NY-23 Special Election, Aug 23, 2003. The Democratic Party candidate is Max Della Pia. The Republican Party candidate is Joe Sempolinski. Max is also running in the November General Election, Joe is not.

Joe’s view from his website:

Joe is against single payer health care. A government run health care system will not allow the competition needed to drive costs down and stimulate innovation. The key to getting people access to care is lowering costs not government control.

The COVID vaccine was a major achievement of the Trump administration. It should be available to all who want it, especially those at high risk of COVID complications. However, Joe is against government mandates forcing people to take the vaccine to work, attend school or participate in the life of our nation.

Max’s view from his website:

We need to improve access to healthcare especially in rural areas. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate and doctors are gravitating to urban areas. Incentives are required to reverse this trend. People should not live in constant fear of losing everything to hospital bills or becoming a second class citizen if they become disabled. Lack of preventive care and failure to provide treatment of conditions like hyper-tension and diabetes results in unnecessary expensive emergency room visits.

I share the following conclusion of the American College of Physicians (ACP):

“The United States is the only wealthy industrialized country without universal health coverage. It spends more on health care than its peers, and spending is growing at an unsustainable rate, care is unaffordable for many Americans (including insured persons), and health outcomes lag behind those of countries with universal coverage.”

Like the ACP, I believe “achieving universal coverage and access is an ethical obligation.” As a country the United States government needs, “a system where everyone will have coverage for and access to the care they need, at a cost they and the country can afford.” We must either strengthen the Affordable Care Act and protect coverage for pre-existing conditions, or as the various issues are worked out, migrate to a single-payer system.

Be informed! Vote Aug. 23rd!

Note: Voters registered in the current NY-23 district vote in the special election. Consult your Board of Elections if you have questions about eligibility to vote.