Murphy: Time nears for health care reform

The New Haven Register posted an article, "Murphy: Time nears for health care reform," on Tuesday May 5, 2009, quoting Connecticut Congressman Chris Murphy (5th CD) stating, "[T]he cost of the current health system has increased threefold in the last five years and gobbles up 17 percent of gross national product. ... In return ... the United States, despite spending twice as much as any other industrial nation, ranks near the bottom on many health outcomes and is last in addressing preventable deaths. (Check out the blog post by Robin about the DeJesus family for a chilling example of this.) Here's more from the article.

By Mary E. O'Leary, Register Topics Editor. HARTFORD — U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-5, told state lawmakers Monday the appetite for health care reform in Washington is palpable, and the plan likely to get the most attention will have elements similar to the state’s proposed SustiNet plan.

“The prospects for reform have never been better. You can just feel it in the air,” Murphy said of federal reform that will take a multi-front approach, including building on the employer-based system, major changes for the insurance industry and tying payments to providers to outcomes more than to the number of patients seen.

“Our entire economy is at a global competitive disadvantage ... so long as we ask employers to bear the full burden of health care,” Murphy told lawmakers in an update on federal initiatives.

He said Congress has set an ambitious schedule for adopting reform, with the House hoping for a vote before the August recess, while the Senate is looking at early summer. Murphy thought the fall was probably more realistic.

The SustiNet plan would first set up an administrative structure to oversee an insurance pool of state workers, retirees and Medicaid recipients and would also be open to private employers.

It would compete in the private market with other plans, with subsidies for the poor and better reimbursements for practitioners, at a cost of $950 million, not kicking in until later. It projects savings of $1.7 billion by 2014, and eligibility for $800 million more in federal money. full text.

Yesterday, HB6600 AAC the SustiNet Plan, passed in the Insurance Committee with a vote of 13-4. This is the 4th legislative committee that HB6600 has overwhelmingly passed. Today, May 7th, is SustiNet day at the Capitol -- all day. Folks are gathering and talking to legislators about why they should vote Yes for SustiNet.

Get involved -- check out Organizing or Connecticut's Health Care for Connecticut Now page for ways you can make your voice heard on health care reform. Visit Connecticut Citizen's Action Group or Healthcare4every1.org web sites for more ways.

We are all in this together. Let's win!