Improving Access to Prenatal Care for Military Families Act

S.2239, the Improving Access to Prenatal Care for Military Families Act, would require the Secretary of Defense to run a five-year pilot program that treats pregnancy as a qualifying event for enrolling in TRICARE Select. This means eligible beneficiaries could enroll in TRICARE Select outside normal enrollment periods specifically because they are pregnant. The pilot must begin within 180 days of enactment. It includes an initial briefing to Congress within a year and annual reports for the next four years detailing enrollment changes, broken down by month and by category (such as separations from active duty, returns to active duty, dependents in those situations, and pregnancy-related enrollment changes). The Act defines key terms and outlines which congressional committees receive the reports. In short, the bill aims to improve access to prenatal care for military families by making pregnancy a trigger to enroll in a TRICARE plan, and it requires ongoing oversight and data reporting to Congress.