NDAA Update Oct 21, 2026: Why the NDAA Matters to Your Health Care

Why the NDAA Matters to Your Health Care

MOAA · Oct 21, 2026

Kevin Lilley writes that MOAA backs three FY2027 NDAA health-care items as the House and Senate work to resolve differences after the election. The House bill would halt plans to close or cut services at more than 40 military treatment facilities and require updated reporting criteria for any proposed MTF downsizing or closure; the Senate bill does not undo those changes but would require a "comprehensive review" of any Pentagon move to "downsize, realign, or otherwise reduce the scope of services" at MTFs and a "consultative discussion" with the House and Senate Armed Services Committees at least a year beforehand. Both bills require an audit of the TRICARE pharmacy program, including "the adequacy of the retail pharmacy network," with special attention to rural and underserved areas and assessments of "meaningful geographic access standards beyond drive-time calculations" and "continuity of care and beneficiary preference." The Senate bill requires a new system for beneficiaries to file access-to-care complaints, based on the MOAA-backed Military CARE Act (H.R. 6796); the House includes a feasibility study of a digital access complaint system and a process and timeline for reporting TRICARE issues not resolved through existing channels.