Murphy Explains His Health Care Vote

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Rep. Scott Murphy concerning his vote against the House health care bill. Here is his reply, likely a "form response", to me and the many other Democrats that probably sent emails similar to mine. It appears that Murphy is more concerned about local paper mills and medical device manufacturers (what medical device manufacturer?) than actual health care reform.

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about your support for the House health care bill, H.R. 3692, The American Affordable Health Care Act. Your input is important to me and helps me to better represent the people of New York's 20th district.

Over the last six months, I have traveled the 20th congressional district listening to constituents at over 100 events and Congress-On-Your-Corner meetings. During this time, no topic was discussed as often, or with as much passion as health care reform. These discussions were critical and reinforced my desire to reform our health care system.

I was pleased to see that H.R. 3962 took a number of important steps toward achieving these goals. For example, the bill would eliminate lifetime caps on insurance benefits and the pre-existing condition exclusion. It would create a health insurance exchange to force insurance companies to compete on a level playing field, and it offers a public option to give people access to a no-profit insurance choice.

However, in order to achieve this goal, we must be willing to address the flaws in the current system that have led to skyrocketing costs, bankrupt families, and windfall profits for insurance companies. That is why I have focused my attention on efforts to contain costs by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse; create a system based on healthy outcomes by incentivizing doctors to make Americans healthier; and drive competition in the insurance market to provide more choice and drive down costs.

However, after months of listening to constituents and reviewing the legislation, it was my belief that H.R. 3962 did not go far enough to bring down cost to a level that would contribute to our economic recovery. Furthermore, I was deeply frustrated by the last minute addition of over $50 billion in taxes, which would negatively impact the two largest employers in the 20th district--medical device manufactures and paper mills. This is not an acceptable way to pay for real healthcare reform. For these reasons, I voted against the bill when it passed the house by a vote of 220 to 215 on November 7, 2009.

As the bill now moves to the United States Senate, I remain committed to the goal of health care reform that provides quality, affordable health care to all American families and leaves our nation stronger. I look forward to continuing this important discussion and working to ensure that the final legislation addresses the issues that I believe are critical for Upstate New York.

Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. As a member of Congress, I have to make tough decisions every day, and hearing from you helps me to do my job well. To stay informed of my work, or to sign up for future updates, please visit my website at http://scottmurphy.house.gov. Also, please do not hesitate to contact my office again if I can be of any further assistance.