Democratic Congressional Candidate Tracy Mitrano speaks at a public forum on health care Tuesday evening at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Jamestown. P-J photo by Jay Young.

The issue of how best to improve the health care system for Americans was the centerpiece of a public forum on Tuesday evening.

Democratic Congressional candidate Tracy Mitrano held an open town hall meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Jamestown, the second of five such scheduled events.

The open meetings were created as a way for Mitrano to hear and discuss the health care issues of everyday citizens throughout New York’s 23rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she challenges incumbent Tom Reed, R-Corning.

Citizens in attendance voiced their concerns on a number of issues including unmanageable health care bills, exorbitantly priced drugs and services and the health care needs of Americans at large and in the 23rd District.

Mitrano opened the forum by sharing her own personal experiences with the health care system. After her brother was born prematurely, he became developmentally disabled and was institutionalized from a young age.

Mitrano’s mother was placed into intensive care after complications arose during a routine medical biopsy and ultimately passed away as a result, saddling her father with medical debt.

“I just remember that lesson. It stayed with me all of those years,” Mitrano said of her family’s experiences. “So that when I got involved in politics and people were sharing their stories with me about health care, it didn’t take long for me to put it in light of that which I also had experienced. Tonight I would like to open up the conversations with all of you so that I can learn more. So I can be sure that I understand people’s experiences, their expectations, their hopes, their desires.”

Others in attendance shared similar stories of frustration in dealing with medical insurance and health care providers, and posed questions regarding how Mitrano would like to move forward if elected.

In her responses, Mitrano expressed ardent concern for corporate influence in congress and the inefficiencies of America’s current health care system.

“Do we have health care, in some ways, available to everyone? Yes. If you don’t have any money you can still walk into a hospital, but who is paying for it? We are paying for it, taxpayers are paying for it. That is an ineffective and inefficient system,” she said.

“If you are a taxpayer in this country you pay, per head, $8,000 on top of (your own costs) because we have an inefficient and ineffective healthcare system. The benefit of which is largely going to health, insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Why would we accept that? Why do we do it? Because of the political corruption we have in congress.”

Mitrano noted that her opponent in the 2018 election, Reed, had business connections to the medical debt collection industry prior to his time in office.

After speaking with various communities throughout the 23rd District, Mitrano intends to author a public statement announcing her findings and strategies to improve these problems.

“In terms of health care I believe in values and goals, and the values and goals are universal health care, affordable and available,” she noted.

In other business, one of the first topics addressed during the public forum was the potential for electronic interference in state and national elections.

Speaking with experience from her own career in cyber security, Mitrano discussed the issue of Facebook advertisements and their lack of regulation among other topics.

She also noted that New York is better positioned than some states to deal with issues of cyber security.

“A, Most of our voting stuff in New York state is not on the internet, and B, we use paper reinforcement for our voting and that is a good solid system,” she said.