August 25, 2023

Chairman Arrington, Rep. Burgess Launch Budget Committee Health Care Task Force

Panel Will Seek Solutions to Improve Patient Outcomes and Reduce Health Spending

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Budget Committee Member Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) today announced that the Committee has launched a new Budget Committee Health Care Task Force, which will be led by Rep. Burgess. 

Earlier this week, Arrington and Burgess published an opinion piece in The Hill highlighting how the recent U.S. credit downgrade and runaway health care spending makes this Task Force even more vital.  

The goal of this Task Force is to find solutions to reduce health care spending, examine opportunities to modernize and personalize the health care system, and support policies to fuel innovation and increase patient access to quality and affordable care. 

“Nearly one third of the total $6.4 trillion in federal government spending this year will be on health care. If we want to course correct and bend the debt curve, we must act now to get Washington’s health care spending under control,” said Chairman Arrington and Rep. Burgess. “The Task Force is intended to serve as an incubator for finding new ways to improve health outcomes while reducing federal spending. We will serve as a forum for developing and modeling legislation to improve spending efficiency, returns on federal investments, and an overall more cost-effective health care system.

Members of the Task Force include: 

Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) (Chair) 
Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA)
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA)
Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT)
Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN)
Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) (ex-officio)

To help inform the Health Care Task Force’s work, Task Force members issued a request for information (RFI) to solicit feedback from independent experts and stakeholders on solutions to improve outcomes and reduce federal health care spending in the budget. Responses are kindly requested by October 15, 2023.

For more information on the House Budget Committee Health Care Task Force, please click here.