Amidst the backdrop of escalating healthcare costs in Arizona, Senator Ruben Gallego is sticking his neck out for those being squeezed financially, especially as recent Republican inaction threatens to propel insurance rates sky-high. Last week, Gallego took to Brahm Resnik's Sunday Square Off on 12 News, voicing his discontent with the fallout of the government shutdown and the impact on insurance prices, as reported by Senator Gallego's press office. In his appearance, he slammed the shutdown, saying "I wish I could say that ended the way I wanted to end it. My goal was to make sure that 24 million Americans, hundreds of thousands of Arizonans, did not see their insurance rates premiums doubled... Everything’s too damn expensive as it is right now, and now Republicans through inaction are going to raise insurance premiums on millions of Americans."
On the frontier of this battle, Senator Gallego hosted a town hall in Tucson where frustrations and anguishes over spiraling health costs surfaced straight from the people's voice, and his microphone funneled their concerns over the airwaves, calling upon his colleagues across the aisle, including Representative Juan Ciscomani, to stem the tide and keep their constituents from drowning in doubled premiums. "Right now, what we’re asking for is, again, political courage. And actually, I don’t even think it takes that much courage to say, I want to protect 24 million Americans from having their insurance premiums doubled," Senator Gallego told his press office at the town hall.
The senator's mission is clear, and so are his pleas for bipartisanship in this time when the health and wallets of Americans are perched upon a precipice; whether this call to arms will gather the weary troops of Capitol Hill into action remains yet to be seen. Those interested in catching a replay of the Senator's fervent address at the Tucson town hall can find coverage on C-SPAN, where the struggle for affordable healthcare and its guardians stand in full display.
Coverage of these events continues to amplify the beat of public concern over health care affordability in Arizona; the Senator's public meetings spotlight a scenario repeatedly playing across the country, as political tides and fiscal currents decide the fates of countless seeking shelter in a storm of medical expense. The full press release and details, including video evidence of the Tucson town hall, can be accessed through Senator Gallego's official website.
