Ranking Member's Press

COOKEVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 15 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee,today called for restricted travel from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone to the United States.  Alexander said: “Given the spread of Ebola in Dallas, the most sensible way to prevent the spread of Ebola in the...

KNOXVILLE, Oct. 14- U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made the following statement on analysis by the Senate Budget Committee released today showing Obamacare will likely increase the federal deficit by approximately $131 billion by 2024: “Democrats in Congress and President Obama have made a lot of promises about what Obamacare would do to...

NASHVILLE, Oct. 9 – As the Obama administration today broadcast its economic report on millennials, those born between 1980 and the early 2000s, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released five facts on the reality for this generation under the Obama administration:  “What the Obama administration’s report neglects to say...

*** “Obamacare took away choices and increased costs, forcing many hard-working Americans to lose their plans.” –Lamar Alexander   CHATTANOOGA—Oct. 8 – As Obamacare costs force Wal-Mart to eliminate health benefits for part-time workers and a Gallup Poll finds an increasing number of Americans hurt by Obamacare,...

Washington, D.C., October 7- U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) today renewed their call on the Department of Labor (DOL) to suspend its rule that significantly changes the overtime exemption for companionship care—which would increase costs for many seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on non-medical...

MARYVILLE, October 7 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement regarding a report that tax on health insurance required by the president’s health care law could reduce private sector employment by nearly 300,000 jobs by 2023, with 57 percent of those losses coming from small businesses in Tennessee and...

NASHVILLE, October 6 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), today released the following statement after President Obama announced the government will increase screening at U.S. airports of travelers coming from countries affected by the outbreak of Ebola: "I said last week that our country should screen at all U.S. airports all...

NASHVILLE, October 3 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today urged President Obama to accelerate the United States’ response to the West African Ebola epidemic. “I am today urging President Obama to take two steps to accelerate our country’s response to the Ebola epidemic: First, immediately begin screening at all...

MARYVILLE, October 2 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today called on the Obama administration to make public the final insurance premium rates for next year as soon as they are finalized on November 3, so families can plan their budgets before the exchanges open on November 15. “The administration will know exactly what health...

MARYVILLE, October 2- U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today called on the Obama administration to immediately rescind the Education Department’s 37-page guidance issued to instruct 14,000 local school districts from Washington on how to distribute state, local and federal funds to ensure students have equal access to educational...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mike Johanns (R- Neb) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) today led an effort urging the Department of Labor (DOL) to suspend a rule that could dramatically increase costs of non-medical, in-home personal care services, many of which are administered through Medicaid or other state...

MARYVILLE, Oct. 1 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement on the first anniversary of the Obamacare exchanges opening and the news that another 2,000 Tennesseans are receiving notices this month of their health plans being canceled:   “Today we learn that 2,000 more Tennesseans are losing their...

ASHLAND CITY, Sept. 25 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers showing that health insurance premiums for Tennesseans will increase by an average of 14 percent in 2015 is “one more reason Americans need a Republican majority in the Senate to start over to repair the damage Obamacare...

NASHVILLE, Sept. 25 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on Nashville-based HCA Healthcare’s donation of $1 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation to help respond to the Ebola epidemic:  "I'm glad to see such a prominent Tennessee company joining Samaritan's Purse...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 – U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today highlighted a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled, “DOL's Use of Financial and...

NASHVILLE, September 24 – At a roundtable today with Vanderbilt University Medical Center experts and state health officials, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Tennessee and the nation must be prepared to respond to the Ebola epidemic “with the urgency required of a threat as deadly and dangerous as ISIS.” The roundtable...

KNOXVILLE, Sept. 23 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the report by the Health and Human Services’ Inspector General on Healthcare.gov’s security weaknesses: "Seems like every day we hear a new report on problems with the Obamacare website. All these reports tell us one...

WASHINGTON, DC – Republican leaders of the House and Senate Committees of jurisdiction today sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner regarding the ongoing challenges states are facing while implementing the health law’s changes to Medicaid.  House Energy and Commerce...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), and Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) applauded Senate passage of the bipartisan Sunscreen Innovation Act just hours after it was passed by the HELP...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced a bipartisan Senate Resolution recognizing the week of September 22nd , 2014 as National Adult Education and Family Literacy week. “I am proud to cosponsor this bipartisan resolution that recognizes the importance of adult education and...