Retirees from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Commissioned Corps should receive their back pay from missed checks during the shutdown by Nov. 20, according to information provided to MOAA by the Coast Guard Pay and Personnel Center (PPC), which processes the payments.

USPHS and NOAA surviving spouses and other annuitants also will receive back payments. All NOAA accounts were to be paid via electronic funds transfer (EFT) on Nov. 17-18, while USPHS accounts with domestic financial institutions are to be paid Nov. 19. USPHS “foreign wire” payments will go out Nov. 20, per the PPC. November 2025 retirement payouts remain on schedule for Dec. 1.

Payees who do not receive money owed, or have other questions about the process, should reach out to the PPC via phone (866-772-8724) or email. For assistance with PPC password resets, login problems, or other technical concerns, call (800-821-7081) or email the service center.

Protecting Pay for ALL Who Served

Thousands of USPHS and NOAA retirees, surviving spouses, and other annuitants did not receive their October 2025 compensation because of the federal funding lapse. Armed services retirees, to include the Coast Guard, received their payments, which come from the Military Retirement Fund and are separate from annual appropriations.

Coast Guard retiree payments were assumed by the Military Retirement Fund thanks to language in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which came in response to the 2018-19 shutdown.

MOAA’s advocacy team is engaging with lawmakers on the need to include all eight uniformed services under the Military Retirement Fund to ensure service-earned compensation continues during a funding lapse. It’s part of our wider efforts seeking parity in compensation among the services and to protect all who wear or wore the uniform from budget-related fallout.

[TAKE ACTION: Support Leave Parity for USPHS Servicemembers]

Keep up with MOAA’s latest work in response to the shutdown by registering at our Legislative Action Center, where you can track ongoing legislation and send messages to your lawmakers in support of key advocacy priorities.