) Whose death occurs before expulsion, extraction, or delivery; 
and
    (ii) Whose--
    (A) Fetal weight is 350 grams or more; or
    (B) Ff fetal weight is unknown, duration in utero is 20 completed 
weeks of gestation or more, calculated from the date the last normal 
menstrual period began to the date of expulsion, extraction, or 
delivery.
    (2) The term does not include any fetus or child extracted for 
purposes of an abortion.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E9-27644 Filed 11-17-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P