Murphy greets constituents at new Clifton Park office

CLIFTON PARK (Oct. 5) — Rep. Scott Murphy opened his fourth office in the 20th Congressional District by holding a question-and-answer session with his constituents. But with a line of people wanting to say their piece, the congressman became more of a listener than an answerer.

As might have been predicted, most of the comments were about health-care reform.

But before turning the discussion over to the health-care debate, Murphy — a Democrat from Glens Falls whose district includes Southern Saratoga — took a few minutes to talk about some of the other things he is working on in Washington, such as the dairy crisis and Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. The congressman serves on both the Agriculture and Armed Services committees.

Congressman Scott Murphy (left) talks to constituents during the grand opening of his new Clifton Park office.

Congressman Scott Murphy (left) talks to constituents during the grand opening of his new Clifton Park office.

That, however, is not what people gathered in the parking lot of his Clifton Park office were waiting to talk about. And he knew it.

While Murphy said he believes a public option should be a part of health-care reform, he added he didn’t want one that would drive out private insurance.

“I will not vote for anything that I think will damage our private insurance system,” he said.

Still, he said, something had to be done to reform health care.

“There’s a lot of agreement about what the problems are,” Murphy said. “There’s a lot of disagreement about what the solutions should be.”

He cited a recent meeting he had with a couple dozen Saratoga County doctors. At the end, he asked them how they thought he should vote on health-care reform. A third said yes, a third said no, and a third weren’t sure.

“My experts have cleared it up for me,” he told the crowd office his office.

Among the solutions Murphy said he favored are:

  • Changing the way Medicare funds are allocated, so doctors in upstate New York don’t get paid less than doctors in other parts of the country.
  • Allowing people to shop across state lines for health-insurance policies, though he acknowledged that would probably require Congress to establish minimum mandates on what must be covered in policies.
  • Altering the way doctors are reimbursed, so they can spend more time with patients instead of trying to rush through as many billable patients as possible.

Several of the people who talked to Murphy thanked him for giving them a chance to say what they thought. And he thanked them for coming out.

“This is the best part of my job,” he said.

For more information:

  • Share/Bookmark