Lamar Alexander is one of the most consequential legislators in Washington. The Tennessee Republican leads the Senate HELP committee — arguably the most important congressional committee for health care right now — and he's working to pass major bills on mental health, opioids and biomedical innovation and more. Sen. Alexander joined POLITICO’s Dan Diamond to discuss how his education background informs his perspective on health care(starts at the 2:40 mark), where several major pieces of health care legislation stand (9:45), why we need more funding for NIH (12:30), his thoughts on Obamacare (22:30), and what he learned from running for president and how he thinks about this year's race (29:45). We’d appreciate your help: Please share PULSE CHECK and rate us on your favorite podcast app! Have questions, suggestions or feedback? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices