The Surviving Spouse Advisory Committee (SSAC) began 2017 with the exciting opportunity to develop the second MOAA Virtual Chapter — following in the successful footsteps of the Uniformed Services Nurse Advocates Virtual Chapter. We completed the necessary paperwork in August of that year and forwarded it to MOAA to be submitted to the board of directors for their approval at their February meeting.

In April, SSAC members participated in MOAA’s annual Storming the Hill event in Washington, D.C., during which we asked legislators to prevent disproportional TRICARE fee hikes, end harmful sequestration cuts, and eliminate the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependency and Indemnity Compensation offset affecting 63,000 surviving military spouses or extend and increase the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) if the offset cannot be eliminated. We received positive feedback, and Congress included a provision in the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that provides a permanent extension to the SSIA. We will continue to push Congress to eliminate the offset in its entirety.

We continued efforts to increase our visibility within the MOAA membership, including presentations about the SSAC at the Regional Leaders Workshop in Memphis in September and in Oklahoma City in November and the column “Your Secret Weapon” by Col. Terri Coles, USA (Ret), on page 48 of the November issue of Military Officer about the important roles of spouses and surviving spouses in local chapters.

2026 will be a busy and exciting year with many new and challenging opportunities for the SSAC, and our Chapter will continue supporting this important committee throughout the year as needed.