Dr Tim Murphy

Author of sweeping federal mental health reform. Passed US House 422-2 JUL 2016. Amended into 21st Century Cures Act. Signed into law by President Obama DEC 2016. Oversite and accountability for $130 billion in federal funding, accountability for grants, new grant programs for treatment and workforce development, realigned 112 federal agencies/programs, created office of Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, changes and clarification of HIPAA, additional funding for:… Show more

Author of sweeping federal mental health reform. Passed US House 422-2 JUL 2016. Amended into 21st Century Cures Act. Signed into law by President Obama DEC 2016. Oversite and accountability for $130 billion in federal funding, accountability for grants, new grant programs for treatment and workforce development, realigned 112 federal agencies/programs, created office of Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, changes and clarification of HIPAA, additional funding for: Assisted Outpatient Treatment, Assertive Community Treatment, and more mental illness treatment providers. Described as the most comprehensive mental health legislation in the last 50 years. Parts that were taken out of this bill were added on to legislation in subsequent bills. Areas that still need to be addressed include elimination of the Institute of Mental diseases (IMD) which limits the number of psychiatric hospital beds and thus greatly restricts care for people with serious mental illness causing more homelessness and incarceration of those with mental illness. Show less

Mental Health and HIPPA Regulations
Federal Policy and Treatment of Serious Mental Illness
GM Ignition Switch Recall Delays
GM Ignition Switch Recall Update
Public Health Response to Ebola Outbreak
Bioresearch Labs Handling of Dangerous Pathogens
Federal Oversight of Dangerous Pathogens
Concussions in Youth and Professional Sports

Introduced the Family Health Care Accessibility Act (H.R. 2703), which has 20 cosponsors. The legislation would provide Federal Torts Claim Act protection for health care professionals who volunteer their time at community health centers. (Signed into law in the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016).

Introduced 01 AUG 2013, extends incentives for the use of electronic medical records to mental health and substance abuse providers.

Introduced the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act (H.R. 787), which has 7 cosponsors. The legislation expands energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf and dedicates the new royalty revenues toward paying down the nation’s debt and rebuilding infrastructure.

The legislation makes available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals diagnosed with mental illness and families in mental health crisis, and for other purposes including: Reforms key federal agency (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), requires SAMHSA to collect data and coordinate programs/research for MH services across 8 federal departments, Funds and strengthens evidence based programs to treat serious mental illness, Funds and… Show more

The legislation makes available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals diagnosed with mental illness and families in mental health crisis, and for other purposes including: Reforms key federal agency (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), requires SAMHSA to collect data and coordinate programs/research for MH services across 8 federal departments, Funds and strengthens evidence based programs to treat serious mental illness, Funds and expands Assisted Outpatient Treatment and Assertive Community Treatment, Allows Department of Justice grants for mental health courts/forensic mental health/training of law enforcement, Creates community responses system and funds data bases for psychiatric beds, Allows same day billing for primary care and psychiatric care, Establishes adult suicide prevention/intervention program. Reintroduced in 2015 as H.R. 2646 and signed into law in 2016 as the 21st Century Cures Act.   HR 2646 is the premier mental health reform law in the US, beginning with only a 3% likelihood of support when first introduced, but finally passed with near unanimous support at a time when few substantive bills pass, no health care reform bills pass and NO major mental health reform bills have been passed in over half a century.  Show less

Introduced 02 AUG 2013. This legislation would block EPA from using the “social cost of carbon” in any regulatory impact analysis unless a Federal law is enacted authorizing such use.

The legislation prohibits any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from inspecting protected health information of any individual, except when it directly relates to a criminal violation.

Introduced the Social Security and Medicare Protection Act, prohibits Congress from using Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds for anything other than Social Security and Medicare.  

Introduced 22 MAY 2013, The legislation reforms the EPA’s Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) and suspend the LRRP if the EPA cannot approve one or more commercially available lead test kits that meet EPA’s own standards.   

Under a complicated federal law called “Medicare Secondary Payer,” the Medicare Trust Fund must recover any medical bills that should have been paid by a private insurance company as part of a legal settlement. But Medicare’s bureaucracy failed to carry out this law effectively and placed the burden on seniors instead of the insurance companies. This convoluted process put legal settlements at risk and caused some seniors to lose their Medicare coverage or have their Social Security checks… Show more

Under a complicated federal law called “Medicare Secondary Payer,” the Medicare Trust Fund must recover any medical bills that should have been paid by a private insurance company as part of a legal settlement. But Medicare’s bureaucracy failed to carry out this law effectively and placed the burden on seniors instead of the insurance companies. This convoluted process put legal settlements at risk and caused some seniors to lose their Medicare coverage or have their Social Security checks garnished. Murphy’s bill fixed these problems so no senior loses their health insurance because of bureaucratic error, and recoups billions of dollars owed by insurance companies to the taxpayers. With Medicare risking bankruptcy in five years, Murphy’s bill shores up the Trust Fund by recovering between $1 billion and $4 billion annually. The SMART Act also saves the Medicare agency countless hours of staff work pursuing claims of little or no value. Signed into law January 10, 2013.      Show less

DOD Surgeons General Report on Mental Health Staffing Needs. House of Representatives unanimously adopted an amendment by Congressman Tim Murphy to the FY12 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to meet the mental health needs of today’s military.  The amendment directed the Surgeons General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to review and report to Congress on whether additional medical specialty and behavioral health professionals are needed to serve the members of the Armed Forces… Show more

DOD Surgeons General Report on Mental Health Staffing Needs. House of Representatives unanimously adopted an amendment by Congressman Tim Murphy to the FY12 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to meet the mental health needs of today’s military.  The amendment directed the Surgeons General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to review and report to Congress on whether additional medical specialty and behavioral health professionals are needed to serve the members of the Armed Forces, specifically to treat the growing number of soldiers with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. The Surgeons General are also to offer recommendations for ways to provide incentives for experienced healthcare professionals to join active and reserve components. (December 2011, Public Law 112-81)    Show less

Countervailing Duties on Chinese Goods, Duties on Dumped Hot-Rolled Steel and Steel Pipe from China, Russian Suspension Agreement, and Steel Armor Plate Rule. As Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, Rep. Murphy worked to secure passage of legislation that clarified existing law so Chinese goods benefiting from government subsidies would face penalties when sold in the United States (Public Law 112-99). Murphy led numerous Caucus letters to impose duties on illegally dumped and… Show more

Countervailing Duties on Chinese Goods, Duties on Dumped Hot-Rolled Steel and Steel Pipe from China, Russian Suspension Agreement, and Steel Armor Plate Rule. As Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, Rep. Murphy worked to secure passage of legislation that clarified existing law so Chinese goods benefiting from government subsidies would face penalties when sold in the United States (Public Law 112-99). Murphy led numerous Caucus letters to impose duties on illegally dumped and subsidized flat-rolled steel and pipe from China, India, Brazil, and Japan. Murphy has also pushed the Commerce Department to crack down on both Russia’s illegal steel dumping and tariff evasion by Chinese exports. And when the Pentagon sought to buy vehicle plate armor melted in China, Murphy pushed back and got the Defense Department to follow the law and buy armor made and melted in America.    Show less

Included in the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S. 3187) was legislation authored by Rep. Murphy to establish the first-ever program bringing life-saving generic medications to market faster and to close a major safety gap in the global drug supply chain. Access to generic medications save the typical senior citizen $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses annually. Murphy’s legislation clears a backlog of 2,800 generic applications awaiting FDA review and factory inspection… Show more

Included in the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S. 3187) was legislation authored by Rep. Murphy to establish the first-ever program bringing life-saving generic medications to market faster and to close a major safety gap in the global drug supply chain. Access to generic medications save the typical senior citizen $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses annually. Murphy’s legislation clears a backlog of 2,800 generic applications awaiting FDA review and factory inspection. The bill also addresses a major safety gap in the global drug supply chain illustrated by the 2007 contaminated heparin outbreak. A Government Accountability Office study found the FDA had not inspected the Chinese plant responsible for producing counterfeit heparin, which contributed to deaths of nearly 200 people, and the FDA was only visiting foreign facilities on average once every nine years. The Murphy bill moves the FDA toward inspecting foreign factories with the same rigor and biennial frequency that it does with domestic plants. Murphy’s bill, which is funded by $1.5 billion in user fees from generic drug makers (not taxpayers), is based on a historic user fee program agreement crafted by the FDA and generic drug stakeholders led by Mylan, which is headquartered at the Business Park Southpointe in Rep Murphy’s district. (July 2012, Public Law 112-144). Show less

Co-authored the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act and led efforts to achieve House passage of the bill by a vote of 348 to 79 (9/29/10). The legislation, which was the signature agenda item for American manufacturers, empowers companies and workers to seek remedies under current trade laws when injured by a foreign country’s currency manipulation. America has lost more than 2.4 million jobs in the last decade to China because Beijing illegally manipulates its currency in order to subsidize… Show more

Co-authored the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act and led efforts to achieve House passage of the bill by a vote of 348 to 79 (9/29/10). The legislation, which was the signature agenda item for American manufacturers, empowers companies and workers to seek remedies under current trade laws when injured by a foreign country’s currency manipulation. America has lost more than 2.4 million jobs in the last decade to China because Beijing illegally manipulates its currency in order to subsidize Chinese exports. Rep. Murphy worked to build bipartisan support for the bill, navigate the bill through the House Ways and Means Committee, and produce a floor vote on the measure. Show less

Amended buy American provisions into 2009 Stimulus Bill. Rep. Murphy used his clout as Co-Chair of Congressional Steel Caucus to ensure strict “Buy American” requirements are enforced on infrastructure spending.Assuring only American-made steel could be used in taxpayer-funded stimulus projects.

Ends the discriminatory practice of charging higher co-pays to seniors on Medicare who seek mental health care. For other types of medical care there is a 20% co-pay; however, mental health care required a 50% co-pay. Seniors and people with chronic illness are at a higher risk for depression than the general population. If depression in people with chronic illness is left untreated, their health care costs double.

Requires excavators to immediately notify emergency responders any time a gas pipeline is broken. Violators face a penalty of up to one million dollars in fines or five years in prison. Congressman Murphy wrote the law after a work crew ruptured a gas line in Moon Township, causing a house to explode and injuring two children, Mark and Chelsea. Previously, a patchwork of local laws that differed from community to community caused prolonged delays in notifying residents of danger.

Requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to report data on each healthcare-associated infection. Information would be posted online so consumers could compare infection information by hospital and patient demographics, allowing market forces to drive hospitals toward eliminating preventable infections. The Centers for Disease Control estimate HAI reporting has helped to save 27,000 lives and $1.8 billion in costs. As a long-time advocate for greater disclosure laws on… Show more

Requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to report data on each healthcare-associated infection. Information would be posted online so consumers could compare infection information by hospital and patient demographics, allowing market forces to drive hospitals toward eliminating preventable infections. The Centers for Disease Control estimate HAI reporting has helped to save 27,000 lives and $1.8 billion in costs. As a long-time advocate for greater disclosure laws on hospital-acquired infections, Rep. Murphy helped to move the federal government toward reforms that were ultimately included in the Affordable Care Act (March 2010, Public Law 111-148)      Show less

This ensured only those eligible for Medicaid received benefits and reduced Medicaid fraud. preserved funding for a host of services to poorer children and the disabled, including clinic and outpatient rehabilitation services; specialized transportation to school for disabled children on Medicaid; and case management services that allow disabled persons to live in their communities.  H.R. 5613 became Public Law 110-252 on 6/30/2008.