Benefits Serve Millions of Veterans
WASHINGTON — Vincent E. Markey of Philadelphia has been named director of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Insurance Center, the eighth-largest life insurance program in the world covering more than 4 million Veterans, active-duty Servicemembers, and Reserve Component and National Guard members, plus 3.1 million spouses and children.
“Vince Markey brings a solid background and continuity to the excellent management tradition that earned the VA Insurance Center a 95 percent customer satisfaction rating and recognition in 2011 as the best call center in government,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. “That recognition of call center excellence was from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.”
The VA Insurance Center directly administers six life insurance programs and supervises the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and the Veterans' Group Life Insurance programs. These programs provide $1.3 trillion in insurance coverage.
In 2011, VA’s life insurance programs returned $249 million in dividends to 753,000 Veterans holding some of these VA life insurance policies, and paid $2.3 billion in death claims to the beneficiaries of 141,000 Veterans and servicemembers.
The program has grown to meet the challenges of the current conflict through a new Traumatic Injury Protection program under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance that provides coverage to 2.4 million active-duty personnel. Those who suffer certain severe traumatic injuries may receive benefit amounts ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, depending on the loss.
Markey is a long-time Insurance Center employee who began his federal service in 1981 at the Philadelphia Regional Office and transferred to the national Insurance Center, which is co-located there, in 1985. He has held various positions in VA’s insurance program, most recently as chief of the Insurance Service Program Management Division.
Markey, who received his bachelor of business administration degree in accounting in 1978, has served on the board of directors of the VA Center’s Employee Association and has chaired the Philadelphia Regional Office and Insurance Center’s Equal Employment Opportunity advisory committee.
Markey succeeds Tom Lastowka, who retired after serving as director of both the Insurance Center and the co-located regional office since 1990.
# # #
###
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Subscribe today to receive these news releases in your inbox.
