I did not even fully understand this benefit until now!
Injury Insurance Surprise
By: Tom Philpott
Trauma Injury Insurance Not Limited To War Wounds
Service members, particularly Reserve and National Guard, might not understand yet how their military insurance has been enhanced to cover traumatic injury, whether suffered in war or at home, even while off duty.
The new Traumatic Injury Protection under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (TSGLI) is still referred to as "Wounded Warrior Insurance" by proponents who pushed it through Congress last year with surprising speed.
Most of the 2700 recipients to date are wounded warriors, say officials. They qualified for TSGLI retroactively because of injuries sustained in combat areas since Oct. 7, 2001, the day U.S. troops first entered Afghanistan.
But for injuries incurred after Nov. 30, 2005, the phrase "wounded warrior" fails to capture the breadth of TSGLI. That's because any service member, active or reserve, who has Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and suffers a traumatic injury can be eligible for the trauma pay.
A reservist, for example, might qualify if he loses a limb in a car crash while commuting to his civilian job. A National Guard member might qualify if she is paralyzed in a diving accident while on vacation.
Click the link at the top of this post to read the entire story.
