• Local congressmen helping to shape new health plan,

Committee members begin debating Republican proposal

WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Tim Murphy and Mike Doyle live 17 miles away from each other, but they are a million miles apart when it comes to health care policy.

Both are getting to have their say this week as the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which both serve, wrestles with an effort to replace the Affordable Care Act with something Republicans say provides more choice, flexibility and affordability.

Another Western Pennsylvania lawmaker, Mike Kelly, R-Butler, is grappling with the same issues on another committee, House Ways and Means.

Both committees began their work Wednesday in simultaneous meetings that pit Republicans and Democrats against each other on one of the most contentious and political fights facing lawmakers.

Outnumbered Democrats began gumming up the works immediately by forcing clerks to read the text of the 123-page bill, an exercise normally bypassed. They are expected to introduce hundreds of amendments to the Republicans’ American Health Care Act — some substantive and others merely rabble-rousing. Debate could take several days.

Republicans have a few amendments of their own, including one by Mr. Murphy (R-Upper St. Clair), who supports his party’s effort but wants to ensure it preserves protections for mental health coverage that were enacted last year in his signature legislation, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.

“Parity is extremely important to all of us to make sure that mental health coverage remains intact,” he said during Wednesday’s Energy and Commerce meeting. Patients get better care when mental and physical health is integrated, he said.

Mr. Murphy already negotiated language into the bill that would expand access to mental health and addiction treatment services.

The Republican replacement plan could jeopardize mental health treatment by capping the Medicaid funding that many mental health patients rely on.

Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies charged people with mental illness higher premiums, rejected them outright or excluded coverage for their disease.

In the Senate, several Republicans have broken with their caucus over the changes to Medicaid. Among them are Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who in a joint letter said “reform should not come at the cost of disruption to health care for our country’s most vulnerable and sickest individuals.”

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf has similar concerns about Medicaid changes along with provisions that would cut subsidies for seniors and allow insurance companies to charge more based on age.

“Shifting the burden of expensive health care costs on to [seniors] to offset costs for the rest of us is unfair,” he wrote to Pennsylvania members of Congress. “These are individuals who have lived and worked in our communities, sometimes for their entire lives, and they will suddenly be at the mercy of health insurance companies.”

More than 2.8 million Pennsylvanians are covered by Medicaid, including 700,000 who acquired coverage through an expansion that the Republican bill would gradually roll back.

Mr. Murphy is firmly in favor of the bill, and Mr. Doyle, who laid into Republicans Wednesday, couldn’t be more opposed.

“This is a bad joke,” said Mr. Doyle, D-Forest Hills. “Republicans are giving you survival of the fittest starring health care for the healthy and wealthy. For the rest of Americans, you’re going to pay more money and you’re going to get less coverage.”

“Shifting the burden of expensive health care costs on to [seniors] to offset costs for the rest of us is unfair.” — Gov. Tom Wolf