E-News From Congressman Murphy

Statement

Another Murphy Mental Health Provision Advances

In a major win for millions of American families in mental health crisis, this week the House Appropriations Committee reported out the Fiscal 2016 Labor, Health& Human Services, Education spending bill that contained a centerpiece component of Murphy's Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.

Congressman Murphy's Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Grant Program for Individuals With Serious Mental Illness, authorized in Section 224 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, was fully funded in the appropriations bill. The grant program was authorized by Congress and signed into law by the President, but not yet funded until the passage of the appropriations bill. Wednesday's passage in committee marks the first time the federal government has ever advanced legislation to fund AOT.

These funds will be reprogrammed for counties to operate Assistant Outpatient Treatment programs, a successful alternative to long-term inpatient care for those with serious mental illness cycling through the system but never receiving needed care.

Said Murphy, "AOT empowers patients and families to work together so they can function in the community with the highest degree of independence. Passage of this legislation is a giant step towards delivering desperately needed care for the countless families from across all corners of our country caring for loved ones with schizophrenia and severe mental illnesses."

Established in 45 states and dozens of counties across the country, Assisted Outpatient Treatment allows the court to direct treatment in the community for the hardest-to-treat patients -- the fewer than one percent of people with serious mental illness -- who have a history of arrest, repeat hospitalizations, and violence because of their illness. AOT has reduced rates of imprisonment, homelessness, and costly hospitalizations for chronically mentally ill participants by upwards of 70 percent. It has also reduced annual Medicaid costs by 44 percent for participants.

Passage of the appropriations funding bill containing Murphy's AOT grant proposal arrives just one week after the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee convened a legislative hearing to review the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. Support continues to grow for the legislation since then, including an endorsement from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) earlier this week. AFSP funds research, creates educational programs, advocates for public policy, and supports survivors of suicide loss.

As part of the AFSP's annual Advocacy Forum, more than 240 AFSP members from across all 50 states converged on Washington, D.C. this week. Congressman Murphy delivered the keynote address to AFSP before members went to Capitol Hill to seek their Representatives and Senators to sign onto H.R. 2646.

During his speech, Murphy told audience members how his mental health legislation breaks down federal barriers to care, reforms outdated programs, expands parity accountability, and invests in services for the most difficult cases to treat while driving evidence-based care.

"We are talking about a brain illness. This is not an attitude; not people who are 'weak'. Their brain is not functioning and they need treatment to get on the road to wellness."

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act includes a reauthorization of the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Program, invests in research on self-directed violence and for the first time authorizes in statute the Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates with more than 150 television stations, reported on the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act and how the current mental health system has failed millions of Americans nationwide. "If we want to prevent the next Newtown, Tucson, Aurora, Isla Vista, Columbine or Navy Yard we have to do something comprehensive and research-based and we have to do it now," said Rep. Murphy.

Supreme Court Upholds "SCOTUScare"

In a 6-to-3 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that federal subsidies provided under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to Americans who buy insurance on health care exchanges established by the federal government are legal, even though the law states that the subsides are only available to individuals who purchase insurance from "an exchange established by the State."

The Court agreed with the Obama Administration position decreeing that although "the Affordable Care Act contains more than a few examples of inartful drafting" and "Congress wrote key parts of the Act behind closed doors, rather than through "the traditional legislative process,'" the intent to provide subsidies to all was clear.

Justice Scalia, in his dissenting opinion, said the other justices were performing "somersaults of statutory interpretation" to preserve the law and that "we should start calling this law SCOTUScare."

Following the Court's ruling Rep. Murphy said, "now that the Supreme Court has ruled, Congress must get to work on fully repealing this law. The legislation was rushed through Congress and is unpopular, unworkable, and unsustainable. It was not designed to deliver the kind of healthcare reforms Americans want and need."

This week the House of Representatives advanced another ACA repeal provision by passing the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act (H.R. 1190) to overturn the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

IPAB, created under the ACA, is one of 159 boards, panels, and commissions in the healthcare law that empowers Washington political appointees instead of physicians to make decisions about Medicare treatments and standards of care. Proposals from the 15-member board do not need to be approved by Congress, and fewer than half of IPAB's members will have medical experience. Additionally, page 386 of the ACA states, "the Board may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or property." The House took up similar legislation last session of Congress, supported by Murphy, but it was never acted on in the Senate.

Last week, Congressman Murphy joined with 280 of his colleagues to pass the Protect Medical Innovation Act, H.R. 160, which would eliminate a hefty new tax on medical devices created to pay for provisions in his disastrous healthcare law. In fact, since it went into effect in January 2013, the tax on the gross sales of medical devices has significantly impacted medical device manufacturers and those in need of life-saving medical equipment. The Congressional Budget Office revealed that in addition to forcing layoffs to medical device manufacturers, the cost of this tax would be passed on to consumers "in the form of higher premiums." Without repeal, it is set to impose a staggering $26 billion in new taxes on medical devices.

"Beyond repeal the law, Congress must deliberate on what is truly needed to fix our healthcare system rather than just raising taxes to finance it," said Rep. Murphy. "The American people are demanding a system that delivers the care you need, at a price you can afford, from a doctor you choose -- without new taxes or a government takeover."

Murphy Applauds Norwin H.S. Student For 1st Place in Congressional Art Competition

Congressman Murphy welcomed Alyssa Minko, recent Norwin High School graduate and first-place winner of his 2015 Congressional Art Competition, to the Capitol this week. Last month, Murphy announced Miss Minko won first place and would have her drawing, "Reflections of Memories Past," placed in the United States Capitol for one year.

Miss Minko met with Rep. Murphy in his Washington office following an afternoon lunch reception in the Capitol Visitor Center where contest winners from across the country were honored and during which her winning entry was publicly unveiled for display. Murphy also presented Alyssa with a congressional citation in recognition of her artistic creativity.

"Congratulations to the first-place winner of the 2015 Congressional Art Competition, Norwin High School graduate Alyssa Minko, for her drawing, 'Reflections of Memories Past.' Alyssa is a talented artist whose work will now be viewed by all Members of Congress and Capitol visitors over the next year," said Rep. Murphy.

This year, a panel of five judges comprised of local artists and figures in the art community in Southwestern Pennsylvania chose winners on the basis of composition, creativity, and artistic skill. The 35 submissions from 13 high schools across the region were displayed for the public in April at the Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg.

The art competition's judges were: Phil Lahr, Whitehall councilman and artist; Joan McGarry, Director of Education and Visitor Engagement at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg; Jon Radermacher, Associate Dean of Robert Morris University's School of Communications; Kathleen Brown Lokay, owner of the Double Door Gallery in Carnegie; and David Stanger, Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at Seton Hill University.

Every spring, the House of Representatives sponsors the Congressional Art Competition for high school students across the country to compete for national recognition and the opportunity to exhibit their artwork in the United States Capitol. Each year, Congressman Murphy invites students from Pennnsylvania's 18th congressional district to submit one piece of artwork for judging by the panel. For more information on the art competition, please click here. The piece of art from the district is displayed in the walkway between the Capitol and House office buildings. The art is displayed for a full year.

House Votes Again to Stop EPA Attack on Coal-Fired Power

In the lead up to next week's highly anticipated Supreme Court decision on whether the EPA must take financial cost into consideration when issuing regulations, the House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 2042) on Wednesday to help prevent massive electricity rate hikes, and stop the EPA from implementing its "Clean Power Plan."

In June of last year, the EPA announced its unprecedented "Clean Power Plan" that would fundamentally change how electricity is generated, distributed, and consumed in the United States. The cost of the EPA's proposed plan is staggering, estimated from $366 billion to $479 billion over the next 15 years. Pennsylvania, which ranks #4 in the nation in coal-fired energy production and #3 in overall energy production, would be particularly harmed by the EPA's plan as it would increase residents' electric bills by fourteen percent or more.

H.R. 2042, which Murphy co-sponsored, prohibits the EPA's plan from moving forward until its constitutionality has been decided in federal court. In addition, the legislation also allows individual states to opt-out of the EPA's onerous requirements if it can demonstrate that federal action would threaten the state's power grid or will lead to higher power bills for residents. H.R. 2042 now awaits further action in the Senate, but the President has already said he would veto the legislation.

The EPA's Clean Power Plan is also being challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals on the grounds that the agency lacks the authority to issue regulations requiring individual states to meet the federally-mandated standards aimed at ending coal-fired power generation.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Murphy has been investigating how the EPA refuses to account for such things as job loss and economic damage caused by regulatory actions that do not substantially improve environmental conditions. Murphy is a sponsor of the Coal Jobs Protection Act (H.R. 5077), requiring the EPA to analyze the impact of proposed regulations on jobs and economic activity. If the analysis shows a loss of jobs and damage to the state's economy, the EPA would be required to hold a public hearing in a place like Greene County that would be most impacted by the proposed action to incorporate that data.

Pleasant Hills Middle School Earns National Recognition

Pleasant Hills Middle School became the fifth school in Congressman Murphy's congressional district to earn the distinction of being named a "School to Watch," a national program honoring public educational institutions based on their performance in academics, development, and community service. Pleasant Hills joined Canonsburg, Elizabeth Forward, and the two Upper St. Clair school districts.

This week the Pleasant Hills Principal, Daniel Como, and Vice Principal, Adam Zunic, traveled to Washington DC and met with Murphy to discuss the details of how the efforts on becoming a "school to watch." Pleasant Hills students, staff, and parents worked in collaboration on four separate areas (academic excellence, equity, developmental responsiveness, and organizational structure) to win the award.

After a comprehensive review of their programs and policies, the staff at Pleasant Hills put in place a series of reforms based on information gathered from other successfull middle schools. One such reform was establishing two core teams of five teachers for each grade and setting aside 30 minutes each day for these teams to work with students. Through this reform the staff was able to better identify and respond to the individual needs of students.

Rep. Murphy discussed efforts at the federal level to improve education through doing away with one-size-fits-all educational mandates (like the 2001 No Child Left Behind, also known as NCLB, law) that limit the ability of state and school districts to effectively gauge, and ultimately improve, student learning. Last Congress, the House of Representatives took an important step toward restoring local control with passage of the Student Success Act of 2013.

Murphy noted that, while Common Core has been advanced from the state government, he supported H.R. 476 to expresses the sense of Congress that federal funds should not be used to coerce state to adopt Common Core, explaining a "federal one-size-fits all approach to education, whether through No Child Left Behind or Common Core, has not, and will not work."

Murphy further noted that while Washington has been working to turn around intrusion into K-12 classrooms through testing standards, student achievement has remained stagnant. Because of these and many other concerns, the House of Representatives is considering legislation to overhaul the NCLB framework and return responsibility for student achievement to states, local school districts, and parents.

The Student Success Act of 2015 would also limit the authority of the U.S. Secretary of Education to impose mandates on states and local school districts as a backdoor way to adopt Common Core State Standards. Specifically, H.R. 5 prohibits any agent of the federal government from coercing states into adopting Common Core, or any other mandate, through waivers, enticements, federal grants or any other authority.

As Congress continues to examine the best policy approaches to reduce the federal footprint and restore local control in the education system, Congressman Murphy encourages his constituents to weigh in on education issues by clicking here.

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