Service members received a 1.7-percent hike in basic pay beginning Jan. 1. The raise took effect Jan. 3, when President Obama signed into law the 2013 defense-spending bill. Other key provisions include a $527.5 billion base operating budget for the Defense Department, $88.5 billion for overseas contingency operations, and $17.8 billion for national security programs. Co-payments for prescription medications under TRICARE, the military’s managed-care health provider organization, will rise through 2022 as well. But the bill limits retirees’ annual co-payment hikes to cost-of-living increases they may receive each year. The basic allowance for subsistence (BAS) is rising 1.1 percent; the basic allowance for housing (BAH) is increasing nationwide an average of 4 percent. BAH rates will vary depending upon cost-of-living changes in locales across the country, rank, and number of dependents.
