Health care hot topic in 68th Assembly race
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By ELIZABETH HOCHSTEDLER
elizabeth.hochstedler@lee.net
Saturday, October 25, 2008 8:18 AM CDT
Before Kristen Dexter even decided to run for the state’s 68 Assembly District, it was known that the seat would be highly contested.
Dexter, a Democrat, is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Terry Moulton, who is running for his third term in the Tuesday, Nov. 4 election.
This is one of the dozen tightly-contested races out of the 99 Assembly districts in the state, according to the Associated Press.
“It was a top target district (by the Democrats),” Dexter said. “It was watched right from the beginning.”
“The Democrats have targeted me as their No. 1 target to take out (of office),” Moulton said.
Dexter, who previously served six years on the Altoona School Board, said she’s not running on one particular issue. Rather, she said, she wants to support the district’s families, farmers, elderly and small businesses.
“My work on the Altoona School Board showed me that sometimes no matter how hard we tried at the local level, that it was very difficult to make a difference in the lives of our people,” she said. “I realized that to be really effective, it might take leadership at another level.”
However, Moulton wants to forward legislation which he had been working on in the last Legislative session.
“I’ve decided to run because I’ve had an opportunity as (chairman) of the small business committee to be involved in some legislation to help small businesses out,” he said. “I also have some further ideas on health care reform that I’ve been involved in.”
To see videos of the candidates, click on this link: http://www.chippewa.com/electionlocal/
Then click on the story link and look for the video player.
Health care
A hot topic in both campaigns is health care.
Moulton, who worked 17 years for St. Joseph’s Hospital, said his experience in the health care field has helped him compile many ideas on how he would like to see heath care reformed.
First he would like to see more money and tax credits focused on preventative care and wellness programs.
“One of the problems we have in health care is 75 percent of … chronic diseases are preventable,” he said. “We’re spending only about 7 cents per dollar on prevention. We need to focus a lot more energy on prevention and wellness.”
Focusing on wellness would save money in the long run on health care costs for companies, he said.
Moulton wants hospitals to transfer their medical records into electronic formats and be upfront with pricing.
“I am going to probably introduce this next (legislative) session, a price discrimination concept where all people will be charged the same (price) for the same service,” he said. “I think that will go quite a long ways toward increasing competition and cut some of the cost shifting that’s going on.”
Dexter admitted that she doesn’t have a background in health care. But she has heard from district residents that health care is an issue, and she would like to see a change.
Although at least one ad from a special interest claims she supports the Healthy Wisconsin plan, Dexter said she would not vote for it.
“I’m not advocating government takeover (of the health care industry),” she said. “I’m advocating strong, responsible leadership that holds insurance and drug companies accountable, guarantees all of us more choices and better care.”
She said she likes to fact that Healthy Wisconsin offered choice, cut administration costs and held insurance companies accountable, but she doesn’t see it as the ultimate solution.
Dexter believes government should serve as a watchdog, holding insurance companies responsible for their rates and coverage of people.
“Everybody has to take responsibility,” she said. “This isn’t just a problem to be solved by one group or another. It’s everybody working together, including legislators working together.”
For those who are not currently eligible for a health insurance plan, she would like to see them placed in one insurance pool, which would then have the power to negotiate as a group.
Other issues
Both candidates said they would like to bring more high-paying jobs to their district, look at alternative energy and push the next budget through more quickly than last year.
Moulton and Dexter also said they’re against raising taxes.
“In general I feel that tax increases stifle the economy. Tax cuts invigorate the economy,” Moulton said. “I think I would look completely at reducing spending before I would raise taxes.”
Dexter would like to see the entire state tax system restructured closer to a system like that of Minnesota.
“I’m not in favor of raising taxes anywhere, but I am in favor of taking the tax system that we have right now and making it fair because it is tipped against … our middle- income families. It’s tipped against small business,” she said. “That’s not a fair tax system.”
The District
The 68th Assembly District includes the towns of Hallie, LaFayette and Wheaton, the village of Lake Hallie and the 16th Ward of the city of Eau Claire in Chippewa County. In Eau Claire County it includes most of the city of Eau Claire and the towns of Union, Seymour, Ludington and Lincoln.
Kristen Dexter
Age: 47.
Address: 7410 Lakeview Drive, Eau Claire.
Family: Married, husband Donn. They have two girls and one boy.
Education: Graduated from the University of Wisconsin - River Falls with a bachelor’s degree.
Profession: Owned a metalsmith business from 1988-1991. Formerly the district director for State Sen. Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls).
Political Experience: Served six years on the Altoona School Board, 2002-2008.
Terry Moulton
Age: 62.
Address: 980 118th St., Chippewa Falls
Family: Married, wife Sue Kay. They have two children and seven grandchildren.
Education: Graduated from Chippewa Falls High School in 1964. Attended the University of Wisconsin — Eau Claire, studying business administration and accounting.
Profession: Has owned Mouldy’s Archery & Tackle since 1987 and Mouldy’s Tackle Co. since 1976. Previously worked for St. Joseph’s Hospital for 17 years and worked for a rural electric co-op as an office manager.
Political Experience: Incumbent elected in 2004, seeking his third term in the Legislature.
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