Lawmakers are trying to pass a bill that would create a disability insurance benefit of up to $100,000 for soldiers and other servicemembers who suffer severely disabling traumatic injuries.[@@]
The bill, S. 806, would provide the special benefits for servicemembers who suffer total and permanent loss of sight, loss of hands or feet or loss of speech.
The benefits also would be available to servicemembers who suffer quadriplegia, paraplegia, severe burns or certain traumatic brain injuries, according to the text of the bill.
The bill would provide the coverage by adding a disability insurance rider to servicemembers' standard group life insurance policy.
The rider would cost about $1 per month.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has introduced the bill in the Senate.
The White House has endorsed the bill, and the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the new disability benefit program will cost only about $10 million per year, Craig said Thursday in a speech on the Senate floor.
