Five senators have added their support to Senate bill S 2617—introduced April 7 just before the Spring break—that would link the Pentagon’s planned Tricare fee hike for military retirees under age 65 to the annual percentage increase in retired pay. A similar bill in the House (HR 4949), which was introduced March 14 and has 138 cosponsors, would prohibit DOD from raising fees without Congressional approval. The sense of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle is that DOD must seek additional medical efficiencies and has asked for too large an increase in fees upfront.
The U.S. military conducted a new series of airstrikes on Iran June 26, a day after Tehran struck a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The twin attacks presented a fresh test for a tenuous ceasefire between the two countries.