Binghamton Rally Marks 6-Month Anniversary of Claudia Tenney’s Vote to Raise Insurance Premiums With the TrumpTax
SPEAK OUT NEW YORK RALLIES TO MARK SIX-MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF CLAUDIA TENNEY’S VOTE TO RAISE INSURANCE PREMIUMS WITH THE TRUMPTAX
Speak Out CNY And Allies Call On Tenney To Stop Undermining Health Care And Punishing Working Families With Rate Hikes
BINGHAMTON — Speak Out Central New York, alongside Indivisible Binghamton, the Greater Binghamton Labor and Religion Coalition, the Justice and Peace Advisory Committee and other allies, today rallied in front of Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s Binghamton office to mark the six-month anniversary of her vote to pass the TrumpTax, which raises New Yorkers’ taxes and is set to spur double-digit health insurance premium hikes.
“Congresswoman Tenney – who votes with Trump 97.5 percent of the time – proved she cares more about the wealthiest one percent than her own constituents when she voted for a bill that raises our taxes and sabotages our healthcare, while giving billions in tax breaks to rich corporations and her own campaign donors,” said Leona Perreault of Speak Out Central New York. “Now we face average price increases of $572 for individual insurance plans, and even more for families – no matter how Tenney tries to spin it, that’s going to hurt working families and punish those who desperately need access to affordable health care. We deserve a representative who puts her district ahead of her own political ambitions, and will vote in our best interests, not just toe the party the line.”
Despite the warnings of health care experts across the country – including President Trump’s own former Health and Human Services Secretary – that the TrumpTax’s repeal of the individual mandate would raise insurance premiums, Tenney voted to pass it. Now, New York insurers are requesting average rate hikes of 24 percent for 2019, with some insurers requesting increases as high as 38.6 percent.
In addition, a coalition of Republican-led states are now attempting to use the individual mandate repeal to overturn other critical patient protections. As a direct result of Tenney’s support for the TrumpTax, 600,000 Central New Yorkers are now in danger of losing their coverage because they suffer from preexisting conditions.
With news of a potential “round two” of the tax plan said to emerge in the next few months, this could mean “even more tax cuts to high-income Americans, causing long-lasting damage to the federal budget, and further threatening priorities such as Social Security, health care, and education.”
After the rally in front of Tenney’s district office, Speak Out Central New York and its allies distributed hand sanitizer bottles to Binghamton residents, reminding voters that they face an average increase of $572 in their insurance costs because of Tenney’s support for the TrumpTax.
