Sponsors (2)
The bill improves pregnant military beneficiaries' access to civilian maternity care through a limited pilot and increased oversight, at the cost of higher administrative/program expenses, potential provider capacity strains, and added DoD reporting burdens.
Pregnant service members and their dependents can temporarily change enrollment to TRICARE Select for pregnancy-related care, improving access to preferred civilian maternity providers.
Congress (and taxpayers) will receive monthly and annual data on enrollment changes, enabling oversight of impacts on coverage, costs, and program use.
The five-year pilot gives the Department of Defense a limited, testable period to evaluate effects before any permanent policy change, reducing the risk of immediate system-wide disruption.
Taxpayers and the Department of Defense could face higher administrative and program costs from expanded TRICARE Select enrollment for pregnancy, putting additional pressure on defense budgets.
If many beneficiaries shift to civilian TRICARE Select providers, hospitals and health systems (and military patients) could experience network or capacity strains that complicate care coordination.
Additional reporting requirements will impose administrative burden on the Department of Defense and federal employees, diverting staff time and resources to compliance and data collection.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a five-year DoD pilot allowing pregnancy to be a qualifying event for TRICARE Select enrollment, with required briefings and detailed annual reports.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to start a five-year pilot (within 180 days of enactment) that treats pregnancy as a qualifying event for eligible beneficiaries to enroll in TRICARE Select. The Department must brief specified congressional committees within one year and submit annual reports with month-by-month enrollment-change counts (beginning January 2027) broken out by separation/return to active duty and whether pregnancy was the qualifying event.
Introduced July 14, 2025 by Terri Sewell · Last progress July 14, 2025