06/07/2026
7 June 2026 – AFSA Division 6 Update
1. Full HASC Debates, Amends, and Passes FY 2027 NDAA. The Military Times reports, “The House Armed Services Committee advanced a defense policy bill [H.R. 8800] Friday that would authorize the largest defense budget in history — $1.15 trillion . . . In a marathon markup session that lasted from Thursday morning until 12:00 a.m. Friday, committee members debated and passed nearly 600 amendments and the bill language of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. The committee approved the proposed legislation in a 44-12 vote. It now proceeds to the House floor, where it is expected to be considered in mid-July.
“The proposal includes a significant boost in troop pay beginning Jan. 1, 2027, especially for junior enlisted personnel. Under the proposed legislation, service members E-5 and below would receive a 7% pay raise, while those E-6 to O-3 would get a 6% pay raise. Members O-4 and above would see their paychecks rise by 5%.
“Regarding benefits, the bill would remove a service member’s Basic Housing Allowance from calculations for consideration for the Basic Needs Allowance, a benefit available to low income military families whose income levels could qualify them for food stamps. . . It would allow active duty personnel and reserve members on active duty to take bereavement leave in the loss of a pregnancy or stillbirth. . . It would place limits on the Defense Department’s plans to restructure military health facilities, and it would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit of Tricare’s pharmacy benefits.”
To read more about this bill, go to: Military pay raises, changes to housing allowance included in House-passed $1.15 trillion defense budget
Note: Other personnel-related items in the legislation include chaperones for “sensitive” healthcare appointments at military facilities, authorization for SECDEF to discount motor fuels at military exchange gas stations equivalent to the federal gas tax, and elimination of the 60-day cap on accumulation of leave for servicemembers.
In July, the full House will discuss and possibly amend this bill before passage. Also, the Senate Armed Services Committee will soon work to fashion its own version of the bill, and later this year the House and Senate will meet in conference to produce an agreed-upon NDAA to send to the President. All of this means that we are early in the process, and the items in the HASC legislation may or may not be in the final FY 2027 NDAA that will be sent to the White House for signature.
2. House Advances Measure to Give Servicemembers a Discount at the Pump. The Air Force Times highlights the possible exchange gas discount. It tells us, “House lawmakers advanced a measure Thursday to slash gasoline prices at military exchanges in an effort to make fuel cheaper for U.S. service members. The proposal would authorize Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to offer a discount at exchange stores that’s equivalent to the price of the federal gas tax. The tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for regular and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. The proposal would also allow the secretary to cut fuel prices further in order to counteract state and local taxes.”
For the entire article, go to: House advances measure to give troops a discount on gas
3. AF Budget Seeks $42 M Jump in Basic Needs Allowance Funding. Military.comtells us, “The U.S. Air Force is seeking a major increase in funding for the Basic Needs Allowance in Fiscal Year 2027, budgeting more than $42 million for a benefit designed to help lower-income service members and their families cover basic household needs. The service’s FY27 military personnel budget request includes $42.3 million for enlisted Basic Needs Allowance, up from $1.6 million in FY26 and $1.5 million in FY25, according to budget documents. The increase is driven entirely by an expected rise in the number of recipients.
“The budget documents make clear that the Basic Needs Allowance is not available to every service member whose pay feels stretched. Members without dependents are not eligible, neither are airmen who have not completed basic training, Air Force Academy cadets, nor cadets and midshipmen serving elsewhere in the armed forces. That means the benefit is primarily intended for service members with families whose gross household income falls below the eligibility threshold.”
Those interested can read the full article at: Air Force FY27 Budget Proposes $42M for Basic Needs Allowance
4. Military Families Face Challenges Accessing Special Needs Program for Dependents. According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office(GAO), “Military families rely on TRICARE's Extended Care Health Option program to obtain health care services for their special needs children. However, this program may not be meeting enrollees' needs because its coverage limit has remained the same since 2009. Its benefits also may not be on par with those of other programs, like Medicaid.
“The Department of Defense plans to review this program's benefits, including how they compare to those of certain Medicaid programs. But the department hasn't set goals for this review or a time frame for completing it. We recommended it do so.”
To read the entire report, go to: Military Health Care: Families Face Challenges Accessing Care for Special Needs, Defense Has Not Reviewed Coverage | U.S. GAO
5. Pentagon Approves Less than 10% of Medical Malpractice Claims Since 2020. Task & Purpose reports, “Under federal law, active-duty servicemembers cannot sue the military, even in cases of medical malpractice. But in 2019, Congress passed the SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability Act, which gave troops and families a system that allowed them to file claims for personal injury or deaths caused by Department of Defense health care providers. Rather than sue their doctors, troops can now file for compensation with a review board. The law allocated $400 million to be paid out to service members over a decade for those claims, beginning in 2020.
“But more than five years later, the system denies far more claims than it approves. Task & Purpose obtained data on claims filed since 2020 from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. As of May, 764 service members and family members of troops have filed claims . . . but only 73 have been approved. Of the $400 million set aside by Congress for those claims, the services have released just $15 million since 2020.”
For more on this, go to: The military approved less than 10% of medical malpractice claims
6. House Passes $10,000 Benefits Increase for Catastrophically Wounded Veterans. Military.com tells us, “For the first time in more than two decades, the House of Representatives has approved a major increase in benefits for some of the nation's most catastrophically disabled veterans. The House recently passed the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, legislation that would increase benefits by roughly $10,000 annually for veterans receiving the highest levels of Special Monthly Compensation while also increasing support for surviving military spouses and families receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC.”
For details, go to; House Finally Passes First $10,000 Benefits Increase in Over 20 Years for Catastrophically Disabled Veterans
7. Bill Would Help Millions of Veterans from Unauthorized Fees. Newsweek reports, “A new Senate proposal aims to crack down on companies accused of charging veterans illegal fees for help filing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims. Some of these companies’ practices have cost former service members thousands of dollars, lawmakers say. The new bill, S.4646, would reinstate criminal penalties for individuals or organizations that charge unauthorized fees related to VA benefits claims.”
For the entire article, go to: VA Benefits: New Bill Would Help Protect Millions From Unauthorized Fees - Newsweek
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