In This Week's Edition of E-News…

A Grateful Nation Thanks Those Who Have Served

Seniors Voice Concerns at Murphy Townhall in Robinson

Residents Express Frustration Over Gridlock in Congress

Murphy Meets With Local Diabetes Educators

A Grateful Nation Thanks Those Who Have Served

Today, as the nation comes together in gratitude on Veterans Day, Congressman Murphy offered his thoughts and prayers at a number of events throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Known as one of the most highly-attended events in city, Murphy started off the day at the "Friends of Danang" Veterans Day Breakfast in Pittsburgh. “Friends of Danang” is a non-profit volunteer organization working to provide opportunities for Americans and Vietnamese to heal the wounds of the Vietnam conflict.

From there, Congressman Murphy was joined by Senator Bob Casey at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies for the annual Veterans Day Ceremony. In an address to the veterans, families and servicemen and women attending the event, Murphy said:
 

Ceremony at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies

“Today we come together as a nation to express immeasurable gratitude and respect for the men and women who have served and defended the United States of America. It is because of their service and sacrifice that our country is the strongest and most prosperous nation in the world. We also pause to thank the generations of families that have sacrificed so much while their loved ones served our nation. Our thoughts, prayers, and deep admiration are with all of our country’s greatest public servants today and every day.”

Murphy continued: “From the militiamen who took up muskets to fight for independence to the soldiers serving right now in Afghanistan and all corners of the globe, the United States has been blessed with a fighting force that is without equal,” said Murphy. “While no single tribute could suffice to fully honor their sacrifice, Veterans Day offers all of us the opportunity to stand together in honoring the men and women who have fought under the Stars and Stripes.”

At St. Louise de Marillac's Veterans Day Flag Ceremony, Murphy again expressed thanks to veterans and at a touching ceremony later in the day, Murphy was on hand for the dedication of the Upper St. Clair Veterans Park. He spoke of the need to not only honor the service of our veterans, but to fulfill our responsibility as a nation in caring for them.

Passage of the Veterans Benefit Act is one example of Congress stepping up to fulfill the promise to our veterans and to provide for our men and women in uniform. This measure will increase job training opportunities and other benefits for homeless vets; protect our troops from some unscrupulous business practices that previously took advantage of enlisted men and women who were given military transfer orders; and, it will ensure cost-of-living adjustments for disabled vets and surviving spouses and children.

Congressman Murphy serves as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps, working with wounded warriors with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, formerly known as the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center

“I count it as one of my chief duties in Congress to ensure that our armed forces are fully supplied with the equipment, technology, and support necessary to successfully accomplish their mission of defending and protecting the United States and that we fulfill our duty in caring for our veterans,” said Murphy. “It is my highest duty and privilege to represent the veterans of the 18th congressional district of Pennsylvania.”

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on Veterans, please click here.

Seniors Voice Concerns at Murphy Townhall in Robinson

The clubhouse at Cloverleaf Estates in Robinson Township was packed Wednesday night as neighborhood residents came out for a town hall meeting with Rep. Murphy to get an update on legislative activities in Washington.

Much of the conversation centered on the nation’s growing debt and the work of a twelve-member bicameral bipartisan “Supercommittee” tasked with trimming $1.2 trillion from federal deficits over the next ten years. After years of overspending threatening to push Italy and Greece into financial collapse, Rep. Murphy said there was an urgent need to roll back federal spending to pre-stimulus levels to strengthen the domestic economy.

“It took the U.S. 220 years, from the presidencies of George Washington to Bill Clinton, to amass the amount of debt added just since 2007,” Rep. Murphy told the audience.

With 36 cents of every dollar spent by Washington being borrowed, Rep. Murphy explained to the audience some policymakers in Congress are seeking to cut Social Security cost-of-living adjustments and Medicare payments to physicians as ways to reduce the federal government’s $1.3 trillion deficit (Read more by clicking here).

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the largest drivers behind the growth in spending have been Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. For example, future obligations over the next 75 years for Social Security exceed $19 trillion.

Full House at Cloverleaf Estates Townhall

 

Rep. Murphy discussed an alternative approach to cutting Medicare or Social Security when pursuing “savings” in the federal budget.
“A large part of the problem has been that since the Johnson Administration, Congress has been borrowing from those trust funds to pay for today’s priorities instead of saving your money,” said Rep. Murphy, who has introduced legislation, the Medicare and Social Security Protection Act (HR 1630) to put an end to this practice.

“You spent your working years paying into Social Security and Medicare yet all the while Congress has simply been transferring your money to other programs. That practice must stop,” he said.

The Congressman gave an update on his efforts working with fellow lawmakers on quality reforms to Medicare. Many in the audience wanted to know why a special interest group out of Washington DC had contacted them on reimbursements cuts to physicians and hospitals.

Murphy explained the issue stems from a 1997 law written to restrict the growth in Medicare spending. For the last decade, that law has called for automatic cuts in physician reimbursements, but Congress has acted to stop them from happening each year.

As co-chair of the Doctors Caucus, Rep. Murphy said he’s been working with colleagues to stop the cuts from occurring and eliminate the “sustainable growth rate formula” (SGR) upon which physician payments are based.

Cutting reimbursements will lead to provider shortages, explained the Congressman.

“One in three primary care doctors already restrict how many Medicare patients they see. The solution to the SGR is a permanent fix that pays doctors an amount reflecting the true cost of services provided and uses a sound funding mechanism to prevent future formula-driven cuts.” said Rep. Murphy. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks about Mr. Murphy’s work to solve the SGR problem.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, please click here.

Residents Express Frustration Over Gridlock in Congress

During the busy district work week, Congressman Murphy held a number of community meetings throughout the 18th congressional district. At two such meetings, billed as “Coffees with the Congressman,” Murphy invited residents in Peters Township and North Huntingdon to come out and talk about issues of importance to them at local coffee houses.

At each meeting, shared frustration was echoed over spending in Washington DC and ever-escalating healthcare costs. But another common refrain was disgust over divisiveness in politics and the resulting gridlock in getting problems resolved.

One participant stated: “All they do is attack, call each other names, and criticize each other. No wonder nothing gets done for the average Joe.”
 

Peters Twp families come out for coffee with Rep. Murphy at David's Music House

Congressman Tim Murphy nodded in agreement and said he understood his frustration and in fact has felt the heat of personal attacks. But Murphy emphatically stated he was focused on forging working relationships with like-minded colleagues who want to work constructively on policies related to energy, infrastructure, overregulation, and job creation.

“It is far easier is to attack those who disagree with you, call names and refuse to work toward finding solutions on today’s challenges. That’s not only destructive, but an insult to my constituents who expect me to deliberate respectfully and find commonsense solutions on their behalf,” said Rep. Murphy. “Throughout my career I’ve worked towards finding solutions to benefit our community, and not attacking those with whom I disagree. I am going to stay on that path.”

Murphy recalled his disappointment after he heard the President refer to Congress as a circus.

“Attacks will get you headlines, but it won’t get you solutions,” said Murphy.

Asked what he was specifically doing to bring his colleagues together to create jobs, Murphy told the audience about his work on HR 1861,

the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act. Last month, Rep. Murphy organized a bipartisan group of the bill’s supporters to engage in a discussion on the House floor. Legislators from California, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia came to the discussion in support of HR 1861 and needed job creation (click here to watch the discussion on the House floor).

The principle behind the bill – using new royalty proceeds from expanded domestic energy production to meet the country’s infrastructure needs – has become a popular idea amongst lawmakers. Speaker Boehner recently said he would link the two policies as Congress considers a bill to fund highway repair and construction without raising taxes or borrowing from China.

Some in the audience wanted to know what was being done to stand up against regulatory overreach by the Administration, reflected in over 4,250 new rules and regulations this year. Compliance with federal regulation now costs the economy $1.75 trillion a year, which is eight times more than corporations pay in taxes. The House of Representatives has approved over ten jobs bill to block costly new regulations written by federal agencies (to read more, click here).

Many expressed real frustration in how their tax dollars were going to buy foreign goods and prop up China’s economy. Rep. Murphy discussed his work on ‘Buy American’ steel provisions in federal spending bills to protect taxpayer dollars from being spent on job creation in foreign countries.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on gridlock in Washington, please click here.

Murphy Meets With Local Diabetes Educators

Specialty diabetic nurses and dietitians told Rep. Murphy that team-based care is helping diabetic seniors stay out of the hospital, but a new Medicare policy meant to “save” money is having the opposite effect.

On Thursday, Representative Murphy met with members of the Board of Directors from the Pennsylvania Association of Diabetes Educators. Certified Diabetes Educators work to teach those living with diabetes how to test their blood sugar using specialty equipment, and how to effectively manage their health. According to the American Diabetes Association, more than eight percent of Americans (25.8 million) have diabetes and another 79 million are at risk of developing the disease. Almost 27 percent of Medicare eligible individuals have diabetes, which costs the federal healthcare program $75 billion a year.
 

Kristen Hauger (Hempfield), Marilyn Clougherty (Murrysville), Congressman Murphy, and Kellie Antinori-Lent (Greensburg)

Of particular concern to the board members was a new Medicare pilot program to allow companies from all over the US to bid for the exclusive rights to provide specific medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries in the regions around Pittsburgh.

Under this program, which started in January, seniors in the Pittsburgh area can no longer go to their local pharmacy to buy diabetes testing supplies. Instead they have to purchase their medical supplies from an approved list of providers, 58 percent of whom do not even have a physical presence in the state of Pennsylvania.

Seniors on insulin should test three to four times day, but because of the difficulty seniors are having getting easy-to-use testing supplies, many seniors are not testing as frequently as they should, and in some cases have stopped testing all together. As a result, the group told Rep. Murphy there has been a significant uptick in emergency visits and hospitalizations of senior citizens due to diabetes complications. Ultimately, the program which was designed to save money in the program will end up costing taxpayers more.

Rep. Murphy has cosponsored H.R. 1041, the Fairness in Medicare Bidding Act, which will repeal this Medicare policy that’s preventing Southwestern Pennsylvania seniors from having access to diabetic testing supplies from local pharmacies. The legislation, which has 163 bipartisan cosponsors, has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
 

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on health care, please click here.