On Nov. 1, 2021, VA will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (FSGLI), which began covering military families in 2001. Since that date, VA has paid nearly $1.7 billion in claims and currently provides 8.9 million service member dependents with life insurance.

“The FSGLI program exemplifies VA’s mission to take care of our Veterans, their dependents and survivors,” said acting Under Secretary for Benefits Thomas Murphy. “For 20 years, the program has been another way for us to honor the men and women who have served this nation.”

Authorized by the Veterans’ Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001, FSGLI extends life insurance coverage to spouses and dependent children.

If you are an active-duty service member or a member of the National Guard or Ready Reserve who is covered by full-time Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI), your family may qualify for FSGLI: All eligible dependent children are automatically covered for $10,000 at no cost for service members covered by SGLI, and most service members’ spouses are automatically covered for  $100,000 in increments of $10,000 as long as the coverage amount is not more than their SGLI coverage amount.

However, if you and your spouse are both in the military and were married on or after Jan. 2, 2013, each of you will need to sign up for insurance. FSGLI spousal coverage premiums are based on the age of the spouse and deducted from the service members’ pay.

Transitioning out of military service soon? Don’t wait to convert your policy

FSGLI ends 120 days after separation from service, divorce, death of the Service member or SGLI or FSGLI coverage termination. To continue coverage after these events, spouses must convert to an individual policy with a participating insurance company  within the 120-day period. Coverage for dependent children cannot be converted and ends 120 days after separation or other key events.

For more information

To review or make changes to your FSGLI coverage, check out the SGLI Online Enrollment System here: DS Logon – Login (osd.mil).

To learn more about FSGLI or VA’s other life insurance programs, visit the VA Life Insurance page on VA.gov.

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13 Comments

  1. marcella November 17, 2021 at 17:48

    my husband was a 100% total and permanent disabled vet, he died 8/1/2021 from covid and underlying conditions, heart attack, i’m the surviving spouse, i went to claim and i received nothing, because he had grown kids…

  2. Patricia Edna Hodge Stephens November 6, 2021 at 23:03

    Happy Veterans Day

  3. Diana Bodner November 5, 2021 at 14:34

    I am 100% disabled. Do I qualify for insurance? What about my wife and 22 yr old daughters (college students, living at home)?

  4. shankar November 4, 2021 at 16:06

    Why are these questions posted here not answered? So why the comments?

  5. Dixie Dull November 4, 2021 at 14:58

    i am a surviving spouse, he was 100 o/o disability do i qualify?

  6. Lydia Navarrette November 4, 2021 at 14:41

    Are former spouses eligible for coverage especially if they were married to the spouse through the whole career time in the military?

  7. Patrick M Woods November 4, 2021 at 14:36

    I am 40% disabled, serve from 2/2/75 to 2/2/79

  8. Mark Adams November 4, 2021 at 13:58

    I’m a veteran and served only 4 years. I’m looking for health insurance for my wife because my plan at work costs $1000 per month just for her. I make over 100k annually but wanted to see if I could get some type of health insurance for my wife thru this?

  9. Joseph Anthony Sperry November 4, 2021 at 12:09

    One thing that needs to change is the eligibility for veterans that are 100% service connected permanent y totally disabled!!
    Hindsight is 20/20 !!
    I was rated 100% out the gate, but that was over 20 years after my mental malfunction was diagnosed y I wasn’t in anyway aware y or cape able of knowing about the 120 separation requirement y then once I was awarded my benefits the service officer said noting about the fact that I was eligible for free life insurance y once again I wasn’t in my right state of mind to know the additional benefits afforded to me y my family in regards to life insurance.
    So once again a price is paid because I am not insurable due to my chronic y severe ptsd diagnosis which entailed suicide attempts, not a cry for help, I had the mental mindset that I knew that 2 caps of heroin would kill me so I took 1.5 thinking that if I wake up I wake up, if I don’t I won’t know about it y that I did 3 different times, waking up on the floor in a pretzel after falling off the toilet y a full cigarette burning the top of my hand as it fell to the floor y my hand landing on top so it burnt the way y once I woke I had an approximate 3” burn / reminder!!
    So for me I feel that for future claims with deserving veterans that aren’t capable of such decisions due to severe ptsd / mental trauma issues there should be an exception.
    Thank you
    Joseph Anthony Sperry

  10. Georgia M November 4, 2021 at 12:05

    I am a surviving spouse ssia, do I qualify?

  11. PAMELA Ann Weaver November 4, 2021 at 11:12

    Hello, I’m a veteran with 100% disability rating. Do I qualify for $100, 000 insurance policy at no cost. Do my adult sons qualify for insurance policy.

    • Ricky Christopher November 4, 2021 at 18:47

      I am wanting to know the same thing Pamela??

    • Rebecca j. Pond November 10, 2021 at 16:42

      when my husband died. I recieved 10,000 from the military, am i suppose to be getting more. i thought we paid extra for more insurance, but did not hear anything about that. Thank you for your time .
      Rebecca pond
      my husband just died this yr july 15, 2021
      his name was SFC Phillip L ynn Pond he retired with 23 years in the army. He died of a heart attack. Which was 100% compensation. I thought we would receive more. Thank you for your time. Rebecca Pond

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