05.24.18

Senator Murkowski Chairs Hearing On Indian Health Service Budget

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) chaired an Interior Appropriations Subcommittee hearing recently, examining the Fiscal Year 2019 budget request for the Indian Health Service (IHS). During the hearing, Senator Murkowski addressed budget priorities from opioid funding and the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to maintenance backlogs and the need for staffing quarters for healthcare professionals. The hearing featured Indian Health Service Acting Director Rear Admiral Michael Weahkee, Rear A… Continue Reading

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05.22.18

Murkowski: Addressing Healthcare Workforce Shortages

As Alaska grapples with a consistent lack of trained professionals in various healthcare sectors, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today participated in a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing to address healthcare workforce shortages and ways to improve care. The hearing featured witnesses Dr. Kristen H. Goodell, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Julie Sanford, Director of the Sch… Continue Reading

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05.01.18

Murkowski Statement on New U.S. Genetically Engineered Salmon Facility

Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement after the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the application for an AquaBounty Salmon Facility in Indiana last week. AquaBounty Technologies has been developing genetically engineered (GE) salmon since 1996 and received an FDA approval in 2015 to sell it for human consumption. Due to Senator Murkowski's efforts, an import alert for GE salmon remains in place preventing U.S. production. "While AquaBounty continues… Continue Reading

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04.24.18

Health Committee Passes Bill Addressing Opioid Crisis

Today the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is a member, advanced the Opioid Response Act of 2018, legislation aimed to bring an end to the opioid crisis by accelerating research on non-addictive pain medicines, improving access to treatment, and strengthening enforcement. "Opioid abuse is currently our nation's most devastating public health epidemic, and it has been wreaking havoc in our communities and our homes for far too l… Continue Reading

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04.11.18

Murkowski: Improving the Response to the Opioid Crisis

Today U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) participated in a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing to discuss innovative ways to address root causes of the opioid addiction crisis and substance abuse in Alaska, and across the nation. The hearing featured witnesses Jessica Nickel, President and CEO of the Addiction Policy Forum, Robert Morrison, Executive Director of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, and Jennifer Donahue, Child Abuse Inve… Continue Reading

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03.23.18

Murkowski: Big Impacts for Alaska in Funding Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Early today, the Senate passed a bill that sets federal funding levels for the remainder of the fiscal year, providing the biggest defense spending increase in fifteen years and the largest pay increase for our troops in close to a decade. In addition, it makes significant investments in addressing school safety, fighting the opioid epidemic, and combatting substance abuse. As Chairman of the Interior Appropriations subcommittee and member of the Appropriations Committee, U.S.… Continue Reading

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03.14.18

Murkowski on Ending the Opioid Crisis in Rural Alaska

Today the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, of which U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is a member, focused on understanding the extent of the impacts of the opioid epidemic in Native American and Alaska Native communities and steps to make a difference. Witnesses testifying ranged from Tribal leaders to health professionals in the Indian Health Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice. "Alaska may be a rural state, b… Continue Reading

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03.12.18

Senators Tina Smith, Lisa Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Mental Health Services in Schools

U.S. Sens. Tina Smith (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today introduced a bipartisan bill to expand mental health services in the school system. The Improving Access to Mental Health Services Act would bring mental health professionals who currently work in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) into schools, community-based organizations, and into the homes of families who need the services. Right now, NHSC professionals can only provide care at certain approved clinics and are limited in th… Continue Reading

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03.09.18

Donnelly, Murkowski, Hassan Announce Bipartisan Bill to Address Opioid Treatment Workforce Shortage

U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced the Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Act, bipartisan legislation that would address the ongoing shortage of professionals needed to provide treatment and recovery services as communities combat the opioid abuse epidemic. The bill would incentivize students to pursue substance use disorder work by providing them with student loan relief up to $250,000 if they work for six years in areas tha… Continue Reading

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02.08.18

Murkowski on Fighting the Opioid Crisis

Today the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is a member, focused on the impact the opioid crisis has on children and families. The hearing featured witnesses representing a medical facility and foundations who focus on foster care and child welfare, research of opioid-exposed infants and women with substance-use disorders, and education for families about the dangers of drug abuse. "The issue of addiction and how opioids are devastatin… Continue Reading

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02.07.18

Hirono, Murkowski, Women Senators Recognize American Heart Month

Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) led the Senate's annual resolution recognizing February as American Heart Month. "Heart disease is the leading cause of death of women in the United States," Senator Murkowski said. "And while we've made good progress through research and advocacy, there is still so much we have to learn about our cardiovascular health. It is imperative that we continue to be proactive in providing our healthcare professionals, our families, and … Continue Reading

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01.30.18

McCaskill, Murkowski, Sullivan Seek to Expand Opioid Addiction Treatment Options for Rural Communities

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are working to expand rural communities' access to treatment for opioid addiction. While current law requires a doctor or nurse to see a patient in person before prescribing medication-assisted treatments for opioid addiction, the Senators are encouraging the Trump Administration to exempt healthcare providers from this restriction in limited cases in order to expand access to opioid addiction treatment via tele… Continue Reading

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01.10.18

Murkowski on Addressing the Opioid Crisis

Today U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) participated in a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing to address the nation's opioid crisis, that focused on examining the cause of the crisis and steps to turn the tide on the devastating crisis. The hearing featured one witness, Mr. Sam Quinones, journalist and author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, who provided his perspective on the opioid crisis, including his understanding of the cause and how s… Continue Reading

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12.05.17

Murkowski Bill to Improve Southeast Rural Health Passes Senate

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski praised the Senate's passage of her legislation, the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Land Transfer Act of 2017, which provides a land transfer of 19.07 acres in Sitka. S. 825, co-sponsored by Senator Sullivan, allows for much needed expansions by Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) at the Mt. Edgecumbe Sitka Campus. These extensions would enhance the level of healthcare services available to Southeast Alaska by providing a future site for… Continue Reading

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10.26.17

Murkowski Statement on Opioid Public Health Emergency

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement after President Trump made an announcement, directing the declaration of a nationwide public health emergency to address the opioid crisis: "I applaud President Trump for declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency, today. Opioid addiction has become one of the most devastating public health issues confronting our nation. It is impacting everyone, destroying families, spurring crime, hurting our economy, and leading t… Continue Reading

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10.17.17

Murkowski Applauds Bipartisan Healthcare Deal

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement after Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WI), Chairman and Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), announced an agreement aimed at improving and stabilizing the individual insurance market. "For months now, I have been urging a bipartisan approach to healthcare reform. I applaud my colleagues, Senators Alexander and Murray, for continuing to work towards a bipart… Continue Reading

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10.12.17

Warren, Murkowski Urge Trump to Officially Declare Opioid Epidemic a National Emergency and Take Action to Help States Combat Crisis

Text of the letter (PDF) United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today sent a letter to President Donald Trump to express concern that he has not declared the nation's opioid epidemic a national emergency or taken meaningful actions, like those of Massachusetts and Alaska after declaring their own state-level emergencies, to address the crisis. The senators encouraged the President to heed the recommendation of the President's own Commission on Combating … Continue Reading

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09.26.17

Murkowski’s Statement on Senate Healthcare Reform Efforts

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement about the Graham-Cassidy healthcare proposal. "I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues, Senator Graham and Senator Cassidy, but they have run up against a hard deadline and a lousy process. Time has not been on their side. The U.S. Senate cannot get the text of a bill on a Sunday night, then proceed to a vote just days later, with only one hearing - and especially not on an issue that is intensely personal to all of us. "… Continue Reading

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08.04.17

Murkowski, Sullivan Help Increase Treatment Options for Terminally Ill

The U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-AK), that gives terminally ill patients an alternative route to treatment, providing such patients options to access investigational agents not yet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act, improves care for patients through providing access to more individualized treatment from medical professionals, without undermining the FDA… Continue Reading

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07.12.17

Murkowski Demands Answers on Indian Health Service's Proposed Budget Cuts

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) chaired an Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Indian Health Service's (IHS) budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018. Senator Murkowski raised concerns with Rear Admiral Michael Weahkee, the new Acting Director for the Indian Health Service, over the administration's budget request containing a decrease of $300 million from last year's enacted levels. "There is anger, there is frustration and rightly so because a… Continue Reading