Maloney town hall in Cornwall drew a big crowd
CORNWALL – Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY-18) addressed concerns over the American Health Care Act, also known as Trumpcare, during a town hall meeting in Cornwall on Saturday.
As part of his “Speak with Sean” series, the congressman spoke to locals at Cornwall Middle School for almost two hours on issues related to the controversial bill. Maloney represents one of the 12 Democrat-controlled districts in the U.S. that voted for President Donald Trump in November, which is part of the reason why he has embarked on these town hall meetings.
“This is just about basic democracy and letting people question their elected officials and get answers,” the congressman said off stage. “It is important that people in elected office stand in front of their voters and talk to them.”
Ross Miller of New Windsor asked what, in Maloney’s opinion, do health insurers think about Trumpcare.
“I can’t speak for what insurers think, but I can tell you they are worried about the disruption this is causing in terms of who can have coverage,” he said. “It has created tremendous uncertainty for the insurance companies.”
Miller also cited that 24 million fewer Americans would be insured under the American Health Care Act than under the current law, which was estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to come true by 2026.
Maloney referred to AHCA as “the worst thing I’ve ever seen passed in Washington” and said that it is very hard to find someone outside of the Republicans in the House of Representatives who wholeheartedly supports the bill.
“You [pass this bill] in the dark of night without having read it or figured out how much it costs, and all you get are a cornucopia of tax cuts for the rich and a trillion dollars out of Medicaid and Medicare,” he explained.
Other issues that were addressed included the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey and how the impending investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election will proceed from here on. A few locals brought up the issue on having an independent prosecutor and FBI director look into this matter.
Sandra Creary, a Newburgh resident, posed this question: “What can we do as a community to help you get a special investigator on board?”
After an uproarious applause, Maloney encouraged the attendees to be engaged and stay engaged on the issues, and things will get done.
Creary later said she was totally satisfied with his answer.
“I wanted to find out where he stands on [Comey’s firing], and I decided to come here because he puts himself out there,” she said, “so if you have an issue, I appreciate it if you come out and answer our issues.”
