Murkowski bill would renew grants for ECHO model ANTHC uses

Bill Would Renew Federal Funding for Rural Alaska Telehealth Links

Federal grants that pay for videoconferencing links between rural Alaska clinics and distant specialist teams would keep flowing under a bill four US senators introduced Monday.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia introduced the Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Reauthorization Act. The current authorization came from the ECHO 2019 Act, which set up a grant program of $10 million a year for fiscal years 2022 through 2026. That figure comes from a release issued by Schatz's office when the law was signed in December 2019.

The program pays for a model that links specialist teams with primary care providers by interactive videoconferencing. Grants cover equipment for the secure exchange of electronic health information, support for participating providers, instructional programming and training, and data collection to measure the model's impact.

Murkowski named the University of Alaska and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium as Alaska organizations using the model.

"In rural Alaska, you have to improvise. That's why I'm always interested in innovations that help our communities adapt to the realities on the ground. The ECHO training model has a proven track record of improving health outcomes by helping rural providers access specialized expertise, strengthening the quality of care, increasing provider retention, and reducing the need for patients to travel for specialty care," Murkowski said.

Broader Rural Telehealth Priorities

The senators' release presents only the sponsors' case. No opposing view appears in it.

Rural health advocates have argued that grant renewals alone do not settle the question. The National Rural Health Association listed its rural telehealth priorities in a January 2026 advocacy document. The group paired support for telehealth grant reauthorization with calls for Medicare and Medicaid payment stability and broadband investment.