Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said he is optimistic about the future of legislation to lower healthcare costs.
"Legislation to end surprise medical bills, increase transparency and lower prescription drug costs is looking like a train that will get to the station when Congress reconvenes in September," he said in a speech delivered on the Senate floor.
Mr. Alexander noted various progress so far on the issue. On June 26, the Senate health committee voted to advance the Lower Health Care Costs Act formally introduced by Mr. Alexander and health committee ranking member Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
On July 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee also passed legislation to end surprise medical, with the addition of third-party arbitration.
And on July 25, the Senate Finance Committee advanced a bipartisan bill to address prescription drug pricing.
"Here is why this amount of activity on so many fronts is such a good sign," Mr. Alexander said. "In our committee, what we have seen before with fixing No Child Left Behind and the 21st Century Cures Act and last year's response to the opioid crisis … is that when so many senators and congressmen are working on an important objective in a way that its consistent with the president's objective, that there is likely to be a result that benefits the American people."
Mr. Alexander's full speech on the Senate floor is available here.
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