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AAFMAA "Grandfathered" Members
On 1 July 2000, following approval by the AAFMAA Board of Directors and the AAFMAA membership, the AAFMAA Member Services Department was spun-off AAFMAA to form a new company, Armed Forces Services Corporation. Headed by former AAFMAA president Brad Snyder and staffed by former AAFMAA employees, AFSC was contracted by AAFMAA to continue providing living and survivor services to all grandfathered AAMAA members and to provide basic survivor services to all non-grandfathered AAMFAA members.
What is an AAFMAA "grandfathered member"?
The term "grandfathered member" means those living persons who:
- are members of the Association (Army and Air Force Mutual Aid Association herein referred to as "the Association" ) as of 30 June 2000, excluding those persons who are "free service only" and "insurance only" members; and
- continues as members of the Association by virtue of currently in-force life insurance purchased from the Association or their continuous maintenance of a "services only" membership which existed on 30 June 2000.
What is a "non-grandfathered member"?
The term "non-grandfathered member" means those living persons:
- who:
- were "insurance only" members of the Association on 30 June 2000, and
- continuously maintain at least one policy of life insurance with the Association under their membership; or
- who:
- qualify for membership in the Association,
- purchase the first policy of life insurance from the Association through themselves or an eligible family member or entity on or after 1 July 2000, and
- continuously maintain at least one policy of life insurance with the Association under their membership.
Note: Definitions of "grandfathered" and "non-grandfathered" members pursuant to the AAFMAA-AFSC Services Contract dated 1 July 2000.
To what services is a grandfathered member entitled?
1. LIVING SERVICES
- Annual Income Report or Familiy Information Record (FIR) Benefit Report
The FIR is furnished to every grandfathered member to provide personal affairs planning information. The FIR ensures that accurate information on retired pay, Social Security and second career annuities is used to provide projections for survivor benefits. The report depicts the lifetime-integrated benefits the survivors would receive from the Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Uniformed Services Survivor Benefit Plan. In addition to the projections of the monthly stream of payments the survivors would receive, the report also reflects lump sum survivor benefits from Social Security, Department of Defense, government and commercial life insurance policies and personal investments.
- Document Storage.
Document storage is provided for important family documents in AAFMAA's vault. An inventory of the documents in storage is provided as part of the FIR. The documents are available to the member by request. Storage is intended to protect and have immediately available those documents needed for filing claims for survivors and processing government survivor claims.
- Beneficiary Changes.
Upon notice from a member that beneficiary changes are needed to government and commercial life insurance policies, AFSC contacts the applicable life insurance company and initiates the beneficiary change.
- Insurance Counseling.
A review is completed of current life insurance policies, including comparisons among the policies and a needs-analysis to determine insurance requirements. Incorporated into the needs-analysis are projections of the integrated lifetime stream of government survivor benefits (reflected in the FIR), existing life insurance coverage and the current financial portfolio (investments and savings).
- Financial Awareness Service (FAS).
A FAS is an unbiased process to help members assess their financial position, establish financial goals and monitor financial progress. This includes a net worth statement, college-funding needs, and insurance coverage requirements based upon projected spending levels and projected portfolio returns. This service is designed to assist the member in organizing his financial affairs, to provide the surviving spouse an inventory of investments and to incorporate income-generating assets as part of the calculation when analyzing and determining insurance needs. This is not an investment or financial advice service, but is meant to be used in conjunction with the FIR to evaluate and understand the family's survivorship needs.
- Notification of Law Changes.
The member is furnished up-to-date information on new laws, and for the affected members, notification and an explanation of the impact of the new law(s).
- Pre-Retirement and Separation from the Service Counseling.
Personalized counseling is provided to members preparing to retire or separate from the military service. Counseling includes analysis and discussion on: Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), VA entitlements to include disability and education benefits, SGLI/VGLI conversion, health insurance conversions from active duty TRICARE to retiree or commercial health insurances, second career income and lifetime family income needs and Social Security.
- Representation with VA Disability Claims.
Services provided include counseling concerning VA disability claims, assistance in completing and forwarding claims, monitoring of this action and representation in appeals, if appropriate.
2. SURVIVOR SERVICES
- Expeditious Payment.
The insurance proceeds are usually initiated on the day AAFMAA or AFSC receives the notification of death. Personalized interface is provided with the surviving family to ensure smooth processing of the claims.
- Claims Initiation.
AFSC notifies government agencies and life insurance companies, initiates the claims process, and assists the surviving family in completing and forwarding the claims requests to ensure prompt receipt of benefits. AFSC provides continuous follow-up to ensure that the full benefit is paid in a timely manner.
- Claims Representation.
AFSC makes initial inquiries and performs follow-up work in benefit claims disputes and cuts through "red tape" often encountered in government agencies.
- Lifetime Benefit Notification.
AFSC notifies the surviving spouse of any changes in law that may impact survivor benefits, e.g. new eligibility criteria under Agent Orange legislation, restored VA DIC entitlements for remarried surviving spouses, new entitlements for Survivor Benefit Plan for active duty deaths, etc.
- Financial Awareness Service (FAS).
Provides the surviving family with an inventory of financial holdings for use by the surviving family in assessing financial security in the future.
Must an individual who is grandfathered by AAFMAA, also join AFSC to receive the services AFSC provides?
No. Those individuals who meet the definition of "grandfathered member" are provided all the above services through the contract between AAFMAA and AFSC. Grandfathered members incur no additional costs directly to AFSC for the above services.
If I discontinue my membership with AAFMAA, can I retain the services from AFSC?
Yes, but since you discontinued your membership with AAFMAA, you can continue to receive these high quality services you enjoyed as a grandfathered member, by joining AFSC directly and paying a modest membership fee.
If I am not a grandfathered member but want the above services, how do I qualify to receive them?
If you are not a grandfathered member, you can enjoy the above services by joining AFSC directly and paying a modest membership fee.
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