Marsha knows the Nashville region has historically been home to healthcare innovation. From health insurance to hospital care, the Mid-South has long led the nation in healthcare.

With offices in the Nashville area, nearly 400 healthcare companies are conducting business throughout Tennessee, the nation, and internationally. The healthcare industry contributes nearly $40 billion annually to the region’s economy. The healthcare industry is one of the area’s largest employers, accounting for 250,000 jobs in 2014.

As Vice-chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Marsha is a strong advocate for this vital Middle Tennessee industry.

Legislation that Marsha has supported includes the bipartisan H.R. 6, the 21^st Century Cures Act which will expedite the process by which new treatments get to patients and doctors more quickly. This legislation promises new treatments for Tennessee families facing cancer, diabetes, autism, Alzheimer’s disease and others. Furthermore, this legislation supports the efforts of Tennessee innovators who are currently working on these cures. 

A lynchpin of the 21^st Century Cures is Marsha’s bill, H.R. 2396, the Sensible Oversight for Technology which Advances Regulatory Efficiency Act (SOFTWARE). More than 62 percent of Nashville Health Care Council CEOs believe that health information technology is the most promising healthcare sector for growth. SOFTWARE will keep the FDA in its lane in regards to these technologies so that innovators can get the newest, most effect mobile medical apps in the hands of the people that want and need them.

Marsha understands that the rising cost of health care coverage is unsustainable. She also knows that Obamacare has left too many Americans without the care they need at a price they can afford. She believes that market based reforms, that put patients and not Federal bureaucrats in the driver’s seat, are the best means to expand access at a lower cost.

To that end, Marsha has reintroduced her legislation, H.R. 543, the Healthcare Choice Act, that would repeal Obamacare and allow Americans to shop for health care insurance across state lines, allowing insurance companies to compete for your business. She has supported other moves by House Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare, including H.R. 2653, the American Healthcare Reform Act.

Marsha will continue to support seniors’ access to Medicare by remaining vigilant to prevent the current administration from robbing Medicare to pay for Obamacare.

Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke on the House floor in support of H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act. This bipartisan legislation includes language authored by Blackburn -- the SOFTWARE Act -- that would provide opportunity for health IT to deliver on the promise of better health for all Americans. (July 9, 2015):