While the must-pass FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is far from its final form, the version making its way through the House Armed Services Committee already includes key MOAA-backed improvements, such as much-needed changes to your health care benefit, support for military families seeking better child care options, and movement on the path toward a more effective reserve component duty status system.

The “Chairman’s Mark” of the House version of the FY 2027 NDAA, along with subcommittee prints of the bill, were published May 26 on the House Armed Services Committee website. That committee will hold its markup on the NDAA next week, which will offer a chance for amendments to be added.

The committee’s military personnel panel included several of MOAA’s key NDAA priorities in its print, covering a range of issues:

Duty Status Reform: The subcommittee requested a briefing by the Pentagon no later than Jan. 31, 2027, on implementing plans to consolidate the 29 reserve component duty statuses into four categories. This action, which is at the core of the MOAA-backed Duty Status Reform Act (H.R. 6976), would make significant strides toward ensuring Guard and Reserve members receive the same benefits for performing the same duties as active duty personnel.

[TAKE ACTION: Support Duty Status Reform for Members of the National Guard and Reserve]

Basic Housing Allowance (BAH): The NDAA draft does not include a full restoration of BAH to cover 100% of anticipated housing cost, but the military personnel NDAA print would renew the Pentagon’s authority to temporarily raise BAH rates in areas where actual costs outpace rates by more than 20%, as well as areas “covered by a major disaster declaration or containing an installation experiencing an influx of military personnel.” The authority, which is set to expire at the end of this year, would be extended through 2027.

[TAKE ACTION: Restore Full BAH]

Access to Health Care: MOAA has sought inclusion of the text of the Military CARE Act (H.R. 6796) in the NDAA, which would require the Pentagon to create a digital system allowing patients to report access to care barriers at military treatment facilities (MTFs). This system not only would ensure the beneficiary’s issue was routed through proper channels, it would also provide a new data set on patient level access issues for the Defense Health Agency to make improvements at individual MTFs and systemwide.

The military personnel NDAA print would mandate a feasibility study on such a system be completed by the Pentagon within 18 months.

[TAKE ACTION: Address MTF Access Problems With the Military CARE Act]

TRICARE Qualifying Life Events (QLEs): The print includes language from H.R. 4381, the Improving Access to Prenatal Care for Military Families Act, which requires a five-year pilot program to evaluate adding pregnancy as a TRICARE QLE. This would allow pregnant beneficiaries to switch TRICARE plans outside of the annual open season to access vital prenatal care where it is available.

[TAKE ACTION: Improve Access to Prenatal Care for Military Families]

Child Care Expansion: This would include au pairs as in-home child care providers under a pilot program offering financial assistance to military families. The move could make au pairs more affordable to more families, helping alleviate the extensive waitlists for military-provided child care.

More Work Remains

MOAA applauds House lawmakers for including the above materials in the early stages of the NDAA process – it shows the importance of addressing these issues as part of overarching support for servicemembers and military families.

Along with advancing these priorities, MOAA will continue to advocate for the NDAA to address other key priority areas, including:

• Reversing the two-tier drug coverage system created by a 2025 Pentagon decision to remove certain GLP-1 coverage from TRICARE For Life beneficiaries.
  
  
• Bringing TRICARE in line with federal requirements for other health insurance plans by extending coverage to dependents through age 26.
  
  
• Ending the unfair pay offset that costs combat-injured retirees a dollar of earned retirement pay for every dollar of VA disability compensation they receive.
  
  
• Ensuring retirees from the U.S. Public Health Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps receive earned retirement pay in the event of a lapse in appropriations.
  
  
• Setting clear standards for toxic mold testing in military housing, defining tenant rights when hazardous conditions aren’t quickly remediated, and establishing federal enforcement actions to ensure remediation meets industry standards.

The upcoming House markup, the Senate’s NDAA consideration process, and the joint House-Senate conference that traditionally creates the final bill all represent opportunities to ensure MOAA’s work to protect service-earned benefits bears fruit. Keep up with the latest on these issue and others as the NDAA moves forward by registering at our Legislative Action Center.