Ranking Member's Press

WASHINGTON, September 24, 2019 — The Senate labor committee today approved the nomination of Eugene Scalia to serve as United States Secretary of Labor. “Mr. Scalia is well qualified to lead the Labor Department,” Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said during the committee meeting...

WASHINGTON, September 24, 2019 — Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced its final “overtime” rule: “More than one million additional employees will now be eligible to receive overtime pay under the Trump Administration’s...

The Honorable Lamar Alexander Chairman Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 The Honorable Patty Murray Ranking Member Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 August 30, 2019 Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, We formerly...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2019 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s drug importation action plan: “This is the first administration to take concrete steps to allow importation of prescription drugs to reduce their cost and I welcome it. The key...

WASHINGTON, July 24 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today released the following statement on the bipartisan Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019: “The Senate does not have time before the August recess to consider the bipartisan Lower Health Care Costs Act, which the...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2019 — The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today said that the Lower Health Care Costs Act—legislation sponsored by Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), which contains 55 specific provisions from 65 different Senators—will reduce...

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2019 — Employers across the country are voicing their support for the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019, bipartisan legislation to reduce what Americans pay out of their own pockets for health care, which the Senate health committee approved by a vote of 20-3 in...

“The question I hear most often is, ‘How can I reduce what Americans pay for health care out of their own pockets?’ And the most obvious out-of-pocket cost for most Americans is what we pay for prescription drugs. …Last month, the Senate health committee passed legislation, by a...

“This legislation helps Americans in three major ways: It ends  surprise billing, creates more transparency, and increases competition to bring down prescription drug costs.” — Chairman Lamar Alexander WASHINGTON, June 26, 2019 — The Senate health committee today approved by a vote of 20-3 the Lower Health...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2019 — After Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) introduced the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019, policy experts and advocacy organizations across the spectrum voiced their support of the bipartisan legislation to deliver better health care at lower...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2019 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced an Executive Order to increase price transparency in the health care industry and expand access to direct primary care: “This Executive Order is consistent with...

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2019 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today introduced S.1895, the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 — bipartisan legislation to deliver better health care at lower cost. Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray announced that the...

“This legislation will reduce what Americans pay out of their own pockets for health care in three major ways: First, it ends surprise billing; Second, it creates more transparency – there are seven bipartisan provisions that will: eliminate gag clauses and anti-competitive terms in insurance contracts, designate a non-profit...

NASHVILLE, June 5, 2019 — Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement on today’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on foreign influence in scientific research: “It is hard to think of a major scientific advancement since World War II that has not been supported by federal research...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2019 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today released the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019—bipartisan discussion draft legislation to reduce health care costs. “There's one issue I hear a lot about from Tennesseans, and it is, ‘What...

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2019 — This week, the U.S. Senate passed Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Senator Michael Bennet’s (D-Colo.) resolution celebrating the 20th annual National Charter Schools Week, which runs from May 12 through May 18, 2019, and commends the...

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2019 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after attending an event at the White House on surprise medical billing: “Ending surprise medical billing is a perfect example of how Congress and the president can work together to reduce out of pocket health care...

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2019 — Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after the Trump Administration finalized a rule to require drug makers to disclose list prices to consumers in TV advertisements: “The Trump Administration rule is a smart idea because the more consumers know about drug...

“In 2015, I urged the Obama Administration to slow down implementation of Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program, which incentivized doctors and hospitals to adopt electronic health records.  They did not slow down, and looking back, the results would have been better if they had. I am especially interested in getting where...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2019 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office report on Medicare for All: “The Congressional Budget Office confirmed that, under the Democrat Medicare for All scheme, Americans will lose the insurance they receive on the...