WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said a health care bill he cosponsored in the Senate that will help make the medical brain power of institutions like Vanderbilt University Medical Center available to doctors in rural parts of Tennessee and other rural areas of the country is ready for the president’s signature.
“House passage of this legislation is good news for people fighting complex diseases in rural Tennessee and other parts of the country that are far away from specialists and large medical centers. This bill will help patients in remote areas who need specialized treatments get those treatments from their local doctors, because it instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to study technology that will help connect those doctors with specialists at institutions like Vanderbilt. Sens. Hatch and Schatz worked hard, in a bipartisan way, to get this bill passed, and I look forward to it being signed by the president.”
The Senate unanimously passed the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Act, which Alexander cosponsored, on Nov. 29. The bill was introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). Sen. Alexander was one of 15 cosponsors on the bill.
Today, the House of Representatives passed the legislation by voice vote. It is now heading to the president’s desk.