Congressional candidate Tracy Mitrano holds town hall style discussion

Corning, NY (WENY) -- Election season is in full swing in the Southern Tier. Democratic congressional candidate Tracy Mitrano hosted her 4th of 5 town-hall style listening sessions in Corning. This session follows similar stops in places like Jamestown and Olean.
The topic of Thursday’s discussion focused on the country's healthcare crisis. Mitrano said that even with hyper partisanship running rampant, healthcare is always near the top of voter's list of concerns.
A number of people packed into the steelworker's union hall in corning. Many voiced their opinion about the state of the country's healthcare system. The forum was part of a tour around the 23rd district by candidate Mitrano.
“People are bankrupted by the healthcare system. They are under great stress and debt collection and when they come out we know something is broken.” said Mitrano.
She spoke about her father almost going bankrupt because of medical bills. Her mother was admitted to an area hospital for a biopsy procedure and one of the doctors nicked an organ. As a result she was hospitalized for nine months.
Mitrano said she always hears from constituents about their concerns with healthcare. She says healthcare needs to be universal, available and affordable.
“People have a healthcare story. We have to take those stories seriously and find a different way to approach it instead of ignoring it.” said Mitrano.
Taking stories seriously is a massage she hopes will persuade some voters. Voters like Independent, Horsehead's resident Mike Park.
“I'm ready for some change and I think politics has to change so maybe the key is to get some new people, some new blood and some new ideas in there.” said Park.
Park spoke about his own battles with the healthcare system. He was caught in the middle of a 'he said, she said' argument between his doctor and insurance company about a procedure. Ultimately Park was straddle with the bill.
“Pharmaceuticals are outrageous, the medical costs are outrageous. It's an unbalanced broken system. I don't think anyone disagrees with that, so we need someone in there driving the change to fix it and make it better.” Park.
Mitrano says she wants to hear from all her constituents; one that may agree or disagree with her position.
“I am in service of trying to find what's going to help people? And I’ll only be able to do that if I help people and understand their experience.” said Mitrano.
Mitrano is set to host one final town hall in genera on Friday.
For more information on her campaign head to her official page: https://mitrano2020.com/

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