TN 16 (11-92)

Section 217(b) of the SS Act provides that under certain conditions of service and death, a veteran is deemed to have died fully insured. The service must have been in the World War II period and the death must have occurred before July 27,1954. If a VA pension or compensation benefit ever was paid based on the veteran's death, deemed insured status benefits are precluded.

Because of the above conditions, there should be relatively few claims in which the deemed insured status provision would apply. However, the provision remains important if the conditions are met, and when regular insured status is not met with WW II or Post-WW II wage credits, or if the AMW with the wage credits is less than $160.