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TAPS Policy and Legislative Priorities

The mission of TAPS is to offer comfort and support for surviving families of military loss regardless of the location or manner of their death. Part of that commitment includes advocating for improvements in programs and services provided by the Federal government through the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Education (DoED), Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well as State and local governments. TAPS also works to advance policy and legislation to strengthen the families of America’s fallen military heroes.

 

TAPS Legislative Priorities for the Year:

 

End the Remarriage Penalty for Surviving Spouses

Current law significantly penalizes surviving spouses if they choose to remarry before the age of 55. Many survivors of illness loss, suicide loss, and combat loss are younger than 55 and have children that they must raise alone. There are 30,000 surviving spouses under the age of 55, but only 5 percent choose to legally remarry. Oftentimes, surviving spouses choose not to remarry after the death of their service member or veteran because the loss of financial benefits would negatively impact them and their families. Surviving spouses of a fallen service member or veteran, who earned these benefits through service and sacrifice, should not have to choose between another chance at love, a stable home life for their children, and financial security.

  • Support Love Lives on Act of 2025

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Improve Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) For Survivors

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) is a tax-free benefit paid to eligible surviving spouses, dependent children, or dependent parents of service members who die in the line of duty or veterans whose death resulted from a service-related injury or illness. Currently, surviving spouses receive 43 percent of the rate of compensation paid to a 100 percent disabled veteran, as opposed to other federal programs that pay survivors 55 percent. The monthly DIC rate is $1,653.07 and has only increased due to cost-of-living adjustments since 1993. These stringent limitations on DIC payments affect 506,000 survivors and have negative financial impacts on housing, employment, transportation, food security, and medical and mental healthcare for all surviving family members.

  • Support Caring for Survivors Act of 2025

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Treat Suicide as a Presumptive Service-Connected Cause of Death for Veterans and Prioritize Mental Health and Wellness

Military service exposes individuals to unique stressors and potential traumas. The presumption of service-connection for veteran suicides would acknowledge that the mental health challenges veterans face are often a direct consequence of their service. If an active-duty service member dies by suicide, it is treated as a “line of duty,” death, and their eligible dependents are awarded various Department of Defense-related benefits. Extending similar benefits to veterans’ families would provide a consistent acknowledgment of service connection that does not end with active duty. The presumption that veteran suicide is service-connected and that benefits should extend to their families is not about incentivizing tragedy; it’s about recognizing the full scope of sacrifices made by those who serve, and the ongoing need to prioritize mental health and wellness for veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.

  • Support Service-Connected Suicide Compensation Act
  • Support Veterans’ Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers (ACCESS) Act of 2025

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Provide TRICARE and CHAMPVA Health Coverage for Young Adults

The Affordable Care Act extends coverage for dependents under civilian health insurance plans up to age 26 with no additional premiums but does not apply to military or veteran health care. TRICARE coverage for military and surviving families ends at age 21 (or 23 for full-time students), leaving them with the option to purchase TRICARE Young Adult with added monthly premiums. CHAMPVA dependents lose coverage at age 18 (or 23 if they are students) without a young adult coverage option. Consequently, military and surviving young adult children are left with three choices: Pay a high premium, seek alternate health insurance, or go uninsured. By extending TRICARE and CHAMPVA eligibility, thousands of young adults will be ensured access to health care and mental health care, saving military and surviving families up to $7,644 per child each year.

  • Support Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act
  • Support CHAMPVA Children's Care Protection Act

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Ensure Continued Implementation of the PACT Act for Toxic-Exposed Veterans and Survivors, and Expand Presumptive Conditions

The passage of the historic PACT Act was a tremendous victory, but the work does not stop. Each year, more survivors whose loved ones died due to toxic exposure-related illnesses connect with TAPS for grief support and help navigating their benefits. Of the survivors seeking our care in 2024, 37 percent were grieving the death of a military loved one due to illness, including toxic exposures. TAPS remains committed to promoting a better shared understanding of illnesses that may result from toxic and environmental exposures, radiation, or PFAS, and ensuring that impacted service members and veterans, and their families, caregivers, and survivors receive critical health care and mental health support, and the benefits they deserve.

  • Support Aviation Cancers Examination Study (ACES) Act
  • Support Creating Presumption of Service-Connection for K2 Deployments

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Create One GI Bill for All

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) is an outdated education benefit provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that pays qualified recipients only half the amount of the Montgomery GI Bill, and far less than the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Fry Scholarship. TAPS recommends sunsetting Chapter 35 and moving all qualified recipients to Chapter 33. Those using Chapter 35 are limited to dependents of a 100 percent disabled veteran or those who died of a service-connected death. Creating one GI Bill for all will remove workload issues for education services at the VA and help streamline the process of applying for and accessing educational benefits, making the VA’s goal of the Digital GI Bill more efficient.

  • Support Gold Star Family Education Parity Act

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Ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs Collects Cause of Death Data

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) does an excellent job of tracking major data categories for surviving families, but an important piece of information that VA does not track is the veteran’s cause of death. While the VA currently supports 506,000 surviving spouses, the VA does not know what percentage are suicide, illness, combat or training accident losses. This information is critical to ensure that VA and other organizations are providing necessary care and programs for surviving families, as well as research into suicide prevention, toxic exposures, and illnesses that have led to the tragic deaths of many veterans. The Department of Defense has tracked this data for many years, so it is logical to presume the VA can and should do the same.

  • Support Justice for America's Veterans and Survivors Act

 

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Protect and Preserve Commissary and Exchange Benefits

Commissary and Exchange benefits provide a vital non-pay compensation benefit to service members, retirees, their families, and survivors. The military community consistently ranks them as a top compensation benefit, yielding returns to military families and the Department of Defense that far outweigh taxpayer support.

Military and surviving families rely on these valuable earned benefits to stretch their household budgets and provide healthy food for their families. For military families experiencing food insecurity, or surviving families on fixed incomes, the savings commissaries and exchanges provide are critical to their financial well-being. 

TAPS continues to urge Congress to:

  • Allow surviving spouses who remarry before age 55 to retain their Commissary and Exchange benefits.
  • Preserve the Commissary benefit as part of the overall pay and compensation package, including high-quality products, and maintain savings, access, and customer satisfaction.
  • Maintain appropriations for the Exchanges with proper support and distribution of Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) dividends to ensure quality-of-life programs.
  • Provide congressional oversight of all transformation changes impacting Military Resale to preserve quality, savings, and access for patrons, and sufficient MWR dividends.

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