In This Week's Edition of E-News ...

House Passes Bill Giving Veterans Timely Access to Medical Care
Murphy Leads Steel Caucus to Stop Korean Steel Dumping
State Lawmakers Taking up the Charge on Murphy’s Mental Health Crisis Act
Moon Twp HC Workers Concerned Over Medicare Cuts
 

House Passes Bill Giving Veterans Timely Access to Medical Care

Last week, Congressmen Tim Murphy and Mike Doyle discovered the existence of a primary care waiting list at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) of almost 700 veterans, some of whom had been waiting for appointments since 2012. The revelation comes on the heels of a new report finding 23 veterans dying from delayed VA medical care, and 57,000 veteran patients across the country have been waiting at least 90 days for their first VA medical appointment.

The shocking discovery has activated Congress to take hold of the bureaucratic malaise at the VA and enact tough language to guarantee that veterans needing immediate care are able to get it. Towards that end, this week Rep. Murphy signed his name on as an original cosponsor of the Veterans Access to Care Act (H.R. 4810) authored by House Committee on Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller. The bill requires the VA to reimburse for non-VA medical care provided to any veteran who cannot get quick access to treatment or lives farther than 40 miles from a VA facility. The legislation would also require an independent assessment of VA Healthcare System performance and ban any bonuses for VA employees from. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 4810 with Rep. Murphy’s support. The Senate passed a similar measure on Wednesday, and House and Senate leaders will meet to work out the differences to send to the President to sign into law.

Murphy’s work to hold the VA accountable and fix the VA was highlighted on CNN. The network’s chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper, reported on efforts by higher-ups at the Department of Veterans Affairs to hide information about wait list times from Reps. Murphy and Doyle. Interfering with congressional oversight and investigations, which is mandated in the Constitution, is violation of law. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Miller called on the VA to fire “anyone who directed VA officials not speak with Member of Congress.”

Throughout the ongoing investigation, Murphy has pledged to not just point fingers and lay blame, but to come up with solutions to serve veterans.  To update constituents about his work to reform the VA and protect veterans’ benefits, Murphy will be holding a series of town hall meetings in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for times and locations.

To share your thoughts on veterans’ benefits or to find out in advance about upcoming town halls, please click here.

Murphy Leads Steel Caucus to Stop Korean Steel Dumping

With the backing of 155 Members of the House, both Republican and Democrat, Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Tim Murphy lead a powerful bipartisan effort calling on the Administration to hold Korea accountable for illegally dumping oil and gas drill pipe onto the American market.

Detailed in a letter sent today to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Chairman Murphy urged the Administration to reverse a February 2014 decision that permitted Korea to continue dumping unfairly-traded “oil country tubular goods” (OCTG) onto the US market. The dumping has led to the indefinite closure of the McKeesport US Steel tubular plant.

“The Administration must enforce the law and put an end to Korean trade crimes that are costing American workers their jobs. Since August, the Congressional Steel Caucus has sounded the alarm in hearings, in letters, and at rallies with workers. I hope the Administration will finally wake up and see the damage to our economy caused by Korean trade crimes,” said Chairman Murphy.

Murphy’s efforts to stop Korean trade crimes was featured in the Pittsburgh Business Times. The US market was one of the few bright spots for the domestic steel industry due to the growth in shale gas exploration. As the letter states, “The discovery and production of shale gas in the United States is a strategic benefit for both America’s economic and energy security. Yet as new domestic oil and natural gas resources fuel demand for steel products like OCTG, U.S. steel producers are being undercut by foreign competitors.”

Oil pipe accounts for approximately ten percent of domestic steel production and nearly 8,000 jobs. However, foreign OCTG has doubled since 2008. Steel pipe and tube from Korea, which does not even have a domestic market for OCTG, has increased by 1,000% in the past four years.

The Steel Caucus began this battle against unfairly-traded imports of Korean steel in August 2013, when the Caucus successfully pushed the International Trade Commission to open an investigation into Korean trade crimes. The Commerce Department is expected to rule next month on whether to stop the glut of Korean pipe and tube.

To share your thoughts on unfair trade, please click here.

State Lawmakers Taking up the Charge on Murphy’s Mental Health Crisis Act

With strong backing from major newspaper editorial boards, physicians, patients and countless parents and caregivers of loved ones with serious mental illness, the grassroots momentum continues to build for Congressman Tim Murphy’s Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. And this week, the state of Michigan was added to the list of supporters.

The Michigan State House approved without a single dissenting vote a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to take “such actions as are necessary to pass the Helping Families in Mental Crisis Act.” The Louisiana State Legislature passed a similar resolution earlier this year.

In the wake of news that a perpetrator had stopped taking his medication prior to committing deadly shooting at a Seattle university, Rep. Murphy took to the House floor imploring his colleagues to take action on reforming the mental health system.

“We pretend like serious mental illness does not exist and therefore we don’t have policies to help families and patients in mental health crisis,” said Murphy. “We cannot let these families down, lives are depending on it, we cannot wish this away, and denial is not a treatment. I urge my colleagues to joins me in this effort.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette carried a column this week by a former Arizona Republic reporter titled “Reforms shouldn't protect ‘Big Mental Health’.” The author said lawmakers should “stop coddling a powerful corporate interest” in those organizations who benefit financially from the status quo, and line up behind the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act to “fix our ruinous mental health system.”

To share your thoughts on the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, please click here.

Moon Twp HC Workers Concerned Over Medicare Cuts

More than 70,000 seniors in Pennsylvania’s 18^th Congressional District are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans like Security Blue, UPMC for Life, and First Health by Coventry. These high-quality policies provide important benefits that are not available in traditional government-run Medicare. For example, Medicare Advantage plans offer chronic disease management, which has been shown to reduce hospitalization rates for seniors by keeping diabetes and other costly conditions in check through the practice of coordinating care from doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals.
 

At a town hall meeting today with 500 employees of Conventry Health Care in Moon Township, Rep. Murphy discussed how chronic disease management will likely disappear as cuts to Medicare Advantage plans begin to take effect as dictated by the President’s healthcare law. The $300 billion in cuts will also lead to higher deductibles and co-pays for many seniors while half-a-million Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will lose their current plan altogether as a result of Affordable Care Act.  The possibility of higher costs and fewer benefits is especially disconcerting news for the 40% of low-income seniors with Medicare Advantage plans.

Conventry employees in Moon provide case management to seniors enrolled in First Health Medicare Advantage plans and Part D prescription drug policies. The workers thank Rep. Murphy for his work to block the ACA Medicare cuts from taking effect in 2015 and his efforts to protect seniors’ access to mental health drugs.

To share your thoughts on Medicare under the Affordable Care Act, please click here.