Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Murphy pushed legislation to lower drug prices for seniors by closing the Medicare "donut hole" and by forcing Medicare to negotiate for the lowest drug prices. Murphy introduced legislation to create a government administered Medicare prescription drug plan to compete with the dozens of other private plans offered in Connecticut and hundreds throughout the nation. Murphy's bill will allow negotiation for better drug prices and use those savings to eliminate the black-out period for sign up, late enrollment fees, and offset the gap in coverage. Additionally, Murphy helped pass legislation (H.R. 4) to require the federal government to negotiate for better prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries (H.R. 2065; H.R. 4; Roll Call 23).

* Murphy has been a leading advocate for expanding healthcare to America's children. Murphy vigorously pushed for additional resources for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) or HUSKY in Connecticut. Under the legislation, passed by the House, the roughly 4 million low-income children who are currently eligible but not enrolled in the program would receive health care, including dental coverage and mental health care benefits. Additionally, Murphy has advocated on behalf of the State of Connecticut to ensure that they are able to enroll all eligible children (HR 976; Roll Call 906, HR 3963, Roll Call 1009).

* Murphy helped pass bipartisan mental health parity legislation to provide access to important mental health care benefits. Understanding that local input is important to crafting comprehensive legislation, Murphy invited Congressman Patrick Kennedy to join him and mental health experts from across Connecticut in Hartford on December 3, 2007 to discuss the importance and challenges of providing access to mental health benefits to all Americans. Murphy's advocacy of this issue was key to the House's ability to pass legislation to ensure mental health and addiction benefits are no more restrictive or costly than the financial requirements or treatment limitations applied to medical and surgical benefits (HR 1424; Roll Call 101).

* Murphy has worked closely with Connecticut's health care providers to bolster health care services to Connecticut residents. In the past two years, Murphy has pushed the federal health bureaucracy to reconsider decisions harmful to Connecticut's hospitals, has protected doctor's from harmful Medicare cuts, and has ensured that Connecticut's health agencies get their fair share of the federal funding they are entitled to. He has secured hundreds of thousands of dollars to expand health care services in Connecticut, including funding for Family Services of Greater Waterbury to expand outpatient counseling and psychiatric services to more uninsured and underinsured children and families, for St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury to expand their inpatient capacity, and for Waterbury Health Access Project to provide medical care to uninsured low-income individuals.

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