Sec. 717. Plan for priority assignment of medical personnel of Department of Defense
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Not later than April 1, 2026, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a plan for each military department to prioritize the assignment of active duty medical and dental personnel to military medical treatment facilities. Not later than September 1, 2026, the Secretary of each military department shall each commence carrying out the plan under paragraph
(1)by assigning active duty medical and dental personnel to military medical treatment facilities in accordance with the plan. The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives updates on the implementation of the plan under paragraph
(1)as follows: On a quarterly basis until the Secretary of Defense determines that the plan is fully implemented. On an annual basis thereafter. In carrying out the plan under subsection (a), the Secretary of each military department, in coordination with the Director of the Defense Health Agency, shall assign active duty medical and dental personnel to military medical treatment facilities in accordance with the plan. If, in the judgment of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department fails to comply with the plan under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall issue to the Secretary of the military department a directive requiring corrective action by the Secretary not later than 90 days after the date on which the directive is issued. If the Secretary of a military department fails to initiate timely corrective action pursuant to the directive issued by the Secretary of Defense under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on such noncompliance. Such report— shall include a description of corrective measures to be taken, a plan of action, and milestones; and may include recommendations for legislative and administrative changes the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate. Not later than January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter for a period of five years, the Director of the Defense Health Agency and the Surgeons General of the military departments shall jointly submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the state of manning for active duty and civilian medical and dental personnel. Such report shall include, with respect to the year covered by the report, the following: Average civilian, contractor, and military staffing levels at military medical treatment facilities over the preceding year. The extent to which military medical treatment facility staffing is compliant with the requirements for optimal operation of such facilities. Active duty operational medical personnel manning shortfalls. Defense Health Agency civilian and contractor hiring shortfalls, including a description of resources required to fill civilian billet gaps. A projection of yearly budget shortfalls over each of the next five years within the Defense Health Agency, including a detailed description of the expected effects of such shortfalls to delivering health care benefits, operating the direct care network, maintaining an adequate managed care network, maintaining a fit and healthy fighting force, training medical personnel, recruiting and retaining medical personnel, planning for contingency operations, and any other resourcing matters the Director determines necessary and relevant. A description of military department-level tradeoffs between operational medical requirements and military medical treatment facility manning requirements, and how each military department is working to fully support both. A description of health care service levels at military medical treatment facilities and whether such facilities are adequately resourced to provide enough throughput of medical care to— maintain efficient operation of all medical services offered at the facilities; meet patient needs; and keep all medical and dental personnel proficient with the medical skills of the professional. For military medical treatment facilities that are deficient in the categories listed in paragraph (7), a plan for how to bring TRICARE program beneficiaries back into military medical treatment facilities to improve and maintain operations in the direct care system. A brief description of the major areas of disagreement among the Director and each of the Surgeons General relating to manning, operating, and improving the volume and quality of care at all military medical treatment facilities, and a plan for how to resolve such areas of disagreement going forward.