Rep. Murphy answers health-care questions

LAKEVILLE — Rep. Chris Murphy (D-5) spoke with The Lakeville Journal Tuesday morning, Aug. 4, about the health-care bill that passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month.

Murphy sits on the committee, which has been at the center of the health-care and energy bills that have dominated discussion in Washington.

In an informal process, The Journal asked Northwest Corner residents what questions they had about the proposed health-care legislation.

Question: What’s the rush?

Murphy said the original notion of getting a bill through  the House before the August recess was “too fast.â€�

“We wanted time to talk to constituents and review the legislation. Then we can get down to work in the fall. Setting a target to pass legislation by the end of the year is reasonable.�

Question: How are we going to pay for this?

“We already have the most expensive health care in the world. We’re about twice as expensive as other industrialized nations,� Murphy responded.

He said the bill “cuts fat from the existing health-care system� and will reduce costs by $600 billion, “by essentially paying not for volume, but for quality.

“The bill will also trim federal subsidies for insurance and pharmaceutical companies.�

Murphy said the status quo is “bankrupting our economy,� citing a Waterbury business that is facing a 30-percent hike in health insurance premiums. “We have to address the cost of health care to businesses.�

Murphy’s remarks anticipated the next question, which was “Why not write a bill targeting the uninsured first?�

“By closing our eyes to the uninsured [estimates range from 46 to 50 million], we’re spending money. The uninsured get health care — but they get it at the emergency room.�

Question: Does all this mean a tax increase on the middle class?

“The worst thing we could do right now is raise taxes on the middle class,� replied Murphy, with some heat. “We cannot pass a bill that either passes the cost of health care along to the middle class or adds to the deficit. I have no interest in passing a bill that adds to the cost of living.�

Q: Is the health-care bill the first step toward a single-payer, national health insurance plan? Is it the beginning of the end of private insurance?

“This debate has a long way to go,� said Murphy. “I’m here [in Connecticut, during the recess] to listen to people about what they want in their health care.�

All the proposals being discussed in Congress “envision employer-based insurance as the basis of the health-care system. We’ll pass rules to hold insurance companies accountable, but it’s not just a line Obama uses in his speeches. People will keep their private insurance and pay less for it.�