Chris Murphy Briefs State Legislators on Health Care Reform

[Photo Above: Congressman Chris Murphy, center, briefs state legislators on health care reform. House Speaker Christopher Donovan is setting to his right.]

Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5), at the invitation of House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden), briefed state legislators and health care advocates on the progress of health care reform legislation in Washington on Monday.

As a current member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care, and the former Chairman of the Connecticut legislature’s Public Health Committee, Murphy has become one of Congress’ leading voices for health care reform.

Murphy spoke about the H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which:

• reforms insurance law to stop discrimination based on pre-existing conditions;
• ends the practice of patients losing their insurance if they get too sick;
• provides tax credits for businesses that provide health insurance coverage to their employees;
• strengthens Medicare by beginning to close the prescription drug donut hole immediately, cutting co-payments for preventive services, and slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare system;
• and reduces the deficit while covering 96% of Americans.

The US Chamber of Commerce recently ran a series of vicious adds intentionally misrepresented H.R. 3962 and attacking congressman Murphy for voting for the bill. The US Chamber and the Republican Party has targeted congressman Murphy for defeat in the 2010 election.

Posted by Tom Connolly