TRICARE Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration Extended Five Years

Content

ACTION:

Notice of demonstration extension.

SUMMARY:

The Department will extend the Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration (CBSD) by five years. The Department is
also soliciting comments on the CBSD and its potential integration into the TRICARE Basic benefit. The comment period will
end 30 days after the publication of this notice. The Department will receive and consider comments but will not issue responses
to comments.

DATES:

The CBSD extension will run from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2031. The comment period will end on May 11, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by docket number and title, by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

• Mail: Department of Defense, Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency Directorate, Office of the Director of Administration &
Management, Regulatory Division, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Mailbox #24, Suite 05F16, Alexandria, VA 22350-1700.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number for this
Federal Register
document. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available
for public viewing on the internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Erica Ferron, 303-676-3626, erica.c.ferron.civ@health.mil. Questions regarding specific claims or cases should be addressed to the appropriate TRICARE Managed Care Support Contractor
in whose jurisdiction a claim has been or would be filed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 746 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 directed the Secretary
to establish a five-year demonstration project under TRICARE to evaluate the cost, quality of care, and impact on maternal
and fetal outcomes of covering the services of doulas and lactation consultants or counselors not otherwise TRICARE authorized,
and to determine whether it would be appropriate to add permanent coverage to the TRICARE benefit. This demonstration was
implemented as the CBSD, with details announced in a
Federal Register
notice (FRN) published by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, now referred to as the Assistant Secretary
of War for Health Affairs (ASW(HA)), on October 29, 2021 (86
Federal Register
(FR) 60006). The FRN prescribed the qualifications for the three extra medical maternal health providers (certified labor
doulas, certified lactation consultants, and certified lactation counselors), the number and type of services to be reimbursed,
and the reimbursement rates for the services. The initial FRN indicated that the CBSD would begin on January 1, 2022, in the
United States, and last for five years, consistent with Section 746 of the NDAA for FY 2021. The CBSD was modified for implementation
overseas by an FRN published August 2, 2023 (88 FR 50850), with overseas coverage commencing on January 1, 2025.

The ASW(HA), consistent with 10 U.S.C. 1092, is extending the CBSD that was originally mandated by Section 746 of the NDAA
for FY 2021 by an additional five years in order to ensure sufficient time for the Defense Health Agency to complete the program
evaluation required by Section 746, as well as to engage in any rulemaking that may be necessary if it is deemed appropriate
to make some or all of the CBSD permanent under the TRICARE program. The extension of the CBSD is estimated to cost approximately
$19.6M over five years.

The Department is requesting comments regarding the public's support of and concerns about the services and providers under
the CBSD. The Department will not respond to these comments but may consider them in making changes to the CBSD or the TRICARE
Basic benefit. Comments regarding specific beneficiary claims or comments requesting a response or intervention regarding
a specific case should be addressed to the appropriate TRICARE Managed Care Support Contractor. The Department receives feedback
from most beneficiaries via the CBSD's Maternity Survey and so in particular requests comments from providers and other impacted
members of the public.

Dated: April 7, 2026. Aaron T. Siegel, Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense. [FR Doc. 2026-06913 Filed 4-9-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6001-FR-P

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