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Tonight CBS News committed an act of journalism, taking and running with a Bloomberg Markets Magazine exposé regarding the bloated, soulless, rapacious Prudential Insurance profiteering from the deaths of American men & women in uniform.
The Bloomberg exposé: Fallen Soldiers' Families Denied Cash as Insurers Profit
"The package arrived at Cindy Lohman’s home in Great Mills, Maryland, just two weeks after she learned that her son, Ryan, a 24-year-old Army sergeant, had been killed by a bomb in Afghanistan. . . [The] envelope [came] from Prudential Financial Inc., which handles life insurance for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"Inside was a letter from Prudential about Ryan’s $400,000 policy. And there was something else, which looked like a checkbook. . . "
"'It’s like you’re paying me off because my child was killed,' she says. 'It was a consolation prize that I didn’t want.'
"As time went on, she says, she tried to use one of the 'checks' to buy a bed, and the salesman rejected it. That happened again this year, she says, when she went to a Target store to purchase a camera on Armed Forces Day, May 15. . .
The story, investigated and written by journalist David Evans, details how Prudential Insurance, among other things, paid Ryan Lohman's mom less than 1% interest on the death benefits account in 2008 while Prudential was enjoying 4.8% on the $400,000 account. Cha'ching! for Prudential.
Note, according to the Bloomberg article, Cindy Lohman is "a public health nurse who helps special needs children."
"'I’m shocked,' says Lohman, breaking into tears as she learns how the Alliance Account works. 'It’s a betrayal. It saddens me as an American that a company would stoop so low as to make a profit on the death of a soldier. Is there anything lower than that?'
"Millions of bereaved Americans have unwittingly been placed in the same position by their insurance companies. The practice of issuing what they call 'checkbooks' to survivors, instead of paying them lump sums, extends well beyond the military. . . ."
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"Shameful"
"'It’s shameful that an insurance company is stealing money from the families of our fallen servicemen,' says Paul Sullivan, who served in the 1991 Gulf War as an Army cavalry scout and is now executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington. 'I’m outraged.'
"Sullivan, a project manager at the VA’s benefits unit from 2000 to 2006, says he was never told Prudential kept money and earned investment gains from soldiers’ insurance payouts instead of sending it to survivors. . . ."
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will investigate.
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About Ryan Lohman (from the CBS piece aired tonight):
"'One of the things that [Ryan] said to me," [his mother] said, 'he said "if anything happens to me, just let the world know we're making a difference over here."'
"But on August 1, 2008, Ryan was riding in a Humvee when he spotted an improvised explosive device, an IED.
"'He told his driver, "go left," and that placed the IED directly under him,' Lohman said.
"Baumann was killed instantly. The driver, gunner and medic with him all survived. . . ."
As mentioned, Ryan was 24. Here's a photo of Ryan and his mom, Cindy:
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Here's a photo of Prudential:
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