NewsBytes October 16, 2026
In this issue:
COLA Set at 3.6 Percent
VA Closes Record 3.11 Million Claims
VA Expands Written Consent Rules
TRICARE Open Season Starts Nov. 9
Lincoln Home After 321 Days
COLA Set at 3.6 Percent
The Social Security Administration announced on October 14 that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027 will be 3.6 percent, the largest increase since 2023 and well above the 2.8 percent adjustment beneficiaries received this year. The figure is drawn from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), averaged across July, August, and September, and it sets the annual increase for military retired pay, Survivor Benefit Plan annuities, and Social Security benefits.
For military retirees the increase is automatic under 10 U.S.C. 1401a. It takes effect December 1 and first appears in the retired pay deposit at the start of January, with no application required. Retirees under the REDUX plan who accepted the Career Status Bonus receive one percentage point less, or 2.6 percent, and members who retired during 2026 receive a prorated first-year adjustment. VA disability compensation and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation work differently: they do not rise without an act of Congress. The Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2026, H.R. 8552 introduced by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) and Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), and its Senate companion S. 4487 introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), would apply the same 3.6 percent effective December 1, 2026. The House bill was forwarded by the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs on June 30, and the Senate bill awaits action in the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. Neither has passed either chamber.
The FRA welcomes the 2027 COLA as essential protection for the purchasing power of retired Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen, and restates its standing opposition to any COLA reduction, delay, or substitution of the chained CPI. The Association calls on Congress to pass the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act when it returns in November so that disabled veterans and survivors receive their increase on schedule. Timely delivery of earned compensation is a core element of FRA's disability compensation reform agenda, and an increase that veterans have already earned should never hang on the lame duck calendar.
VA Closes Record 3.11 Million Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on October 15 that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) processed 3,111,399 disability compensation claims in fiscal year 2026, which closed September 30. The total surpasses the prior record of 3,001,734 claims set in fiscal year 2025, and marks the second consecutive year the department has completed more than 3 million claims.
VA reports that the claims backlog has fallen by more than 70 percent and average processing time by 46 percent since January 2025, with the average decision taking 75.6 days in September. Claims processing accuracy stands at 94 percent, the highest rate in two years. The department grants more than 60 percent of claims submitted, and about 3 percent of VBA decisions are appealed to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. VA expects continuous records sharing with the Department of War under the September 8 Executive Order to remove another 20 to 30 days from claims for recently separated members.
The FRA commends the VBA for sustaining record throughput while absorbing the claims volume generated under the PACT Act. Speed, however, is only half the measure. FRA's request to the VA for the number of claims closed because a veteran missed a Compensation and Pension (C&P) examination remains open, and that data will shape how FRA's Veterans Service Officers counsel Shipmates at the time of filing. The Association will continue to track accuracy and appeal rates closely, consistent with its disability compensation reform agenda, so that faster adjudication never becomes a mechanism for reducing earned compensation.
VA Expands Written Consent Rules
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on September 28 that it will add four new informed consent requirements for psychotropic medications beginning in 2027. Veterans under age 30 will sign a consent form before being prescribed an antidepressant, and veterans of any age will sign before receiving opioids and benzodiazepines prescribed together. Prescribers will also be required to document discussions of risks, side effects, benefits, alternatives, and how to safely discontinue a medication, including for psychotropic drugs that require only verbal consent today, and VA will deliver standardized patient education for those medications. The department will spend the rest of 2026 training staff and updating its policies, and the implementing directive has not yet been published.
Until now, VA has required signature consent only for long-term opioid therapy. The VA Office of Inspector General has repeatedly documented gaps in consent practice, most recently in a September inspection that found required risk and benefit discussions recorded in only 36 percent of reviewed health records at one VA health care system. In April, more than 30 national veterans organizations wrote to VA and congressional leadership urging passage of the Written Informed Consent Act, H.R. 4837 introduced by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and S. 3314 introduced by Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT), which would extend signature consent to antipsychotics, stimulants, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and narcotics. Advocates have also noted that VA's under-30 threshold does not match the age range covered by the FDA's boxed warning on antidepressants.
The FRA welcomes VA's decision as a meaningful first step toward a veteran's right to understand the medications prescribed to them, a cornerstone of the Association's goal of Restoring the Veteran to health and purpose. An administrative policy, however, can be narrowed or rescinded as easily as it was issued. The Association urges Congress to pass H.R. 4837 and S. 3314 so that written informed consent becomes law and reaches every covered medication class regardless of a veteran's age. FRA will review VA's implementing directive when it is published and will press the department to measure compliance rather than assume it. Click Here to take action through the FRA Action Center.
TRICARE Open Season Starts Nov. 9
TRICARE Open Season for 2027 coverage runs November 9 through December 8, 2026, with any changes taking effect January 1, 2027. Beneficiaries satisfied with their current TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select plan need take no action and will remain enrolled as long as they stay eligible and pay any applicable fees. Open Season does not apply to active duty service members, to TRICARE For Life beneficiaries, or to premium-based plans such as TRICARE Reserve Select, TRICARE Retired Reserve, and TRICARE Young Adult, which accept enrollment at any time.
Outside Open Season, Prime and Select enrollees may change plans only after a Qualifying Life Event, such as a permanent change of station, marriage, divorce, or the birth or adoption of a child, which opens a 90-day window. Pregnancy alone is not a Qualifying Life Event, so families expecting a child in 2027 should decide during Open Season which plan best fits their maternity care. Retiree family members who are eligible but not enrolled will have no TRICARE coverage in 2027 unless they enroll before December 8. Federal Benefits Open Season for dental and vision coverage through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) runs alongside TRICARE's but closes one day earlier, on December 7. The fastest way to enroll or change plans is online through milConnect, and Shipmates should use the window to confirm that family information in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) is current.
The FRA encourages every sea service family and retiree to review their coverage before the window closes. Choosing the right plan now prevents unexpected out-of-pocket costs and gaps in care for a full calendar year. The Association restates its standing opposition to any TRICARE fee increase, will review the 2027 cost schedule when it is published, and continues to press for expanded network access so that families in fleet concentration areas and remote duty stations can actually reach the care their enrollment promises.
Lincoln Home After 321 Days
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) returned to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on October 8, ending a 321-day deployment that began November 21, 2025. The carrier and its more than 4,500 Sailors and Marines spent much of the deployment in the Middle East supporting combat operations against Iran and enforcing a maritime blockade. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth flew aboard the day before the homecoming to present the crew with the Presidential Unit Citation. The deployment now ranks as the fourth longest by a carrier strike group since 1964, a few days short of the 326-day post-Vietnam record set by USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) earlier this year.
The homecoming closes a deployment that drew sustained congressional scrutiny. The carrier went 286 days at sea before its first full port call, crews reported food shortages and mail disruptions after the Navy's logistics hub in Bahrain was damaged, and Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao disclosed last month that eight members of the strike group attempted suicide during the deployment. The Navy also moved to charge a 19-year-old Sailor who went overboard in August in an apparent suicide attempt, after his family reported that requests for mental health support and paternity leave had been denied.
The FRA congratulates the crew of the Lincoln and the families who carried the home front for nearly 11 months. A unit citation honors what this crew accomplished, but it does not settle what the Navy owes them now. The Association urges Navy leadership to fully resource post-deployment leave, mental health screening, and reintegration support, to ensure that every Sailor can seek care without career penalty, and to restore predictable deployment lengths across the fleet. FRA reaffirms that a warfighter in crisis must be met with clinical care, not a charge sheet. Any Shipmate or family member in need can reach the Veterans and Military Crisis Line 24 hours a day by dialing 988 and pressing 1, or by texting 838255.