A bipartisan, MOAA-supported bill would allow military treatment facilities (MTFs) to retain experienced civilian nurses as they become more skilled, improving access to care for servicemembers, retirees, and their families.

The Retain Educated Workers and Registered Nurses Developing (REWARD) Experience Act – introduced Nov. 30 in the Senate by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and in the House the same day by Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) – targets nursing applicants working at an MTF when they advance their education and licensure. The bill would let MTF hiring managers waive regulations that drive many of these professionals into the private sector. A one-pager for the bill can be found at this link.

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“MOAA supports the REWARD Act that will help military hospitals and clinics retain experienced civilian nurses as they further their education and achieve higher levels of licensure,” said MOAA President and CEO Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, USAF (Ret). “MOAA’s spring advocacy campaign last year raised concerns about health care workforce challenges, so we appreciate the REWARD Act will help DoD retain experienced nurses by addressing a barrier in hiring policy.”

How the Bill Works

An example under the current system:

• A licensed practical nurse (LPN) starts in the federal General Schedule (GS) system at an MTF.
• While working, the nurse goes to nursing school for either a diploma or bachelor of science in nursing.
• By the time the nurse graduates, they have been promoted to a GS-6 position.
• If they want to transition to a registered nurse (RN) position, they would only be qualified for a GS-5 position because they don’t meet the requirement for qualifying experience in an equivalent position. They would effectively be taking a pay cut for increased responsibility within an institution they are already likely more well-equipped to support than an outside hire with more experience.

[RELATED: MOAA Uniformed Services Nurse Advocates Virtual Chapter]

MOAA has raised concerns about MTF staffing since 2019, when DoD proposed an 18% reduction in military medical billets. We’ve been successful in halting medical manpower reductions – most recently with a provision in the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that prohibits proposed medical billet cuts for five years and requires a series of analyses and reports to demonstrate the smaller medical force can support operational requirements and provide access to care for beneficiaries before any changes are made.

Both the military health system and civilian medical centers across the U.S. have been plagued with staffing challenges since the COVID pandemic. We appreciate the REWARD Act addresses civilian staffing challenges by helping MTFs retain skilled nurses, and we thank the lawmakers who are leading the effort on Capitol Hill.

‘Common-Sense Fix’

Those lawmakers underscored how their bill supports access to care in military hospitals and clinics in a press release accompanying the introduction of the REWARD Act.

“Our new bipartisan legislation would provide a common-sense fix to incentivize nurses to stay in the military health care system, where their skills are so important to getting servicemembers and their families timely access to high-quality care,” Murray said in the Dec. 4 release. “Staffing shortages are a challenge for health care facilities across the country, and we must keep working to find ways to retain qualified and experienced nurses in military health care facilities and ensure servicemembers and their families get the care they deserve – I’m proud to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get that done.”

The bipartisan bill “provides a common-sense fix that would cut through bureaucratic requirements to help the military keep dedicated healthcare professionals on the job without taking a pay cut,” Budd said in the release, while Strickland noted the change “retains nursing talent that wish to become more skilled and prioritizes patient care for servicemembers, their dependents, and veterans.”

Please visit MOAA’s Legislative Action Center to join us in building support for this important bill that would improve access to care in military hospitals and clinics.