GLENS FALLS -- People with healthy lifestyles would receive discounts on health insurance under a provision in the latest health care reform bill that comes up Saturday for a key vote in the U.S. Senate.
"The House bill didn't do this," said U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy.
Murphy, D-Glens Falls, said the incentive is one of the features in the Senate bill that could help reduce the growth of health insurance premiums for small business owners, farmers and others - an aspect that was lacking in the House version of the bill he voted against.
"You would get money off your premium if you do things to keep yourself healthy - if you don't smoke, if you keep your weight down, if you do things that we can all do that we know will lead us to be healthier." Murphy said in an interview Friday at his Glens Falls district office.
"If you don't (make lifestyle changes) you don't get penalized. You just don't get the discount," he said.
The Senate will hold a procedural vote Saturday on whether to allow discussion and debate on the bill, which has the support of both of New York's senators - Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
The Senate bill, if passed, would substitute for the earlier House bill, according to a White House press release.
Murphy said he has not yet had time to read the entire Senate bill.
He said the Senate "is moving in the right direction,"
but it's too soon to say if does enough to gain his support.
The Senate bill also could go through many changes before a final vote.
"The Senate bill has a couple of reforms that I think are likely to help keep some of the cost growth down in the health insurance system, which is a critical issue," he said.
Among those is a provision to integrate into Medicare pilot programs aimed at improving the quality of care and increasing efficiency, he said.
Murphy was one of 39 Democrats that voted against the House version of the bill earlier this month, while 219 Democrats voted in favor.
At the time, his objections included new taxes on medical device manufacturers, which are still in the Senate bill.
Murphy also objected that the House bill eliminated a renewable energy tax credit for paper mills.
The Senate version does not eliminate the tax credit, according to spokesmen for Schumer and Gillibrand.
Murphy said it's unclear what the status of the tax credit may be once a final bill comes back to the House for a vote.
He said he is working with House members to address the situation, either by keeping the renewable energy tax credit or including paper mills in some other renewable energy program.
"It is a whole project that took us a while to get our hands around," he said. "And we're looking at other ways to make sure paper mills are getting treated fairly for using renewable energy."
Murphy said President Obama did not contact him or express displeasure about the vote.
"He did not call at all about my vote," he said.
Labor unions and advocacy organization have voiced displeasure, including Citizen Action and MoveOn.org, which staged a demonstration outside his Clifton Park office.
Murphy said he has met with some of the groups and explained his reasoning.
He said he is not focused on how the vote may affect his re-election chances in 2010.
"I'm not particularly worried about elections. I think that what's important about the health care debate is getting the policy right," he said.
Posted in Govt-and-politics on Friday, November 20, 2009 11:20 pm
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