U. S. Rep. Christopher Murphy will be voting in favor of President Barack Obama’s health care plan on Sunday, prompting criticism from Republicans.
Murphy, who represents a sprawling district that touches the Massachusetts and New York State borders, issued a statement Friday that he would be voting in favor of the bill.
“The message from the people I represent is clear – health care costs and health insurance practices are out of control,” Murphy said. “While nearly every person I meet has a different idea about what the exact fix should be, everyone agrees that doing nothing is not an option. We need to make changes to the current system to provide people access to affordable care, to cut costs for businesses, and to strengthen Medicare for seniors. The changes we need to make to our health care system will only come by transferring power away from the health insurance industry and to consumers. The current health insurance reform bill does this, and that’s why I plan on voting in favor of its final passage.”
He added, “This bill has real, immediate benefits for people. It closes the Medicare drug donut hole, lowers small business health costs, and insures 18,000 of my constituents that currently don’t have health care. But maybe most importantly, the bill extends the solvency of Medicare for another decade, and cuts the national deficit by $140 billion. That’s real progress that shouldn’t be denied to the people of Connecticut.”
State GOP chairman Chris Healy said that Murphy’s statement was nothing more than “standard Nancy Pelosi boilerplate.”
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Republican Justin Bernier, who is running against Murphy in the 5th Congressional District, said, “Like many voters in central and western Connecticut, I am disappointed with Chris Murphy’s decision to vote for the health care takeover being rammed through the House of Representatives. Connecticut voters want real reforms, but the current plan in Congress will explode the budget deficit and lead to even higher health care costs. We have talked about real reforms, including lawsuit reform, that would lower costs and expand access to care. Democrats should not reject these ideas because they are coming from Republicans.”
Bernier added, “Every American has a right to access affordable health care, and the government has a responsibility to create a positive environment for this to happen. The health care plan that Chris Murphy supports does not meet this standard.”