Before running for Congress, Dr. Michael Burgess practiced medicine as an OB/GYN in North Texas for nearly three decades. He has represented the 26th District of Texas since 2003. Congressman Burgess currently serves on the prestigious House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he is the Republican Leader of the Subcommittee on Health and a senior member of both the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. Additionally, he serves on the powerful Rules Committee, tasked with helping to determine how health care legislation is considered on the House floor.
As the most senior medical doctor serving in Congress, Dr. Burgess is at the helm of the U.S. House of Representatives’ work on a number of health care issues, including combating the opioid crisis, expanding health care choices, and lowering drug prices for the American people.
In the 114th Congress, he authored the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) – landmark legislation that repealed and replaced the SGR, putting medical professionals back in charge of measuring quality care and addressing one of the largest drivers of our nation’s debt. He also played a major role in the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act.
Dr. Burgess graduated with both an undergraduate and Master’s degree from the University of North Texas. He received his M.D. from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston and completed his residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Dr. Burgess and his wife Laura have been married for more than 40 years, and have three children and two grandsons.