Calls Issued for Higher Pay, No TRICARE Fees

A group of military service organizations in urging Congress to stop cutting strength, increase basic pay, and shelve any plans to increase payments for beneficiaries if TRICARE, the military’s managed health-care plan. The Military Coalition, which consists of 28 organizations that represent past and present service members, made its request in a letter to Republican leaders and ranking Democrats in both chambers of Congress. The group also opposes a measure pending in the Senate that would reduce housing allowances for people who share residences, including service members who are married to other service members. The bill in question is S. 2943. The House and Senate are working on their respective versions of the 2017 defense-spending bill.