For Immediate Release
August, 2026
Regulators, legislators, medical professionals, and hospital associations are converging on a new standard of care for the Warrior Community — 63 million Americans who get their healthcare in commercial facilities.
Ellicott City, Maryland — Warrior Centric Health today issued a call to action for America’s commercial healthcare systems: the time to act on military service as a social determinant of health is now. A powerful and growing consensus — spanning federal regulators, state legislatures, the nation’s leading medical association, and regional hospital councils — has reached a tipping point, and healthcare organizations that fail to adapt risk being left behind.
America’s military community — comprising Veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard, Reserves, and their family members — represents approximately 18% of the general U.S. population—nearly one in every five citizens. Critically, an estimated 63 million of these individuals receive their care not from the VA, but from commercial healthcare facilities across the country. Yet the vast majority of those facilities have no systematic approach to identifying, understanding, or addressing the unique health burdens this population carries.
“Civilian Health Care Systems Must Recognize and Study Military Service as a Social Determinant of Health.” — National Academy of Medicine
The Regulatory and Legislative Drumbeat Is Impossible to Ignore
Across regulatory bodies, statehouses, and professional organizations, the message is consistent: military service is a social determinant of health, and healthcare systems should respond accordingly. Recent milestones include:
- The Joint Commission — 2026 National Performance Goal (NPG) #4: The Joint Commission now specifies Veterans as an identifiable population with health disparities, making Warrior Community care a formal performance standard for accredited health systems.
- IRS Community Benefit Rule: The IRS has created a funding stream for non-profit healthcare systems that serve identified vulnerable populations — providing a tangible financial incentive for hospitals to establish Warrior-focused care programs.
- Maryland SB0740 (2025): The SFC Matthew Fast Act establishes national legislative precedent for Warrior/Service Member Community healthcare, setting a model that states across the country are now following.
- Virginia HB140 (2026): Virginia followed Maryland’s lead, enacting legislation that affirms the legislative precedent for Warrior and Service Member Community healthcare at the state level.
- American Medical Association — 2025 Resolution: The AMA formally advocates for treating Veterans and Service Members as a vulnerable population in all healthcare systems, a sweeping professional endorsement that spans every specialty and every practice setting.
Hospital associations are now amplifying this message to their members. Organizations, including the Southern Atlantic Healthcare Alliance, the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, are actively encouraging member institutions to seek solutions for this growing public health concern.
“Working to bring solutions for the most pressing problems facing memberships of 18 healthcare associations and councils, we now see a recognition of the need for targeted military community healthcare and a growing hunger to fulfill it.” — Brian Stevens, President/CEO, Affiliated Enterprise Solutions
The Scale Is Staggering — and Largely Hidden
The Warrior Community — Veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard, Reservists, and their family members — comprises roughly 18% of the U.S. general population (compiled from DMDC, USCB, and VHA data). An estimated 63 million of these individuals receive care in commercial healthcare facilities rather than the VA. Yet most of those facilities have no systematic approach to identifying or addressing the unique health burdens this population carries.
Military service hits multiple social determinant of health (SDOH) domains simultaneously, produces lasting compounding effects, and is difficult to reverse, yet it is invisible on most standard intake forms unless a provider knows to ask. PTSD and TBI, the conditions most publicly associated with military service, are just the beginning. According to America’s Health Rankings (United Health Foundation, 2022), Veterans experience significantly higher rates of chronic disease compared to non-Veterans:
| Chronic Condition | Higher Incidence vs. Non-Veterans |
| Cardiovascular Disease | +38.6% |
| Coronary Heart Disease | +38.2% |
| Chronic Pain | +32.3% |
| Cancer | +15.3% |
| Arthritis | +12.4% |
| COPD | +10.2% |
Source: “Health of Those Who Have Served,” America’s Health Rankings, United Health Foundation, 2022.
“It should come as no shock to our nation’s medical practitioners that the rigors and traumas of the military experience reverberate throughout our Warrior patients’ lives in multiple ways. It’s high time our medical systems catch up to that fact and do something about it.”— Dr. Evelyn Lewis, Chief Medical Officer, Warrior Centric Health
The Clock Is Ticking
The convergence of regulatory standards, state legislation, and professional consensus is creating a de facto standard of care for a population that has long been overlooked. Healthcare organizations that move now will be positioned as leaders in military-informed care. Those that wait face growing compliance risk, missed IRS community benefit opportunities, and — most critically — continued gaps in care for the millions of Warriors walking through their doors every day.
“Over the last few years, a standard of care for veterans and service members has emerged that enables commercial systems to address their health disparities and improve outcomes. If we embrace it, we can narrow the gaps faced by the Warrior population.”— Stephen Love, President/CEO, Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council
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About Warrior Centric Health
Warrior Centric Health is the nation’s leading authority on military-informed healthcare. Using DoD/DoW and SBIR funding, WCH has developed solutions that help commercial health systems deliver consistent, specialized care across the full Warrior Community population.
For more information, visit warriorcentrichealth.com.Please visit https://warriorcentrichealth.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Contact:
For Information
Ron Steptoe, CEO