Summary: The Servicemen's Group Life Insurance Program (SGLI) is the largest of eight insurance programs run by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); SGLI is administered by Prudential Insurance Company of America, under contract with the VA. SGLI's operating reserves totaled $165 million as of June 1991, and, according to GAO, needed to be increased by about $85 million as a result of recent legislation that doubled maximum coverage from $50,000 to $100,000 for each insured. At the same time, GAO believed that the program's $76 million in contingency reserves were about $51 million more than needed. GAO also thought that reserves in the $191-million revolving fund were too high. GAO found that military personnel covered by SGLI were overcharged premiums throughout the 1980s, and adjustments are needed. GAO made recommendations to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to achieve the adjustments GAO feels would improve the financial position of the SGLI. The Secretary did not concur with GAO's recommendations.
