Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, Montanans have always been on the cutting edge of frontier medicine, using ingenuity to overcome the challenges in frontier and rural America to make sure we have access to high- quality health care. In fact, going back to the time my great-great- grandmother homesteaded near Conrad, MT, our health care providers have worked and continue to work to increase access despite geography, weather, limited resources, and government regulation.

Rural Montanans are often hours away from a hospital and even farther away from any kind of trauma center. Our local providers are the first- line responders. They tackle everything from the common cold to emergency situations. It is their actions that can make the difference between life and death. Rural providers give Montanans access to preventive and behavioral health services. They help ward off chronic illness with early detection and provide care and support through cancer and other debilitating diseases. They deserve our respect and the resources that will help them better serve Montanans. That is why I am honored to join my colleagues in supporting the ECHO Act and making sure it is passed and signed into law. I am thankful for the leadership of the senior Senator from Utah, Senator Hatch, who has been out front leading in this effort.

Geographic location should not dictate the quality of care. This bill will promote opportunities to improve access to high-quality care in rural communities, such as access to specialists and support and training for rural health care providers. In fact, this year the Billings Clinic launched the Montana-based Project ECHO hub in an effort to address a lack of access to mental health and substance abuse resources. The hub connects rural providers with a team of specialists to collaborate, share case studies, and offer support. The hub is built to be flexible, allowing teleclinics on any topic or any disease. It also allows Montana's providers to collaborate with specialists at academic centers, such as the University of Washington and the University of New Mexico. Because of the success of this first hub, the Billings Clinic will launch two more teleclinics next year to help primary care sites across Montana integrate behavioral health services in their practices.

The ECHO Act will promote these programs throughout the country and increase access for all Americans. I am thankful to see strong bipartisan support on the passage of this bill as we work together to improve rural health care.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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