Warren Launches New Investigation into Impact of Republicans’ Cuts to Health Care on Service Members and Their Families

Warren Launches New Investigation into Impact of Republicans' Cuts to Health Care on Service Members and Their Families

New analysis finds Republicans' Medicaid cuts threaten health care for 40 percent of service members, veterans, and military families

Warren: "Ensuring that service members and their families have access to quality health care is essential for military readiness and our ability to protect our national security"

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launched an investigation into how Republican cuts to health care in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) are affecting service members, veterans, and their families from accessing the health care they need. Using the new data from researchers, Senator Warren is requesting information from the Department of Defense (DoD) about how it is guiding military families through the health care cuts and whether Republicans and the Trump administration consulted the Pentagon before making these drastic cuts.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that President Trump's and Republicans' budget law will lead to 7.5 million people losing Medicaid coverage by 2034, and a total of about 15 million people will lose insurance when accounting for the law's other effects. Many military families rely on Medicaid to supplement coverage from the military's health care program, TRICARE, especially those with special needs or lower incomes. One in ten children of active-duty service members with TRICARE also have Medicaid coverage.

In a new, first-of-its-kind analysis, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that nearly 725,000 TRICARE beneficiaries who live on or near military bases could be at risk of losing access to health care if nearby hospitals need to "close down, lay off staff, reduce care offerings, or face other disruptions" due to OBBBA. Four of the ten states with the highest numbers of at-risk TRICARE beneficiaries are represented by senators who voted for these cuts - Texas, South Carolina, Alaska, and Oklahoma. In these states, over 215,000 TRICARE beneficiaries living on or near military bases reside within the service area of hospitals that are at moderate-or high-risk for financial distress due to the OBBBA's Medicaid cuts and other financial stressors.

"This poses grave risks to military morale and readiness and health care access for service members and their families," Senator Warren warned in her letter to Secretary Hegseth.

Almost half of U.S. military bases are already in what are considered to be "health care deserts," and Congress and DoD have designated over 40 installations as remote and isolated in the U.S. since 1989. A 2023 survey by Blue Star Families found that military families already struggle to access timely specialty care, with their wait times for appointments "often exceeding average wait times in the overall U.S."

In its recent annual report, Blue Star Families reported that about one in five active-duty families "have experienced a disruption in medical or mental health care since January 1, 2025" and that three in ten would like to receive mental health care, but have not. Almost half of respondents who said they experienced problems with TRICARE in 2025 reported it was regarding "access to care."

In February, senior military leaders from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force testified to the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee that the most substantive complaint they receive from troops is about access to health care. The top enlisted service member for the Navy confirmed that military readiness depends on access to medical and mental health care, and that it's "one of the most consequential quality of life issues we hear."

Congress expanded Medicaid coverage for children in the 1960s after a government task force found that military draftees were being rejected due to "untreated childhood illnesses" that could have been prevented.

"In addition to making it harder for service members to continue serving, President Trump and Republicans' reckless Medicaid cuts will likely make it more challenging to find enough recruits who meet DoD medical and physical standards," said Senator Warren.

"Ensuring that service members and their families have access to quality health care is essential for military readiness and our ability to protect our national security," concluded Senator Warren.

The senator asked Secretary Hegseth to provide, by March 23, 2026, an analysis of which military bases are near hospitals at-risk from Medicaid cuts; clarify whether Congressional Republicans consulted the Pentagon before making the Medicaid cuts; and explain how the Pentagon is guiding service members and their families through any shortages in access to health care.

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