38 CFR 8.0 - Definitions of terms used in connection with title 38 CFR, part 8, National Service Life Insurance.
(a) What does the term “good health” mean? The term good health means that the applicant is, from clinical or other evidence, free from any condition that would tend to:
(1) Weaken normal physical or mental functions; or
(2) Shorten life.
Conditions that would affect “good health” are diseases or injuries or residuals of diseases or injuries. A “residual” is a disability that remains following the original disease or injury.
(b) What does the term “good health criteria” mean? The term good health criteria means the underwriting standards that determine whether a person is in good health. “Good health criteria” are based whenever possible, as far as practicable, on general insurance usage. “Underwriting” is the process that sets the terms, conditions, and prices for an insurance policy, by rating an applicant's mortality risk.
(c) What does the term “organic loss of speech” mean? The term organic loss of speech means the loss of the ability to express oneself, both by voice and whisper, through the normal organs of speech if the loss is caused by physical changes in such organs. The fact that some speech can be produced through the use of artificial appliance or other organs of the body will not impact this definition.
(d) What does the term “disease or injury traceable to the extra hazards of the military service” mean? The term disease or injury traceable to the extra hazards of the military service means a disease or injury that was either caused by or can be traced back to the performance of duty in the active military, naval, or air service.
(e) What does the term “guardian” mean? The term guardian means any representative certified by the appropriate Veterans Service Center Manager, under § 13.55 of this chapter, to receive benefits in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of the insured or the beneficiary, or to take the actions listed in § 8.32.