12/29/2025

New Law Restores Chiropractic at Select U.S. Military Bases

2026 National Defense Authorization Act Restores Chiropractic Services at Six U.S. Military Bases Where Services Have Been Arbitrarily Discontinued

On December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026,” (NDAA), legislation that includes a plan to restore chiropractic services at six U.S. military bases where services have been arbitrarily discontinued. The six clinics that will be reopened include those seeing 400 or more patients per month.

The final version of the bill also calls on the Defense Health Agency (DHA) to:

• Develop a plan to reopen closed clinics
• Explore the feasibility of putting chiropractors stationed at military facilities in the federal General Schedule (GS) system
• Report back to the House and Senate on the plan and the “utility of chiropractic services with respect to the benefits of such services to members of the Armed Forces, the availability of such services, and the cost of such services” by March 31, 2026

The move to restore chiropractic services is consistent with the DHA’s ongoing concern over the use of opioids by active-duty members of the military and calls to make non-addictive alternatives for pain management more readily available to military personnel.

The final language was first adopted in September as an amendment by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) to the House version of the bill. It reflects upon the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 106-398), which in 2001 established the original chiropractic benefit in the Department of Defense healthcare system.

“We thank Rep. Steube for his foresight to tackle this issue, and we also acknowledge House and Senate negotiators who kept the bulk of his amendment in the final package,” said John Falardeau, American Chiropractic Association (ACA) senior vice president of public policy and advocacy.

The Steube amendment was drafted in response to chiropractic clinic closures over the past year caused by contracts with participating chiropractors being allowed to lapse, even though surveys indicate chiropractic services are highly valued at U.S. military facilities. Reports show that these clinics provide proven, cost-effective care to hundreds of patients monthly, offering a range of non-drug services to address painful musculoskeletal conditions commonly experienced by members of the military, enabling them to return to service. The results of a four-year clinical trial conducted at several military sites – the largest chiropractic clinical trial on record – provided further evidence that chiropractic care, when added to usual medical care, resulted in moderate short-term improvements in low back pain intensity in active-duty personnel. The results of the trial, published in 2018 by JAMA Network Open, served as additional support for the inclusion of chiropractic services as a component of multidisciplinary health care for back pain, as currently recommended by existing guidelines.

ACA will continue to work with Congress to ensure all military clinics that were recently closed reopen and to expand access at additional bases across the country and overseas.

Sources:

ACA Press Release, “Congress Takes Initial Step to Restore Chiropractic at Select U.S. Military Bases,” December 18, 2025

ACA Press Release, “House Directs Defense Department to Restore Chiropractic to Military Bases,” September 11, 2025

Text of S. 1071, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026