Bloomberg
By Andrew Frye and David Evans
Jul 29, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged to help the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs probe how insurers reap profits from death benefits retained for the families of deceased military personnel.
“I will be very interested in the outcome of the VA investigation,” Gates told a Pentagon press briefing. “We will do everything we can to help.”
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has begun a fraud probe into the life insurance industry and subpoenaed MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. and, according to a person briefed on the action, six other companies for information about profits on the retained death benefits.
The investigations, along with a review by the New York State Insurance Department, were prompted by a Bloomberg Markets magazine report that more than 100 carriers earn investment income on $28 billion owed to life insurance beneficiaries. New York-based MetLife, the biggest U.S. life insurer, and No. 2 Prudential are among the firms that administer the so-called retained-asset accounts.
“Until today I actually believed that the families of our fallen heroes got a check for the full amount of their benefits,” Gates said. “This came as news to me.” …
Tags: death-benefits inquiry, pentagon, Robert Gates, u.s. department of veterans affairs probe
