The military services have so far approved just 4,167 claims for the temporary increase in Basic Allowance for Housing, far fewer than were anticipated by defense officials.
About 200,000 service members and their families may be eligible for a temporary increase in monthly housing allowance in areas where available and affordable housing is hard to come by.
Paying $600 more for rent than what BAH covers, getting outbid by tens of thousands of dollars when trying to buy a house … these are common experiences for military members across all services.
Congress should revisit SNAP eligibility for military families in the next coronavirus relief bill by excluding BAH from gross income, say the authors of this commentary.