Louisiana National Guard Disability and Death Benefit

Louisiana pays its own lump-sum disability benefit to Guard members, on top of anything VA pays. A Louisiana National Guard member who suffers a permanent and total disability while on federal or state active duty on or after September 11, 2001 may be eligible for a state disability benefit of $100,000 or $50,000 under R.S. 29:26.1. The two amounts are not arbitrary and the distinction is worth understanding before filing. The higher figure of $100,000 is associated with a first VA claim approval, and the lower figure of $50,000 with a later VA decision. In practice that means the timing and sequence of the VA determination affects the state payment, so a Guard member should raise the state benefit with the Guard's claims office at the same time as the VA claim rather than afterwards. Ask the claims office directly which figure your case falls under and why, because this is the kind of provision where the answer depends on the file. Note the coverage of state active duty. A Guard member injured on a state activation, which in Louisiana means hurricane response as often as anything else, is inside this benefit. Many state programs cover only federal Title 10 service. For a death in the line of duty, beneficiaries of record for Louisiana National Guard members killed in action may be eligible for the $250,000 federal death gratuity. That is a federal payment rather than a state one, and the Guard lists it alongside the state disability benefit because the same office handles both. Contact the Louisiana National Guard claims office at [email protected]. Two related coverages sit nearby. A Guard member on state active duty has workers' compensation coverage through Louisiana for injury, illness, disability, or death in the line of duty, covering medical and surgical expenses, hospital services, medications, and compensation for disability or death. And the Louisiana Military Service Relief Act at R.S. 29:401 through 425 provides active duty protections for Louisiana residents, including pay compensation, leave status, retirement credit, insurance continuation, reemployment rights, a prohibition on academic penalty, state income tax deferral, professional license validation, and suspension or termination of a cell phone contract. That income tax deferral in the Military Service Relief Act is the provision most often useful and least often claimed: a Louisiana resident called to active duty can defer state income tax rather than accruing a delinquency.