Challengers debate 3rd District issues
SPRINGFIELD TWP, Mercer County — Three Democrats hoping to run against Congressman Mike Kelly this year participated in a candidate forum here Sunday.
Chris Rieger of Cranberry Township, Rob Multari of Hermitage, Mercer County and Brian Skibo of Hermitage, Mercer County made their case to be the Democratic Party's nominee at an event at My Brother's Place restaurant.
The forum, hosted by 3rd District United, was attended by about 50 people and more tuned in online via a webcast.
Democrats from the 3rd District, which includes all of Butler, Armstrong Mercer and Crawford counties and parts of Erie, Lawrence and Clarion counties, will choose their nominee in the May 15 primary.
Throughout the forum, all three candidates stated their interest in health care reform.
Rieger, an attorney with a practice in Pittsburgh, said that three out of four bankruptcy cases he sees are caused by unpaid medical bills.
The Affordable Care Act passed under President Barack Obama's administration did more good than bad, Rieger said, but there are still more than 20 million people in America without health insurance and many that are insured have “junk insurance policies” and they can't get the care they need.
“I am a fierce advocate for Medicare for all in the United States of America once and for all,” he said. “I think it is immoral that we are the only western democracy that does not offer health care as a fundamental right to all of its citizens.”
Multari, a doctor, said that a single-payer health care system would be a blessing.
“There should be health care for everyone in this country, notice I say health care, not health insurance,” he said.
Health insurance administering health care is a bad system, he said, because the insurance companies need to make a profit for their shareholders and cover large salaries for executives.
He said he would also like to see more transparency and oversight for the pharmaceutical industry.
Skibo said he gained perspective on the health care industry as a patient undergoing treatment for brain cancer.
He said he would support a health care infrastructure bill that would involve building medical research centers around the country that would work on curing diseases, advancing care and providing free medical treatment. This would also create jobs and stimulate the economy, he said.
Skibo likened his plan to the Human Genome Project, an international initiative to map the human genetic code. Studies showed that every $1 invested in the genome project netted $141 in economic activity, he said.
To read more about what the candidates said Sunday, read today's Butler Eagle.
