To meet this situation the 'United States Treasury Department, under whose general supervision is the Bureau of War Risk Insur ance, issued a very generous reinstatement rul ing. The reinstatement provision allows a serv ice man 18 months after discharge from the service within which to reinstate his policy. He is required to pay only two months' pre miums, one for the month of grace, during which he had full insurance protection, and the other for the month in which reinstatement is made.
As originally announced this ruling stipu lated that the application for reinstatement be accompanied by a declaration on the part of the applicant that his health. is as good as at the date of discharge. This ruling has since been liberalized by an amendment providing that men out of the service shall be permitted to reinstate merely by paring two months' pre miums, without a forma application for rein statement or a statement as to health, at any time within three calendar months following the month of their discharge from the service Later a special blanlcet ruling was made which permitted any fortner servic,e man to reinstate his lapsed or canceled insurance before 31 Dec. 1919, provided the applicant was in as good health as at the date of discharge, or at the ex piration of the grace period of his insurance, whichever was the later date, and he so stated in his application.
Another decision is of interest to former service men who paid back premiums on their insurance reinstatement. Those who paid back premiums in excess of two may have the ex cess applied toward the payment of future pre miums.
The Sweet bill, passed by the 66th Congress, provides for a change in the manner of paying converted policies, and the Wason bill, answer ing the wishes voiced by the American Legion, proposes similar changes in the payment of War Ftisk term policies issued to men while in active service. The Wason bill contains pro visions not included in the Sweet bin, whidi latter bill had passed the H,ouse before the American Legion meeting. The Wason bill in corporates the additional recommendations of the Legion and embodies additional amendments to the act not touched by the Sweet bill.
There had been an Insistent demand for a change from the present method of paying poli cies in monthly instalments covering a period of 20 years. And to be sure it is not a perfect
system for small policies. A thousand dollar policy paid in that manner means a monthly payment of $5.75 continuing over 20 years. On the other hand the possibility for the misinvest ment of a lump sum payment by inexperienced beneficiaries always exists.
To arrive at a conclusion as to the best method of policy payment, the bureau communi cated with numerous philanthropic and charity organizations asking, °Of those adults who come to you for aid, whether or not they or any member of their family had insurance, how many of them get on their feet financially in the first, the second, the third, or the fourth year?* The records furnished by these organ izations proved that 85 per cent of all the adults who need financial aid because of stress get on their feet within the first year; more than 90 per cent the second year, and all but the disabled the third year. By these records, we were able to determine that three years is approximately the period of stress. So, upon reconunendation of the bureau, the Sweet bill provides that the policyholder shall have the right to say whether the policy shall be paid in a lutnp sum or in 36 or snore monthly pay ments.
The Wason bill has a like provision for the present term insurance, and provides also that if the policyholder has not designated how the policy shall be paid, the beneficiary shall have the right to elect to take the proceeds in not less than 36 monthly intalments. If the in sured specifies that the policy shall be paid in 36 monthly instalments, the beneficiary cannot reduce the number of payments, but can in crease the number. The beneficiary can say, el want this paid in 50 instalments," or any other number; but by making it impossible for the beneficiary to reduce the number of pay ments he is protected against unnecessary loss or danger of loss.
The Wason bill further provides that the full face of the policy shall be paid to beneficiaries irrespective of what sums may have been paid on the policy to the insured in his lifetime on account of total and permanent disability; and it exempts from premium payments those re ceiving hospital care from the bureau, those receiving training under the Vocational Re habilitation Act and those who are temporarily totally disabled.