Over of the last 12 months we have worked side-by-side in taking great strides towards making America a better place. I have held over 100 health care meetings and town halls and have been to all 137 towns in the district. I’m thankful for your input and support.
I am proud to announce that I plan to vote YES on the President’s new Health Insurance Reform Bill. This is a truly historic vote for our nation; I want to make sure you hear exactly why.
As most of you are aware, my original vote on the House health care bill was NO. This was not because I do not believe in health care reform or because I was making a stand against my party lines. I voted NO in November on the House health care bill, because it failed to take the steps necessary to fix the broken incentives in our health care system. The House bill placed unfair mandates on our small businesses that would have put a huge burden on our local economy.
In the next few days, I will have the opportunity to vote on a new bill that I feel is fundamentally different; it will stop the out of control growth of health care costs, protect our local industries and jobs from unfair taxes, and help small businesses create jobs – while cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse.
Because of these changes, I will be voting yes, and want to outline my reasons:
From the beginning, I have said that I support meaningful health care reform that is fiscally responsible and stops the out of control growth of health care costs. This legislation will not only make coverage more affordable for New York families, but it will also reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion in the first ten years and $1.2 trillion over the next ten. This bill is serious about slowing the out of control growth of health care costs that are devastating our families and small businesses. I am pleased that the final legislation reflects many of my recommendations to encourage individuals to make healthy choices, reward doctors based on quality outcomes, and combat Medicare fraud and abuse.
Small businesses are the economic engine for job creation in our economy. As a small businessman, I am also keenly aware of the impact rising health care costs have on small businesses and New York’s economy. The bill before us makes significant improvements over the House-passed legislation by eliminating the employer mandate for small businesses, providing meaningful tax incentives, as well as creating heath care exchanges that allow businesses to band together to negotiate better prices from insurance companies. Injecting this market competition into our system is critical to driving better outcomes and lower costs and is something that I wish had existed when I ran small businesses.
The President’s health care bill will put health care choices back into the hands of patients and doctors and not insurance companies. Insurance companies will be banned from the predatory practices of excluding those with pre-existing conditions and put an end to lifetime caps on benefits, and it will forbid insurance companies from kicking people off their coverage once they get sick. The time to end these practices is now.
All of this adds up to a bill that motivates me and encourages my belief in change. The status quo is broken. The time for reform is now.
I am proud to vote YES.
As my record in Congress has shown, I am an independent voice who makes decisions based on what I think is best for the 20th District and on instituting commonsense solutions. I want to thank you all again for your input and thoughts on this issue, and as always please contact me at scott@scottmurphyforcongress.com with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Scott Murphy