Both provisions are among the 62 consolidated in the Take Care of America’s Veterans bill proposed June 10 by the Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees to address several top priorities.

The legislation includes the Maj. Richard Star Act, which would give 54,000 wounded veterans who are eligible for combat-related special compensation their military retirement pay and VA compensation without offsets, and the Love Lives On Act, which would let surviving spouses keep VA and Defense Department benefits if they remarry.

Sponsors Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said they worked with veterans and advocates to find a “path forward” to pass the legislation — particularly the Major Richard Star Act, which, despite having broad bipartisan support, has been blocked by members over cost concerns.

“Over the past few months, we have heard from the thousands veteran voices who want to see Congress pass the Major Richard Star Act to grant thousands of disabled veterans the benefits they are eligible for,” Bost said in a statement while introducing the bill.

“It takes hard work and consensus building to pass legislation that meets the needs of veterans and has the ability to become law. This is not just like a symbolic thing that we are ‘with our veterans.’ it’s how do we make something that matters so greatly to them [into] actual law,” Moran said June 9 in remarks on the Senate floor.

Paying for it

The Star Act has the support of 336 House members and 79 senators. But since the bill did not include proposals for covering the estimated $11 billion cost over the next decade, it has been blocked by lawmakers who said it must have a mechanism for paying for it.

To address that issue, the Take Care of America’s Veterans bill would accelerate updates proposed in 2022 to the VA’s ratings schedule to update sleep apnea and tinnitus standards.

Under the bill, veterans with asymptomatic sleep apnea or a mild case controlled by treatment would receive a 0% to 10% disability rating.

Similarly, tinnitus, which currently receives a 10% disability rating, would be treated as a symptom of another condition, such as hearing loss or a traumatic brain injury, and would no longer get a standalone rating.

While the changes would affect only veterans who apply for disability compensation for these conditions moving forward, the approach has rankled several veterans service organizations and lawmakers.

Disabled American Veterans National Commander Coleman Lee noted that the change could affect 1.5 million veterans and reduce disability compensation over the next 10 years by $57 billion.

“While we appreciate all good faith efforts to develop and enact a package of positive veterans legislation, we reject the premise that the only way to fulfill the promises made to the men and women who served in the past is by cutting benefits for veterans in the future,” Lee said in a June 10 statement.

“The VFW strongly opposes the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act as currently drafted because it asks future disabled veterans to bear the cost of expanding benefits through changing the VA rating schedule for tinnitus and obstructive sleep apnea which are common conditions associated with combat poly trauma,” VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore said June 11.

“We have long maintained that veterans’ benefits are an earned obligation of the nation, a promise made through the military service contract, and should not be financed through offsets, fee increases or reductions that place additional burdens on veterans, military families and survivors,” Whitmore added.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has called on Congress to pass the Major Richard Star Act unanimously, because, Blumenthal said, the Defense Department could cover its cost by using funds from the $1.7 trillion Military Retirement Fund.

The method of payment proposed in the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act is “wrong and must be stopped,” Blumenthal said in a statement.

“Correcting this injustice for combat-injured veterans should be done without depriving other veterans of benefits they need and deserve which this Republican package would do,” Blumenthal said.

Roughly 1.3 million veterans receive disability compensation for sleep apnea while more than 1.5 million veterans currently receive disability benefits for tinnitus.

A ‘pragmatic path’

Some major veterans organizations said the proposal is needed to move forward on the widely supported legislation that will help thousands of veterans.

“Critics may focus on trade-offs, but the alternative is continued gridlock on major reforms in an increasingly challenging budgetary and political environment. Legislative success requires a pragmatic path forward, not just good intentions,” American Legion National Commander Dan Wiley said in a statement.

In May, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he supported the Richard Star Act but did not make any recommendations on covering the cost.

Other provisions in the 554-page bill include: the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, which would raise disability compensation for families of veterans with catastrophic injuries by $10,000 a year and increase payments to survivors by 1%; increases in VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for the survivors of veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; authorization for the VA to send traveling physicians to U.S. territories and Pacific Island nations to treat veterans; and grants for mental health professionals to provide treatment to veterans.

The bill also would require several studies, including an annual VA report on the causes of death among veterans; a study on access to rural care to veterans; a Government Accountability Office review of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment for traumatic brain injuries; and an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry on health conditions affecting the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances.

The House is expected to consider the legislation, H.R. 9237, this week. The Senate has not yet placed the bill on its calendar.

A House subcommittee on Tuesday discussed proposed legislation on illnesses linked to service-connected exposures as well as extended benefits for spouses whose veteran dies from service-connected conditions.

The legislation discussed by the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs included:

• H.R. 5339: A bill that would expand health care and compensation to service members who reported to duty on and after Sept. 11, 2001, through November 2001, when the building was declared safe.
• H.R. 4469: A proposal that would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from requiring veterans to provide a documented dosage amount for radiation exposure.
• H.R. 1685: A plan to extend compensation to surviving spouses of veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

If approved, the bills could provide thousands of veterans and spouses with access to VA health care and disability compensation.

The Pentagon 9/11 bill, known as the Susan E. Lukas 9/11 Servicemembers Fairness Act, would extend PACT Act benefits to those in the building in the weeks following the terrorist attack.

Lukas, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, has chronic respiratory issues and fibromyalgia linked to exposure to asbestos, dust and other matter dispersed during the impact and fireball when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building’s E Ring.

During an interview with Military Times on Wednesday, Lukas recalled going into work on Sept. 12 and leaving footprints in the fine dust distributed throughout the building by the ventilation system.

“We obviously understood, there was the fire, there was the jet fuel, there were the plastics, there was the asbestos,” Lukas said. “We did realize that there were things burning, but we really didn’t think about toxic exposures, whether we should be wearing masks.”

The bill, which has bipartisan support from six lawmakers, would provide affected veterans an expedited pathway to receive VA health care, if they don’t already have it, and disability compensation for conditions connected to exposure.

The cohort of service members, which Lukas estimates number roughly 10,000, do not qualify for compensation under the World Trade Center Health Program or the PACT Act, the landmark legislation that extended health care and benefits to more than a million veterans exposed to hazardous materials while serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas.

The bill that would prohibit the VA from requiring veterans to provide a dose estimate for their exposure to radiation, the PRESUME Act, is sponsored by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.

Geared toward veterans of the Cold War who participated in classified testing, the bill would eliminate the requirement that these “atomic veterans” prove a certain radiation dose to access benefits.

“Veterans were often exposed without their knowledge and today they are asked to furnish documentation that is controlled entirely by the government,” Titus said during the hearing. “When the government controls all the evidence, veterans shouldn’t bear the burden of proving the impossible.”

The Justice for ALS Veterans Act, H.R. 1685, would extend VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation to surviving spouses of all veterans who die from the devastating disease.

According to bill sponsor Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., service members are twice as likely as the general population to get the illness and die within two to five years of diagnosis — short of the eight-year disability threshold required to receive DIC from the VA.

“It’s imperative we close this loophole that has prevented surviving families from obtaining support,” Fitzpatrick said during the hearing.

VA officials at the hearing addressed the legislation. On the Justice for ALS Veterans Act, the VA supports it, provided there is a way to pay for it, according to Jennifer Bover, executive director of the Veterans Benefits Administration.

But, Bover added, the department takes issue with part of the bill that would provide DIC benefits for other unnamed conditions with mortality rates similar to ALS.

“The concept of ‘high mortality rate’ lacks a standardized government definition as there is not a universal set of metrics to define this concept,” Bover said.

The VA also does not support the PRESUME Act, because, officials said, proving dosage is not a requirement for the VA to grant service connection.

According to James Smith, the VA’s deputy executive director for policy and procedures for compensation service, a veteran who can prove they participated in a radiation risk activity and has a diagnosed radiation-related illness would qualify.

The VA also does not support the Pentagon 9/11 exposures bill, according to Smith, because the covered conditions listed in the legislation are “too broad.”

“We could be more specific with the conditions that potentially have been caused by whatever toxic [substances] may have been present … in that space,” Smith said. “As an organization we support identifying those exposures and making sure we are taking care of veterans. However, there needs to be more research in this area.”

Subcommittee chairman and former Navy SEAL Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, noted that the PACT Act spells out a list of illnesses that are connected to airborne environmental hazards.

“I expect movement on this one,” Luttrell promised. “This is absolutely ridiculous, first and foremost. As far as the Global War on Terror, they were the first ones to feel it. And for them to not be included…”

The pieces of legislation debated by the subcommittee on Tuesday have a way to cover their costs. Luttrell promised to work with the sponsors to offset cost so they could advance the bills to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

In a decision filed Dec. 23, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the VA violated the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide supportive housing for “unhoused veterans with serious mental illness or traumatic brain injuries,” according to documents in the case of Powers v. McDonough.

This violation, in turn, meant veterans were denied meaningful access to critical health care services, the judges ruled.

The class-action lawsuit was brought by unhoused veterans and advocacy groups who argued that decades of land-use agreements with private entities diverted the sprawling West Los Angeles VA campus from its intended purpose of housing and caring for disabled veterans.

“The United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ mission is ‘[t]o fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors,” Circuit Judge Ana de Alba stated in the court documents, citing VA’s stated goal.

“This class action lawsuit, and its numerous appeals, demonstrates just how far the VA has strayed from its mission,” de Alba continued. “There are now scores of unhoused veterans trying to survive in and around the greater Los Angeles area despite the acres of land deeded to the VA for their care. Rather than use the West Los Angeles VA Grounds as President Lincoln intended, the VA has leased the land to third party commercial interests that do little to benefit the veterans.”

The panel upheld the district court’s finding that the VA’s lack of adequate housing placed veterans at “serious risk of institutionalization,” violating the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision. It also ruled that the VA’s practice of contracting with housing developers who impose income limits that count veterans’ disability benefits as income was discriminatory under the Rehabilitation Act.

The court affirmed the district court’s authority to order sweeping relief to remedy those violations, including potentially requiring the VA to construct 1,800 permanent supportive housing units and 750 temporary units on the campus.

The panel said the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing those requirements as relief for discrimination.

However, the appeals court reversed the district court’s ruling that an 1888 deed creating the campus established a judicially enforceable charitable trust obligating the VA to manage the land exclusively for veterans’ housing.

Because that charitable trust claim was the sole basis for voiding a lease with the University of California, Los Angeles, the panel dismissed UCLA’s appeal as moot and vacated injunctions affecting UCLA’s lease and services, the opinion said.

The panel also vacated portions of the district court’s judgment voiding leases with Brentwood School, an independent day school, and Bridgeland Resources, an oil and gas company, which relied on the charitable trust theory.

Still, the court separately held that Brentwood’s lease and Bridgeland’s revocable license violated the West Los Angeles Leasing Act and the Administrative Procedure Act because they did not principally benefit veterans.

The court ruled that the district court went too far in barring the VA from renegotiating those unlawful agreements, saying that aspect of the injunction exceeded what was necessary to remedy the violations.

The case will now be returned to the district court to enter a revised judgment consistent with the decision of the appeals court.

Tricare open season

Tuesday, Dec. 9: The Tricare open season ends at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Beneficiaries can make changes to their Tricare health care plan, such as switching from Tricare Prime to Tricare Select. Visit tricare.mil/openseason to compare costs and plans and enroll. Online enrollment is also available through the Beneficiary Web Enrollment portal at milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil.

If beneficiaries don’t make changes now, the next chance is open season next year or a qualifying life event such as a birth.

This open season also includes a new option for beneficiaries in the Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, metropolitan areas through a demonstration project that provides a Tricare Prime option that doesn’t require referrals to in-network specialists. Find more details below.

The new coverage or changes in coverage made during open season for Tricare and other federal programs take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

Beneficiaries can check if their information is up to date in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System online at tricare.mil.deers.

Those who are satisfied with their health care plan don’t need to take action.

Tricare open season applies to those currently enrolled in or eligible for Tricare Prime, Tricare Prime Remote, U.S. Family Health Plan, Tricare Prime Demonstration Project, Tricare Prime Overseas, Tricare Prime Remote Overseas, Tricare Select and Tricare Select Overseas.

The open season doesn’t apply to individual active-duty service members or beneficiaries enrolled in Tricare for Life, where coverage is automatic for those who have Medicare Part A and Part B.

Those eligible for the premium-based plans — Tricare Reserve Select, Tricare Retired Reserve and Tricare Young Adult — can purchase the plans at any time of the year.

Dental, vision and tax-saving accounts

Monday, Dec. 8: The Federal Benefits Open Season ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Those eligible in the military community can enroll in dental coverage and vision coverage through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, or FEDVIP. Visit www.benefeds.gov for more information and to enroll. This open season ends a day earlier than the Tricare open season.

Monday, Dec. 8: As part of the Federal Benefits Open Season, service members can enroll in tax-savings accounts: a health care flexible spending account and a dependent care flexible spending account. These pre-tax accounts allow troops to set aside up to $3,400 in 2026 to pay for health care costs that Tricare doesn’t cover. Dependent care flexible spending accounts help defray the costs of child care and other dependent care. The Internal Revenue Service allows individuals to set aside up to $7,500 per year for dependent care costs if they are married and file a joint tax return or if they file as single or head of household. Visit fsafeds.gov for more information and to enroll.

Previous participation in these flexible spending programs doesn’t automatically carry over, meaning individuals must must enroll each year.

New Tricare Prime demo starts in 2026

Roughly 150,000 Tricare beneficiaries living in the Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, metropolitan areas will have a new Tricare Prime option next year through a demonstration project being conducted by the Defense Health Agency.

Those interested must enroll during open season. For more information and to enroll, visit enrolltricare.com, or call 877-996-9333 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. Those eligible can also enroll through the web enrollment portal at milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil by searching for Tricare Prime demo.

Information was not available about how many beneficiaries have signed up to date for the demonstration project.

CareSource Military and Veterans Co., of Dayton, Ohio, will run three-year demonstration projects for the two areas, under contracts worth a combined total of $110 million.

Those eligible are active-duty family members; family members of activated National Guard or Reserve members; retirees, their family members or survivors who aren’t eligible for Medicare; and those enrolled in the Transitional Compensation Program.

A key benefit for those enrolled in Tricare Prime through this project is that they won’t be required to get referrals for in-network specialty care, as is normally required in Tricare Prime.

“We’ve received positive feedback from beneficiaries enrolling in the Tricare Prime demo … especially regarding their ability to see in-network specialists without referrals,” CareSource officials said in a statement to Military Times. “Many beneficiaries also indicated that maintaining their providers and comprehensive coverage was an important factor in their decision.”

For the first year of the demonstration project, enrollment fees are waived for retirees, their family members and survivors. Active-duty service members, their family members and transitional survivors don’t pay Tricare Prime enrollment fees.

While those in Tricare Select currently don’t have to get referrals, they could choose to switch to the Tricare Prime demo option which doesn’t require referrals and also provides the additional benefit of case management and care coordination for those who need it.

CareSource will help Tricare families navigate finding a provider, getting an appointment and providing more hands-on personal support.

CareSource Military and Veterans is part of CareSource, a national nonprofit managed care organization with more than 2 million members.

They are prioritizing bringing back these retirees and their dependents back to 21 military treatment facilities, Dr. Stephen Ferrara, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told a Military Officers Association of America conference Oct. 28.

“Those are the folks we really want. We love to have our seniors at MTFs,” Ferrara said.

They’ve chosen the 21 locations, based on the specialists available and the capability of the facilities, he said. The locations are reportedly larger, major military medical centers. Defense Health Agency officials would not answer a Military Times question about the specific locations, saying they cannot provide any information until the government shutdown ends “because it’s not an excepted topic.”

In various roles over the last 30-plus years, including 25 years as an active duty Navy surgeon, Ferrara said, he has watched the “whipsawing back and forth” of these patients, in terms of their ability to get care at MTFs or being forced out into the private sector to get their health care.

“It’s frustrating for the patients,” he said, and as a surgeon, “those are the patients I want to see” because older patients have more complex and advanced conditions.

Those MTFs are platforms where medical providers sharpen their skills as they take care of a wide variety of patients, he said, and it is a key element of readiness.

“I focus on readiness, because that’s what I owe the secretary,” Ferrara said, adding that one way of achieving that is by having “high-volume, high-complexity, busy MTFs.”

Defense Health Agency officials could not provide information about whether this effort is related to last year’s directive from former Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, ordering sweeping changes to boost staffing at military medical facilities, increase access to care for benefits and attract more patients back to MTFs.

Hicks cited problems that had led to “chronically understaffed military treatment facilities and dental treatment facilities.

Defense Health Agency officials could not respond to questions about the status of that effort.

The long-awaited COLA announcement sets the rate of increase for Social Security beneficiaries, but also for military retirees and people receiving veterans benefits. The increase goes into effect in January.

The government shutdown delayed the announcement by nine days.

Nearly 71 million people receive Social Security benefits, officials said, estimating that on average, the monthly benefit will increase by $56.

As an example, a military retiree who receives $2,500 in retired pay will see a COLA increase of about $70 a month.

For a veteran receiving $1,500 per month in benefits, the increase would be about $42 in 2026.

In 2024, Congress passed legislation that ties increases in veterans’ benefits to the rate of Social Security increases. The cost-of-living increase applies to disability compensation, clothing allowances and dependency and indemnity benefits, as well as some other VA assistance programs.

The COLA is designed to make sure benefits keep pace with inflation. The calculation is based on the Consumer Price Index, which tracks the cost of a wide range of items and calculates inflation and changes in the cost of living.

The 2025 COLA, at 2.5%, was the lowest increase since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The COLA increases were 3.2% in 2023, 8.7% in 2022 and 5.9% in 2021.

In 2020, the increase was 1.6%.

Social Security officials will begin notifying individuals about their new benefit amount by mail starting in early December.

A new policy takes effect Aug. 31 for Wegovy, Zepbound, Saxenda, Qsymia, Phentermine and Contrave, affecting coverage of those drugs for weight-loss purposes. Tricare for Life is the Tricare plan for Medicare-eligible military retirees and their Medicare-eligible family members.

Defense Health Agency officials, in a response to Military Times, contended the change corrects unauthorized coverage that Tricare has been providing to beneficiaries who weren’t eligible for the weight-loss medications.

Tricare will continue to cover those weight-loss medications for younger beneficiaries — those enrolled in Tricare Prime or Tricare Select or premium-based plans. Those beneficiaries still must have prior authorizations for the weight-loss drugs. They must also meet Tricare’s clinical criteria and have a prescription from a Tricare network provider.

The premium-based plans include Tricare Young Adult, Tricare Reserve Select, Tricare Retired Reserve and Continued Health Care Benefit Program.

Current plans to end this coverage “risk the progress made by patients taking these medications and cast doubt on the future of the [Tricare for Life] benefit,” wrote Karen Ruedisueli, director of health affairs in government relations for the Military Officers Association of America, on the nonprofit organization’s website.

She said MOAA has sent an email to DHA officials expressing their concerns, and she noted they’re getting considerable feedback from their members.

The issue of coverage of weight-loss medications has a complicated regulatory and legislative history with conflicting guidance, she said. Thus, “halting this policy change would provide time to assess the legislative and regulatory history governing Tricare policy on weight loss medications and determine next steps to avert negative impacts to beneficiaries,” she wrote in the article calling for a halt in the plans.

In an Aug. 5 press release that included information about the change, Tricare officials said the Defense Health Agency is “implementing regulatory controls” on weight-loss medication coverage.

“Tricare has been providing coverage for weight loss medications to beneficiaries who were not eligible under federal statute. This implementation corrects that unauthorized coverage,” DHA spokesperson Brenda Campbell said in an email response to Military Times’ questions about the reasons for ending the coverage.

She noted that different laws govern Tricare Prime and Tricare Select.

“These laws allow DOD to offer certain health care services and health benefits when received from network providers under those plan options that are not available to [Tricare for Life] beneficiaries,” Campbell said. “Some Tricare for Life beneficiaries were found to have received coverage for these medications inconsistent with existing statutory and regulatory authority.”

In the Aug. 5 announcement of the change, Defense Health Agency Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Cordts said “people are taking GLP-1 drugs — like Wegovy and Zepbound — for weight loss now more than ever. It’s important to understand how — and why — Tricare covers these drugs, based on your condition and status.”

In an email to Military Times, one Tricare for Life beneficiary prescribed Wegovy said she feels as if Tricare officials “are saying we are subpar members, not as worthy as the Prime or Select members.”

“Wegovy has been a miracle for my medical conditions of obesity, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, pre-hypertension, sleep apnea,” she added. “All of that improved with this medication. Now they just cut it off.”

The letter she received from Tricare stated she could continue filling her current prescription — and pay 100% of the drug cost. That amounts to $1,300 per month.

“That will take most of our retirement money,” she said.

GLP-1 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of diabetes will continue to be covered for all patients who have a diabetes diagnosis, when medically necessary and when prior authorization requirements are met, according to Tricare officials.

Tricare covers Trulicity, Ozempic, Mounjaro and Victoza to treat type 2 diabetes, with prior authorization. Ozempic, Mounjaro and Victoza require medical necessity forms for a formulary copayment and coverage at a military pharmacy, officials stated.

Since the change in coverage was announced, MOAA has received a considerable amount of feedback from its members, all of whom went through extensive prior authorization processes to document co-morbid conditions, lifestyle changes and trials of alternative medications before they met the clinical criteria for approval for the weight-loss medications, Ruedisueli wrote, adding that Tricare doesn’t cover these drugs for cosmetic purposes.

The members are worried their progress will be reversed if they can no longer use these drugs.

“A physician from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center also reached out to MOAA with concerns about the new policy and its impact on Walter Reed’s military retiree patients,” Ruedisueli wrote.

And members who aren’t directly affected have another concern: that the change represents a terrible precedent and could lead to further targeted cuts to Tricare for Life. MOAA shares that concern, Ruedisueli wrote.

Officials are urging beneficiaries to talk to their health care providers about their options and suggest using the Tricare Formulary Search Tool to check costs and coverage requirements.

The new myAuth system is replacing the legacy DS Logon system, which authenticates users onto more than 200 Defense Department and Veterans Affairs websites, defense officials announced July 17. Those who use the DS Logon system currently include military personnel, DOD civilians, military and civilian retirees, family member beneficiaries, contractors and vendors.

Among other things, myAuth offers enhanced security protections, such as multi-factor authentication, which requires two or more verification methods.

When the system is completely phased in, users will be able to access all of their regular DOD applications with the one sign-in through myAuth. DOD officials say the new system will simplify the login process.

Many users can already log in to MyAuth and set up an account using their DS Logon credentials.

Officials are launching the system in phases, starting with milConnect and ID Card Office Online in May. As of July 14, more than 740,000 DOD-affiliated personnel had created myAuth accounts, officials said. The success rate for people creating their accounts is more than 99%, they said, minimizing the need for people to contact the call center.

Those who wait until after the DS Logon is gone must reverify their identity if they don’t have a Common Access Card. Many Tricare secure online patient services, such as the MHS Genesis patient portal, require a DS Logon account.

Those who don’t have a CAC or a DS Logon must create a one-time DS Logon account over the next 18 months to establish their identity and benefits before creating a myAuth account, the DOD told Military Times.

Active-duty service members and DOD civilians with a CAC will likely have no problem making the transition to the new system, officials said in their announcement, because their daily use of programs that currently offer both DS Logon and myAuth for authentication will be a reminder for them to sign up for myAuth.

Officials are focusing on getting the word out to a large number of users who don’t use the DOD systems daily, such as retirees, family members and contractors.

For example, the Defense Manpower Data Center is working with the Defense Health Agency to let users who access Tricare-related systems know about the change, said Zachary R. Gill, the branch chief of DMDC’s identity credential access management and partner services, in the announcement.

The myAuth provides secure access for retirees and other beneficiaries who may not have a Common Access Card.

It also provides access options for people who do have a CAC but might not be able to use it in certain circumstances — for example, a soldier traveling on orders booked through the Defense Travel System who encounters problems with a flight at the airport.

Without access to a CAC-enabled computer, it’s a challenge to access the Defense Travel System to make changes in travel. But with myAuth, a soldier in that circumstance could use a different credential to access the Defense Travel System with a personal cell phone. The CAC will no longer be the only way to access these government systems.

The myAuth uses Okta Verify, which can be installed on a personal or government-issued cell phone. There are biometric capabilities for both face and fingerprint recognition; the DOD organization using the system sets the methods for access.

Some of the applications individuals need to access may not require the highest levels of authentication, and not everyone has a CAC or a smartphone, or access to technology. So the myAuth system will “flex” to meet different needs, Gill said.

As the new system is rolled out, individuals using applications such as milConnect are seeing a login screen for myAuth, which allows them to create a myAuth account.

Gill noted that legacy DS Logon system isn’t the only system being replaced by myAuth, but it is the largest.

“There are multiple authentication systems across the department that each department is paying for individually, which means each department is paying for sustainment costs or licensing costs,” Gill said in the announcement, noting that DOD will shutter those systems and replace them with myAuth.

More information about the change is available at myAuth Help.

Officials estimate that more than 13,000 service members have been affected, including about 4,500 Reserve airmen and more than 7,000 Air Guard members. They’re also reviewing the records of another 1,500 combined Reserve and Air Guard members who have already separated from the military and may not have received any retirement funds.

Defense Finance and Accounting Service officials are working with Air Force officials to address the problem and to ensure that any service members who weren’t properly enrolled in BRS will receive matching Thrift Savings Plan contributions and earnings retrospective to the date when they should have been enrolled, a Defense Department official said.

The fixes could take six months to a year as officials work through calculations for individual cases.

The members weren’t properly enrolled in BRS “due to service-level data entry processes unrelated to the [Defense Joint Military Pay System],” the DOD official said.

All service members who joined the military beginning in January 2018 were supposed to be automatically enrolled into the Blended Retirement System, BRS, which began in 2018.

A Thrift Savings Plan account, similar to the 401(k) retirement account in the civilian sector, is created for the service member after 60 days of service, with the government contributing 1% of basic pay to the TSP and up to 5% to match the service member’s contribution to the account.

Information was not immediately available about how or when Air Force Reserve and Air Guard officials discovered the problem. Military Times first asked Defense officials about the problem on April 28, after an April 26 post on the popular Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, which noted that “a whistleblower had revealed the long-standing error.”

Air Force Reserve officials have been working with DFAS staff since early May to make sure Reserve airmen’s pay and benefits are correct, said spokesperson Col. Carla Gleason. They’ve provided DFAS with a list of the Reserve airmen who were affected.

Reserve airmen who didn’t receive matching TSP contributions will receive a lump-sum deposit to their TSP account, she said. The staffs are working each case independently, and it’s expected to take about six months to make the adjustments, Gleason said.

Air Guard officials anticipate it will take about eight to 12 months to complete their process of correcting the accounts retrospectively of the more than 7,000 Guard members, said Air National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Dyana Allen. Meanwhile, as of May 14, all of those accounts have been corrected for future agency contributions and matching contributions, she said.

Officials are also reviewing the pay records of about 1,500 Reserve and Guard airmen who had already left the military to ensure accuracy.

As officials work to make the adjustments, Reserve airmen don’t have to open a Case Management System ticket to have their pay record reviewed, Gleason said. But those who do have questions about their pay record should contact their servicing station’s military pay office within the comptroller squadron or flight, she added.

Air Guard members and veteran members who may have been affected and have questions can call 800-525-0102, or submit a MyFSS ticket at the Total Force Service Center, Allen said.

Since early May, officials have made it a priority to correct Reserve airmen pay records, Gleason said.

“Air Force Reserve Command senior leadership understands the impact these types of incidents have to airmen individually, as well as to morale, recruiting and retention,” she said. “We are engaged in this matter at every level, and we are working to ensure we can address the current issue and prevent it from happening in the future.”

Guard and Reserve officials are working to research the root cause of the issue and to make sure the error is fully rectified, officials said.

Some Reserve and Guard airmen said they had noticed the problem with their own situation and pursued it themselves, according to posts on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page.

One Guard member noticed an issue about a year ago and “upchanneled” the problem to the National Guard Bureau, she said. “…they kept saying it was an accession issue … I have also asked on how to correct this issue and I have never gotten a response!” she posted.

She created quarterly talking points to push out to her base to spread awareness of the issue and urge other troops to check their Leave and Earning statements, she said.

For a variety of reasons, many new Guard and Reserve members may not have been aware of the BRS and its features, such as government contributions to their retirement accounts.

One veteran said in the Facebook group that he enlisted in 2018, and he asked the finance office when he left in March 2024, “where’s my % match? They were dumbfounded.”

Another Reserve airman said he notified his finance office when he noticed there was no matching contribution after he got his first set of orders.

“Credit to them, they followed up and kept poking until it got fixed,” he wrote. It took six months, and there were no retroactive contributions, he said.

Information was not available about how DFAS and the services will compute the amounts owed.

For some people, the amount of money — especially considering the compounding of dollars in the future — could be substantial, said JJ Montanaro, a certified financial planner who is the financial advice director on USAA’s military affairs team.

Montanaro said one fair way to correct the problem would be to use the appropriate TSP age-based target retirement Lifecycle fund and do a back calculation for each service member. That Lifecycle fund is the default for service members who don’t make an alternative choice themselves for their TSP.

At the beginning of BRS, 3% of basic pay was automatically deducted from each paycheck to fund the TSP. Troops could change the amount of deductions, but by law, if they stopped contributions, they would be reenrolled at 3% each year.

That all changed in October 2020, when troops joining the military were automatically enrolled with 5% of their base pay deducted for their TSP. Troops must take action to reduce their contributions to their TSP.

The government contributes at least 1% of base pay to the TSP and matches up to 5% of troops contributions’ to their TSP.

Before BRS, under the legacy retirement system, fewer than 20% of troops served long enough to receive military retired pay. Today, the majority of active-duty service members participate in the Blended Retirement System and will receive a government retirement benefit if they serve at least two years, even if they don’t qualify for a full retirement.

As of May 7, individuals must show a REAL ID, or acceptable alternative, to board domestic commercial flights, visit military installations and access certain federal facilities. REAL ID driver’s licenses are identified by a star in the upper right-hand corner. DOD ID cards, including those issued to dependents, are among the forms of identification listed on the TSA website as acceptable alternatives to the REAL ID.

Still, some travelers told Military Times their military IDs have been rejected at U.S. airports. The issue has come up with military retirees, particularly those with old-style ID cards featuring an “INDEF”, or indefinite expiration date.

One Air Force retiree said his retiree ID card wasn’t accepted when he tried it out while flying to Virginia on May 10. The card has an “INDEF” expiration date.

“Our officers are trained to accept military IDs at our security checkpoints,” TSA spokesman Dave Fitz told Military Times. “In the unlikely event that an officer would not accept a military ID, the passenger should ask to speak to a supervisor.”

Although the TSA page detailing the list of acceptable identification doesn’t specifically mention retired military IDs, Fitz said, “U.S. Department of Defense IDs, to include IDs for active and retired military, are acceptable forms of ID, even if they do not have an expiration date.”

Military-connected passengers may also use any of the other acceptable IDs listed, Fitz noted. Among other options listed on the TSA site are U.S. passports, Veteran Health Identification Cards (VHIC), state-issued Enhanced Driver’s Licenses (EDL) and Enhanced IDs (EID).

Replacing old-style military IDs

Meanwhile, policies for accessing military bases for those who already have military or DOD-issued credentials, such as military retirees, dependents and surviving spouses, have not changed.

But those with an old-style ID card should be aware that while they will still be able to access military bases with that ID, it’s uncertain for how long. These IDs are blue, pink or tan DD Form 2, DD Form 1173, DD Form 1173-1 or DD Form 2785.

The Defense Department is working to replace these IDs with the NextGen ID. Officials advise getting the NextGen ID now to avoid any problems with installation access. For more information about the NextGen ID and how to replace it, visit this Defense Finance and Accounting Service page.

DOD hasn’t yet announced the deadline for the replacements. DOD previously said the transition to NextGen ID is expected to be completed by January 2026 for the 5 million non-CAC holders, primarily retirees and military family members.