Military Personnel: Survivor Benefits for Servicemembers and Federal, State, and City Government Employees
Published: 2004-07-15T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 noted that it was the sense of the Congress that "the sacrifices made by the members of the Armed Forces are significant and are worthy of meaningful expressions of gratitude by the United States, especially in cases of sacrifice through loss of life." In addition to offering expressions of gratitude, the government offers a variety of benefits, including Social Security benefits, to survivors of servicemembers who die while on active duty. GAO was asked to address two questions: (1) To what extent are the survivor benefits provided to servicemembers different from those provided to federal, state, and city government employees in general and (2) To what extent do federal, state, and city governments supplement their general survivor benefits for employees in high-risk occupations?
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The military provides survivor benefits that are comparable in type but not in amount to those provided by 61 civilian government entities (federal government, 50 states and the District of Columbia, and 9 cities with populations of at least 1 million) when employees die in the line of duty. Social Security payments, a death gratuity, burial expenses, and life insurance are four types of lump sum survivor benefits provided by the military and at least some civilian government entities; the federal government and some states additionally provide a lump sum payment through their retirement plans. Recurring payments are also provided by Social Security to the survivors for deceased servicemembers and most deceased government employees in the 61 civilian government entities GAO studied. Other types of recurring payments are specific to the military or civilian government entities. GAO identified two programs with recurring payments for the military and two other types of programs for the civilian government entities. For the four hypothetical situations GAO used to examine the amount of cash payments provided to survivors, survivors of deceased servicemembers almost always obtain higher lump sums than do the survivors of the deceased employees from the 61 civilian government entities. The amount of recurring payments to deceased servicemembers' survivors in three of the four situations exceeds those provided by the federal government, typically exceeds those provided by at least one-half of the states, but are typically less than those provided by over one-half the cities. The military also provides more types of noncash survivor benefits than do civilian government entities, with some benefits being comparable in type and others differing among the entities. The survivors of civilian government employees in some high-risk occupations may receive supplemental benefits--a death gratuity, higher life insurance, higher benefits from the retirement plan, or a combination of the three--beyond those that the entities provide to civilian government employees in general. For example, survivors of federal, state, and city government law enforcement officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty may be entitled to a lump sum payment of more than $267,000 under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act. Further, 34 states and 5 cities provide survivors of employees in high-risk occupations with additional cash benefits that are not available to survivors of state and city employees in general. The addition of these supplemental cash benefits to those provided to the survivors of deceased general government employees can result in lump sum and recurring payments being generally higher for survivors of government employees in high-risk occupations than for servicemembers' survivors.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 noted that it  was the sense of the Congress that “the sacrifices made by the members of  the Armed Forces are significant and are worthy of meaningful expressions  of gratitude by the United States, especially in cases of sacrifice through  loss of life.” In addition to offering expressions of gratitude, the  government offers a variety of benefits, including Social Security benefits,  to the survivors of servicemembers who die while on active duty.
In our September 2002 report, we noted that survivors of servicemembers  who die while on active duty receive benefits that may include lump sum  payments, recurring payments, and various other benefits such as  continued use of commissaries and exchanges. The Military Family Tax  Relief Act of 2003 increased the death gratuity payable to survivors of  deceased servicemembers from $6,000 to $12,000 and excluded the full  gratuity from gross income for tax purposes.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 stated that  although the benefits for survivors of deceased servicemembers have  evolved over time, there are increasing indications that the evolution of  such benefits has failed to keep pace with the expansion of indemnity and  compensation available to nonmilitary segments of U.S. society. In  addition, the act mandated the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct a  study of all current and projected survivor benefits to determine their  adequacy. That study was to compare the benefit plans for  servicemembers’ survivors with those for survivors covered by commercial  and other private-sector plans; to assess survivor annuity and indemnity  compensation; to assess the effects of revising the servicemember death  gratuity to account for deaths resulting from participation in combat or  from acts of terrorism; to examine the commercial insurability of  servicemembers in high-risk military occupations; and to examine the  extent to which private trusts and foundations address the needs of  servicemembers’ survivors. Additionally, the act mandated us to study the  survivor benefits provided to federal, state, and local government  employees.
In accordance with the mandate and as agreed with your offices, our  objectives in this report address two questions: (1) To what extent are the  survivor benefits provided to servicemembers different from those  provided to federal, state, and city government employees in general?  (2) To what extent do federal, state, and city governments supplement their  general survivor benefits for employees in high-risk occupations?
To answer these questions, we obtained and reviewed regulations,  instructions, and policy guidance on government-provided benefits, both  cash and noncash, for survivors of servicemembers who die while on active  duty and for survivors of federal, state, and city government employees  who die in the line of duty. Whether individuals lose their lives in the line of  duty is an important consideration in determining eligibility for some of the  benefits provided to survivors. Line of duty for active duty servicemembers  includes activities on or off a military installation and applies 24 hours a  day and 7 days a week. In contrast, the definition of line of duty for civilian  federal employees is more limited—that is, any action that an employee is  obligated or authorized to perform by rule, regulations, law, or condition of  employment according to the employee’s agency. In general, line of duty for  state and city employees is similar to that for federal employees.
We interviewed benefits personnel and examined the survivor benefit plans  that covered the military and those that covered the largest group of  employees for each of 61 civilian government entities: the federal  government (i.e., the Federal Employees Retirement System), 50 states and  the District of Columbia, and the 9 cities with a population of at least  1 million. Interviews with state and city government benefits personnel  were conducted via telephone. To facilitate the comparisons of lump sum  and recurring cash payments for the various entities, we used an e-mail  survey that described four hypothetical situations and asked benefits  personnel to specify the payments that survivors of deceased  servicemembers and civilian government employees would be expected to  receive in those situations. The hypothetical situations describe  servicemembers or civilian government employees who have  identical years of creditable service, regular military compensation or  civilian government salary, and number of dependents at the time of their  deaths. Additional data were gathered and analyzed regarding the  supplemental benefits provided to government employees in high-risk  occupations. To ensure data reliability, we verified all data provided by  benefits personnel through a review of documents and statutes on the  survivor benefit plans. Further details of our scope and methodology are  presented in appendix I. General descriptions of the military’s and 61  civilian government entities’ survivor benefit plans and payments for the  four different hypothetical situations are available in appendixes II and III,  respectively. Supplemental survivor benefits for employees in high-risk  occupations are described in appendix IV. We performed our work from  October 2003 through May 2004 in accordance with generally accepted  government auditing standards.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Servicemembers are entitled to Social Security benefits, just like the vast  majority of U.S. workers. We reported that Social Security covers about  96 percent of all U.S. employees and about three-fourths of federal, state,  and local government employees pay Social Security taxes on their  earnings. Social Security’s primary source of revenue is the Old Age,  Survivors, and Disability Insurance portion of the payroll tax paid by  employers and employees. That payroll tax amounts to 6.2 percent of  earnings for both employers and employees, up to an established  maximum. Regardless of whether the death occurred in the line of duty or  not, survivors of deceased servicemembers, covered civilian government  employees, or their estates are eligible for a lump sum payment of $255.  Moreover, eligible survivors are also entitled to recurring Social Security  benefit payments. Eligibility for the $255 and recurring payments is  determined by whether a deceased employee was currently insured  through Social Security. The amount of recurring payment is based on the  deceased employee’s earnings in covered employment.
Deceased servicemembers’ survivors are entitled to a wide range of  benefits. In our September 2002 report, we noted that a survivor might be  entitled to a death gratuity payment, a life insurance settlement, burial  benefits, monthly payments, and various other benefits that include the use  of commissaries and exchanges. Determining whether the deceased  servicemember died in the line of duty is seldom a consideration when  awarding survivor benefits because an active duty servicemember is  considered to be on duty 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Determination of eligibility for some benefits provided to the survivors of  deceased federal and, in most cases, state and local civilian government  employees is based on a more restrictive definition of line of duty. For  example, survivor benefits provided through workers’ compensation  require that the civilian government employee die in the line of duty. The  definition of line of duty for federal civilian employees includes any action  that an employee is obligated or authorized to perform by rule, regulations,  law, or condition of employment according to the employee’s agency. The  effect of an eligibility determination based on line of duty can be illustrated  using the example of an employee who has a heart attack while eating  lunch at a restaurant. The servicemember is probably covered, whereas  the civilian government employee is typically not covered.
Survivor benefits for some civilian government employees are also  contingent on the employee’s occupation, in addition to the circumstance  of whether the employee’s death occurred in the line of duty. Law  enforcement officers, firefighters, and employees in some other  occupations at federal, state, and city levels may receive a supplemental  survivor benefit provided through the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Act,  administered by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.  State and city governments may provide other supplemental benefits to the  survivors of deceased employees who work in high-risk occupations.
section_title: Types of Survivor Benefits Provided for Servicemembers Are Comparable to Those for General Government Employees, but Benefit Amounts Differ
paragraphs: The military and civilian government entities offer similar types of cash and  noncash survivor benefits, but the entities provide different amounts for  the survivor benefits. In general, the military and civilian government  entities provide cash benefits—either as a lump sum, recurring payments,  or both—and noncash benefits, such as continued health insurance or  education benefits. Survivors of servicemembers almost always receive  higher lump sum payments. For three of the four hypothetical situations,  the recurring payments for deceased servicemembers’ survivors exceed the  recurring payments that at least one-half of the states provide. In contrast,  the recurring payments for deceased servicemembers’ survivors in the  same three situations are lower than those that at least one-half of the cities  provide. The military provides more types of noncash benefits to survivors  of deceased servicemembers than do civilian government entities provide  to the survivors of deceased general government employees.
subsections: section_title: Servicemembers’ Survivors and General Government Employees’ Survivors Receive Comparable Types of Cash Survivor Benefits, but Benefit Amounts Differ
paragraphs: Survivors of deceased servicemembers and most deceased general  government employees receive lump sum payments through comparable  sources—Social Security, a death gratuity, burial expenses, and life  insurance; the federal government, 16 states, and the District of Columbia  provide additional lump sum payments through their respective retirement  plans (see table 1 for a summary and appendix II for descriptions of how  the payments are calculated for each entity). Social Security provides $255  upon the death of a deceased servicemember or covered civilian  government employee. The death gratuity provided to survivors is $12,000  (tax-exempt) for deceased servicemembers, up to $10,000 for deceased  federal government employees, and between $25,000 and $262,405 for  deceased employees of the 5 states and 1 city that provide this benefit. The  military’s death gratuity ranks above that paid by 55 of the 61 civilian  government entities. The payment for burial expenses provided to  survivors is up to $6,900 (tax-exempt) for deceased servicemembers, up to  $800 (tax-exempt) for deceased federal government employees, and  between $2,000 and $15,000 for deceased employees of all states and cities.  The military’s payment for burial expenses ranks above that paid by 49 of  the 61 civilian government entities.
Life insurance is another common source of benefits for the survivors of  many deceased servicemembers and civilian government employees. For  example, approximately 98 percent of servicemembers and 91 percent of  federal employees participate in government-sponsored life insurance.  Servicemembers automatically are insured for $250,000 (tax-exempt)  unless they elect less or no coverage. Although the government does not  contribute to the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, we elected to  include the information in this report because the program plays a large  role in the benefits provided to survivors and nearly all servicemembers  participate in the program. Fifty-one of the 61 civilian government entities  pay a portion of the life insurance premiums for their employees and  reported that they provide this benefit to at least 80 percent of their  employees. A federal employee is automatically enrolled for a payout  (tax-exempt) equal to the employee’s rate of basic pay, rounded to the next  higher $1,000, plus $2,000. The federal government contributes one-third of  the total cost (i.e., 15 cents per month for each $1,000) of the basic  coverage premium. For example, the government’s contribution for a  federal employee who has $37,000 of basic life insurance coverage is $5.55  per month. The amount of coverage state and city governments provide  varies and is determined as either a flat amount or a percentage of the  employee’s salary.
The military and the 9 cities do not provide a lump sum survivor benefit as  part of their retirement plans. In contrast, the federal government, 16 states  and the District of Columbia include a survivor benefit in their retirement  plans. Similar to the funding of life insurance, these 18 civilian government  entities contribute a portion of the benefit. These payments are generally  based on the deceased employee’s annual salary, employer contributions to  the retirement plan, or a flat amount.
Although survivors of deceased military and civilian government  employees are eligible for recurring Social Security payments, other types  of recurring payments are specific to either servicemembers or civilian  government employees (see table 2 for a summary and appendix II for  descriptions of how the recurring payments are computed for each entity).  As previously mentioned, the survivors of deceased servicemembers and  survivors of three-fourths of the civilian government employees may be  eligible to receive recurring Social Security payments based on the  deceased employees’ earnings in covered employment. This recurring  payment to the survivor will be equal if the deceased servicemember’s and  deceased civilian government employee’s earnings in covered employment  are identical. Survivors of deceased servicemembers would also receive  payments through the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), tax-exempt  Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), or both. The SBP  payment is calculated based on 55 percent of the member’s maximum  monthly retirement pay, and DIC provides $967 per month for a spouse,  plus $241 per month for each child. If the spouse is the designated  beneficiary for SBP, the SBP payment is reduced by the DIC payment.  Additionally, if the DIC payment is greater than the SBP payment, there is  no SBP payment. However, under the most recent changes to SBP, SBP  benefits can be paid to the children, and the DIC payment can be paid to  the spouse without causing any reduction in the SBP payment, thus  providing a substantial increase in monthly payments during the years  when children are still at home or in school. Similar to the military,  survivors of deceased civilian government employees may receive  recurring payments from multiple sources: a retirement plan, workers’  compensation if the death occurred while in the line of duty, or both.  Survivors of deceased federal government employees receive the higher of  two options: (1) 50 percent of an employee’s monthly retirement pay, if the  employee had at least 10 years of creditable service, plus a lump sum  payment or (2) up to 75 percent of the employee’s pay rate under the Federal Employees Compensation Act. The rules for determining the  recurring payments for survivors of deceased state and city employees vary  widely but are summarized in table 2.
For the four hypothetical situations, the lump sum payments—excluding  Social Security—for survivors of deceased servicemembers are almost  always higher than those for the survivors of deceased civilian government  employees in general. For hypothetical situations 2, 3, and 4, the  recurring payments for deceased servicemembers’ survivors exceed the  recurring payments that at least one-half of the states provide. In contrast,  the recurring payments for deceased servicemembers’ survivors are lower  than those that at least one-half of the cities provide (see table 3 for a  summary and appendix III for the specific amounts provided by each entity  for each type of payment).
Hypothetical situation 2 is used as an example to explain the findings  shown in table 3. It describes the situation of a servicemember or civilian  government employee who had accrued 3 years of creditable service, an  income of $34,376 (what an E-3 might be paid in the military), and two  dependents. The benefits—excluding Social Security—provided to such a  person’s survivors are outlined below.
Servicemember’s survivors: The survivors would receive $268,900 in a  lump sum payment from a death gratuity, life insurance, and burial  expenses, as well as $2,390 in recurring payments from DIC and SBP  (assuming the child is the designated beneficiary).
Federal government employee’s survivors: The survivors would  receive $121,000 in a lump sum payment from a death gratuity, which  includes burial costs, and life insurance and $1,718 in recurring  payments from workers’ compensation. That is, the survivors would  receive nearly $148,000 less in a lump sum payment and almost $700 less  per month in recurring payments than would a servicemember’s  survivors.
State or city government employee’s survivors: Interpretation of  the state and city amounts is more problematic because the lump sum  and recurring payments shown in the same row of table 3 may represent  amounts paid by a different state or city government. For hypothetical  situation 2, the median—or average—lump sum payment was $55,000  for states and $40,000 for cities. The lump sum payments range from  $3,500 to $311,005 for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, while  the recurring payments range from $1,146 to $5,059. The lump sum  payments range from $5,000 to $110,000 for the 9 cities, while the  recurring payments range from $2,149 to $5,014. In most instances, it  would take years of inflation-adjusted recurring payments for the  survivors of those general state and city government employees to reach  the total lump sum and recurring payment benefits provided to the  survivors of the servicemembers. Also some states or cities limit the  duration (e.g., workers’ compensation benefits in Indiana and Maine are  limited to 500 weeks) or total value (e.g., workers’ compensation  benefits in Maryland are limited to $45,000) for some types of their  recurring payments. These limits further lessen the likelihood that some  survivors of deceased state and city government employees will receive  lifetime benefits at least equal to those provided to deceased  servicemembers’ survivors.
section_title: Servicemembers’ Survivors Receive More Noncash Benefits Than Do General Government Employees’ Survivors
paragraphs: The military provides more noncash survivor benefits than do the federal,  state, and city governments, with some benefits being comparable in type  and others differing among the entities (see table 4 for examples of the  most common benefits). For example, the military, federal government,  17 states, and 7 cities provide continued health insurance that is wholly or  partially subsidized. Additionally, the military and 5 of the state  governments provide some education benefits. Eligible survivors of  servicemembers who die while on active duty also obtain benefits such as  rent-free government housing or a tax-free housing allowance for up to  180 days, relocation assistance, and lifetime access to commissaries and  exchanges that are not available to other government survivors.
section_title: Most Federal, State, and City Governments Supplement Their General Survivor Benefits for Employees in High-Risk Occupations
paragraphs: The survivors of civilian government employees in selected high-risk  occupations may receive supplemental benefits beyond those that the  entities provide to government employees in general (see table 5 for a  summary and appendix IV for the descriptions of how the payments are  calculated for each entity). Employees in selected high-risk occupations in  the 61 civilian government entities may receive an additional cash benefit  through the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program. Using a  case-by-case determination process, the Department of Justice’s Bureau of  Justice Assistance provides a lump sum payment of $267,494 (for fiscal  year 2004) to the eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths  are the direct and proximate result of traumatic injury sustained in the line  of duty. According to agency officials, the Bureau of Justice Assistance  approved 659 death claims in fiscal year 2002 with 417 cases related to  World Trade Center deaths, and 194 death claims for fiscal year 2003.
Thirty-four states and 5 cities also supplement cash benefits for employees  in high-risk occupations. For example, some states, such as Texas, Florida,  and Arkansas, provide an additional death gratuity to survivors of  government employees in high-risk occupations. Other states, such as  Iowa, New Mexico, and Nevada, provide insurance benefits that are higher  than those provided to general government employees. Still other states,  such as Alaska, New Jersey, and Montana, provide survivor benefits  through their retirement plans that are higher than those provided to  general government employees.
When these supplemental cash benefits are added to the benefits for  general government employees, the total cash benefits that the entities  provide to the survivors of deceased civilian government employees in  high-risk occupations may be higher than those provided to deceased  servicemembers’ survivors. For example, the very limited number of  survivors who receive the $267,494 from the PSOB Program would likely  have total survivor benefits higher than those provided to servicemembers’  survivors.
In addition to the supplemental cash benefits, some of the states and cities  provide supplemental noncash benefits for survivors of deceased  employees in high-risk occupations. Eleven states provide survivors of  employees in high-risk occupations with education benefits that are not  provided to survivors of general government employees. Additionally,  two states and two cities provide continued health insurance to survivors  of employees in high-risk occupations that are not provided to survivors of  general government employees.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: DOD reviewed a draft of this report and provided technical comments,  which were incorporated as appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Defense. In  addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO’s Web site at  http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions regarding this report, please contact  me at (202) 512-5559 (stewartd@gao.gov) or Jack E. Edwards at (202) 512- 8246 (edwardsj@gao.gov). Other staff members who made key  contributions to this report are listed in appendix V.
section_title: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: To assess the extent that survivor benefits provided to servicemembers’  survivors differ from those provided to federal, state, and city general  government employees’ survivors, we gathered benefits information that  covered the active duty military and the largest group of employees for  each of 61 civilian government entities: the federal government, 50 states  and the District of Columbia, and the 9 cities with a population of at least  1 million. While limiting the scope of our work to the 9 cities with at least  1 million people restricted the generalizability of our city findings to only  those 9 cities, it allowed us to discuss with certainty (i.e., without sampling  error) findings for the largest cities in the United States. Except for the  Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, all benefits addressed in this report  included government contributions. We elected to include military life  insurance in this report because the program plays a large role in the  benefits provided to survivors; nearly all servicemembers participate in the  program; and during times of war, there may be government contributions.  Life insurance information was included for a civilian government entity  only if at least 80 percent of the employees received the benefit.
We gathered data from the military and the federal agencies shown in  table 6 through personal interviews. We developed a structured telephone  interview to collect data, including general descriptions of the benefits and  the way the benefits are determined, from state and city agencies. The  initial content for developing the interview questions came from reports  issued by us and other agencies as well as from consultations with benefits  personnel and staff with expertise on specific military or civilian personnel  government survivor benefit programs, such as Social Security. We  pretested the structured telephone interview to minimize the occurrence of  nonsampling errors, which led to modification of the data gathering  instrument to clarify questions and address the ordering of items and other  concerns that could affect data reliability. To further ensure data reliability,  we requested and reviewed survivor benefits information, including  statutes and plan documents, from each entity. For some civilian  government entities, especially at the state and city levels, interviews were  conducted with multiple offices because the responsibility for  administering the different types of survivor benefits resided in different  offices. All 62 entities provided information, but 1 state elected not to  provide information on its retirement benefit.
Similarly, we developed and obtained feedback on an e-mail-administered  survey that described four hypothetical situations and assessed cash  benefits. The hypothetical situations were developed to correspond to  personnel at various stages of a military or government career, describing  the servicemember’s or civilian government employee’s years of service,  income, and number of dependents. The survey was sent to the military and  all general civilian government entities to obtain information on the  payments that would be provided in each hypothetical situation. When our  interpretations of the benefits differed from the information supplied by  the military or civilian government entities, we contacted the entities and  resolved the differences. The responses to the survey reflect current values  and do not account for lifetime payments, which may include cost-of-living  adjustments and other assumptions. All 62 entities provided information,  but 1 state elected not to provide information on its retirement benefit.
To assess the extent that federal, state, and city governments supplement  their general survivor benefits for employees in high-risk occupations, we  gathered benefits information, except for the hypothetical situations, that  covered law enforcement officers and firefighters in the same manner as  for government employees in general. We selected law enforcement  officers and firefighters because we considered those two occupations to  have higher levels of personal risk than those found for government  employees in general. As with the government employees in general, we  limited the scope to include the 61 civilian government entities. All 61  entities provided information, but 1 state and 1 city elected not to provide  requested information regarding a benefit for high-risk employees,  retirement and life insurance, respectively.
For both civilian government employees in general and civilian government  employees in high-risk occupations, the concept of line of duty was an  important consideration in the scope of this work because the granting of  some survivor benefits is contingent on whether the employee dies in the  line of duty. While active duty servicemembers are considered to be on  duty 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, the definition for line of duty for  civilian federal employees is more restrictive. The federal government  defines line of duty as any action that an employee is obligated or  authorized by rule, regulations, law, or condition of employment to perform  by the agency served. Similar definitions were present for the  administration of survivor benefits in some states and cities. Although the  civilian government entities typically provide benefits to survivors of those  who die while not in the line of duty, those benefits are not separately  identified from the line-of-duty benefits in this report.
We conducted our review from October 2003 through May 2004 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
section_title: Cash Survivor Benefits Provided by the Military and Government Entities for Employees in General
paragraphs: This appendix describes the cash benefits available to eligible survivors of  active duty servicemembers and civilian government employees who die in  the line of duty. We obtained information on the survivor benefits for the  active duty military and the largest general employee group in each of 61  civilian government entities: the federal government, 50 states and the  District of Columbia, and the 9 U.S. cities with a population of at least  1 million. Types of cash benefits are listed along with descriptions of how  lump sum payments, recurring payments, or both are computed for each  entity. We obtained the information through structured interviews with  benefits personnel for the 62 entities and verified the reliability of that data  through a review of statutes, benefits plans, and other information that the  benefits personnel supplied. The information presented in this appendix is  summarized in tables 1 and 2 in the report.
section_title: Hypothetical Situations Comparing Cash Benefits Provided by the Military and Government Entities
paragraphs: This appendix identifies the amount of cash benefits available to eligible  survivors of active duty servicemembers and civilian government  employees who die in the line of duty. To facilitate the comparison of cash  benefits available to survivors, we constructed four hypothetical situations  that each described servicemembers or civilian government employees  who had identical years of creditable service, an equal amount of regular  military compensation or civilian government salary, and the same number  of dependents at the time of their deaths. The four hypothetical situations  for military and civilian government personnel are indicative of  circumstances for servicemembers at a junior enlisted level (E-3) with and  without dependents, at a senior enlisted level (E-7), and at a mid-grade  officer level (O-3).
We gathered data from benefits personnel who completed an e-mail survey  that described the four hypothetical situations and asked for the amount of  cash payments (in current-month values, without cost-of-living  adjustments) that survivors would receive from each source of lump sum  or recurring payments. (The methods for computing the amounts were  described earlier in appendix II.) We obtained such information on the  survivor benefits plans for the active duty military and the largest general  employee group in each of 61 civilian government entities: the federal  government, 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the 9 U.S. cities  with a population of at least 1 million. Types of cash benefits are listed  along with lump sum payments, recurring payments, or both, for each  entity. The information in this appendix is summarized in table 3 in the  report.
To facilitate the comparison of military findings to those for the civilian  government entities, we rank ordered the total lump sum and total  recurring payments for each of the 62 entities on each hypothetical  situation. The ranks appear in parentheses, with “1” indicating the highest  lump sum or recurring payment for the situation and “62” indicating the  lowest amount.
section_title: Cash Survivor Benefits Provided by Government Entities for Employees in High-Risk Occupations
paragraphs: This appendix describes the cash benefits available to eligible survivors of  civilian government employees who die in the line of duty while performing  in the high-risk occupations of law enforcement or firefighting. We  obtained information on the survivor benefits plans for these occupations  from the federal government, 50 states and the District of Columbia, and  the 9 U.S. cities with a population of at least 1 million. Types of cash  benefits are listed along with descriptions of how the lump sum payments,  recurring payments, or both are computed for each entity if these benefits  are above those provided to the survivors of general government  employees. We obtained the information through structured interviews  with benefits personnel for the 61 civilian government entities and verified  the reliability of that data through a review of statutes, benefits plans, and  other information that the benefits personnel supplied. The information  presented in this appendix is summarized in table 5 in the report.
section_title: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contact
section_title: Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the individual named above, Mark B. Dowling, Joel I.  Grossman, Barbara L. Joyce, Marie A. Mak, Hilary L. Murrish, Cheryl A.  Weissman, and Greg H. Wilmoth made key contributions to this report.
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