Chairman's Press
Senate Health Committee Advances Alexander, Bennet “PREEMIE” Bill to Give Infants Hope for Healthier Lives
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2018 - The Senate health committee today passed legislation sponsored by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) to reduce infant deaths and improve infant health by continuing research and education programs aimed at preventing preterm births. "In Tennessee, about 11 percent of babies are born preterm," said Alexander, who is chairman of the Senate health committee. "I first introduced the PREEMIE Act in 2003, with the encouragement of the Ma… Continue Reading
06.26.18
Senate HELP Committee Advances Bills to Help Prevent Premature Births, Improve Career and Technical Education Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 26, 2018 - The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee today approved reauthorizations of the PREEMIE Act, aimed at preventing premature births, and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. "In Tennessee, about 11 percent of babies are born preterm," Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said. "I first introduced the PREEMIE Act in 2003, with the encouragement of the March of Dimes, to support health care professionals caring for babies born p… Continue Reading
06.25.18
Alexander: Senate Approves Record Funding for Government-Sponsored Research
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2018 - United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that "bipartisan support for government-sponsored research should be part of the president's 'America First' agenda," after the Republican-led Senate passed the first appropriations bills for the next fiscal year, including the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill from Alexander's subcommittee. "I want to suggest that a candidate for the president's 'America First' agenda that has bipartisan suppo… Continue Reading
06.21.18
Alexander: Senate Committee Approves Bill to Help Secure Border, Stop Illegal Opioids from Entering the U.S.
WASHINGTON, June 21, 2018 - United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the bill approved today by the Senate Appropriations Committee will take another step in the fight against the opioids crisis by helping stop illicit opioids, including heroin and fentanyl from entering the United States. Alexander said, "The Homeland Security Appropriations bill provides the funding and resources needed to help stop illicit opioids, including heroin and fentanyl from entering the United States - a… Continue Reading
06.19.18
Alexander: Trump Administration Plan Would Give Potentially Millions More Americans Access to Lower Cost Employer Insurance
"To the plumber in Memphis, the songwriter in Nashville, or the bakery owner in Chattanooga, who have been paying through the nose since Obamacare took effect, who might be making $60,000 dollars per year and paying $20,000 for health insurance and who is very likely not receiving a subsidy, the Trump Administration appears to have found a potential solution." WASHINGTON, June 19, 2018 - Senate health and labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said a new Trump Administration … Continue Reading
06.19.18
Alexander: Congress Needs More Information to Make 340B Program Work Better for Patients
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2018 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said Congress needs more accurate information to determine how to make the 340B Program work better for patients and hospitals. "There is no consistent data that shows how hospitals and clinics are spending the money they save through the 340B Program," Alexander said. "The reason we don't have much data is because the agency that oversees the program - the Health Resources and Services Administration (… Continue Reading
06.15.18
Alexander to CMS: Make State Innovation Waivers a More Powerful Tool for Lowering Health Insurance Costs
"I have tried to fix this problem in Congress. Unfortunately, not a single Democrat would work with us to repeal and replace Obamacare. When efforts to repeal the law stalled, I tried for seven months to find a short-term, bipartisan solution to help Americans trapped in the Obamacare marketplaces - and I appreciate your assistance on those efforts. I worked on a bipartisan proposal that included new permanent flexibility for the State Innovation Waivers, and funding that would have lowered prem… Continue Reading
06.15.18
Senate Republicans Urge Trump Administration to Expand Access to Lower Cost Employer Insurance to Potentially Millions More Americans
"These plans include the important patient protections that apply to the roughly 160 million Americans who receive coverage from large employers. An AHP cannot charge a higher premium because a patient has a pre-existing condition, deny coverage of a pre-existing health condition, cancel an employee's plan because the employee gets sick or impose annual or lifetime limits on benefit coverage. An AHP must offer coverage to dependent children up to age 26, if dependent coverage is offered, and mus… Continue Reading
06.15.18
Statement from Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray on the June 20 HELP Executive Session
WASHINGTON, June 15, 2018 - Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today released the following statement regarding the postponement of the committee's Executive Session scheduled for June 20: "We have announced an Executive Session for June 20 for a series of important bills and nominations. Our goal is bipartisan agreement on the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and we are making significant progress toward that goal… Continue Reading
06.14.18
Senate Health Committee Announces Series of Hearings on How to Reduce Health Care Costs
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2018 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced the committee will hold a series of hearings this year to explore how to reduce health care costs in America: "The United States has the most innovative health care system in the world, but it is also the most complex, and too often Americans struggle to understand the system and plan for and afford their health care," Alexander said. "These hearings will explore why Americans spend so much on… Continue Reading
06.12.18
Alexander Statement on Texas Obamacare Court Case
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2018 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the Senate's health committee, today released the following statement on the Justice Department's legal brief filed in a Texas lawsuit in federal court about the constitutionality of the pre-existing condition protections in the Affordable Care Act after Congress repealed the individual mandate penalty: "There's no way Congress is going to repeal protections for people with pre-existing conditions who want to buy he… Continue Reading
06.12.18
Alexander: Help on Way for Americans Struggling to Afford Prescriptions
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2018 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that the Trump Administration's comprehensive drug pricing blueprint will bring "help to the one in eight Americans who say it is difficult to afford their prescriptions." Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar testified at today's hearing, which was the committee's fourth hearing this Congress on the price Americans pay for their prescription drugs. "The Administration is taking action for… Continue Reading
06.12.18
Alexander: FDA Taking Action to Remove Barriers to Lower Drug Prices
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2018 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said "smart action" by the Food and Drug Administration would help remove barriers to lower drug prices, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act. "Today's action by the FDA means insurance companies can negotiate better prices on drugs and devices for the patients they cover. Right now, a drug or medical device company is limited in what information they can share with insurance companies if the com… Continue Reading
05.31.18
Alexander: Colleges Should Apply Same Enthusiasm to Underrepresented Points of View that they Apply to Underrepresented Students
New York, May 31- Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said "colleges should apply the same enthusiasm to underrepresented points of view that they have applied to underrepresented students." "We don't want to graduate a generation of students who have to go to a 'safe place' because they don't know how to handle an offensive tweet," Alexander said. "Colleges are supposed to be places where you learn how to deal with the world you're about to be in... You need … Continue Reading
05.24.18
Senate Health Committee Announces Hearing on President Trump’s Drug Pricing Plan
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2018 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced the committee will hold a hearing on June 12 at 10:00 am EDT with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, to examine President Trump's drug pricing blueprint: "Biomedical research has made it possible to cure Hepatitis C, prevent migraines, and stop a stroke, but it is important that patients are able to afford these miracle drugs. The cost of prescription drugs is a complex problem… Continue Reading
05.23.18
Alexander: Senate Health Committee Passes Bill to Help Tennesseans Better Prepare for Flu, Wildfires, Bioterrorism
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2018 - The Senate health committee today approved legislation that its Chairman, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said would "help ensure Tennesseans are better prepared to handle threats such as pandemic flu, wildfires, and deliberate attacks with dangerous agents like anthrax." "Tennesseans want to know we are better prepared to face public health threats-whether that's outbreaks of infectious diseases like Ebola, Zika, or the flu; natural disasters, such as hurricanes an… Continue Reading
05.22.18
Alexander: Gap Between Americans Who Need Health Care and Those Who Provide Care Has Potential to Widen
"Rural areas where 60 million Americans live suffer the greatest impact of the shortage of health care professionals. According to the National Rural Health Association, there are only 39 primary care doctors for every 100,000 people living in rural areas, but there are 53 primary care doctors for every 100,000 people in urban areas." WASHINGTON, D.C., May 22, 2018 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said, "We know that the shortage of health care professionals -… Continue Reading
05.16.18
Alexander: Democrats’ 5-month Delay in Confirmation of Deputy Education Secretary “Inexcusable”
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2018 - Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said today that Senate Democrats' five month delay in confirming Brigadier General Mitchell Zais as Deputy Secretary of Education was "inexcusable" and "this extremely well-qualified nominee did not deserve to be subject to Democrats' unreasonable and unnecessary obstruction." "Mitchell Zais has broad experience in public education. He has been a college president, state superintendent of education and a… Continue Reading
05.15.18
Alexander: Federal Watchdogs Agree that 340B Discount Drug Program Needs Better Oversight
"It very well may be that hospitals and clinics are using the savings to benefit low-income patients as intended. But it is hard to know that until we have more information." WASHINGTON, May 15, 2018 - At the Senate health committee's second hearing this year on the 340B Drug Discount Program Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that federal watchdog reports find the program needs better oversight, and the agency in charge may need more authority to conduct that oversight and collect … Continue Reading
05.11.18
Alexander Statement on President Trump’s Drug Pricing Announcement
WASHINGTON, May 11 - Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on President Trump's drug pricing announcement: "The President's plan is sweeping, comprehensive and sophisticated. It appears to put patients and taxpayers first. I especially welcome the proposals to lower prices by creating more competition and to examine the practice of list price rebates which make it hard for consumers to know what they are paying and what alternatives ar… Continue Reading
