Advertisement But though health-care reform remains a top issue for Democrats on the campaign trail, incumbent and first-time candidates are no longer united in embracing the $15 billion plan, and some are backing away from it.
"The issue is money and right now, not many legislative candidates are talking about big, broad programs simply because we all understand that practically speaking, there's no money," said Jim Holperin, a new Democratic Senate candidate who praised the Healthy Wisconsin plan but said his focus was on reviving the economy.
The once-united Senate Democrats now acknowledge differences on the signature proposal that defined their agenda for the last two years and would restructure one-sixth of the state's economy.
UW-La Crosse political scientist Joe Heim said several Senate candidates he's observed generally seem to be distancing themselves from the controversial plan.
"I may be wrong, but I do think they're avoiding the specifics of it," Heim said.
Senate Democrats argued their plan, passed last year as part of their version of the state budget and later dropped in negotiations with Assembly Republicans, would save more than $1 billion over what state residents and businesses currently pay for their health care. But Republicans have attacked it as the largest proposed tax increase in state history and said its $15.2 billion payroll tax would hurt small businesses and jobs in the state.
"I don't think they're backing away from it," said Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, who has derided the plan as government-run health care. "They're running away at this point. We have our challenger candidates talking about the issue."
Fitzgerald leads the GOP election efforts but is not up for re-election himself.
Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, who is also not up for reelection, said his caucus wasn't backing away from its plan. He said Senate Democrats would be "flexible" and look at the plan as well as other options for holding down health-care costs.
"Everybody in the state should have coverage at least as good as a legislator has," Decker said.
But Jeff Buhrandt, spokesman for the State Senate Democratic Committee, acknowledged some new Democratic candidates who did not vote for the proposal last year had questions about it.
"Healthy Wisconsin still might be the plan in the end, but it's clear that some people have concerns about the specifics," Buhrandt said.
Cost a concern
Holperin, a candidate in the 12th Senate District in northern Wisconsin and a former state Tourism secretary under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, said he is concerned about the cost of the plan as well as practical political considerations, such as opposition from Doyle.
Alison Page of River Falls, a former health-care administrator now running as a Democrat for the 10th Senate District against incumbent Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, said she didn't know enough about Healthy Wisconsin to say whether she would support it. But she did say states looking to experiment with comprehensive reforms "probably need to have an understanding" with the federal government to coordinate their efforts — something that wasn't a part of Healthy Wisconsin.
Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, a Healthy Wisconsin supporter not up for re-election, said the state could take smaller steps in the direction of universal coverage. She pointed to a Doyle proposal that would help individuals and small business owners choose between competing plans operating under similar rules.
"I believe Healthy Wisconsin will happen. But that's the distant future," Vinehout said, adding it could take years. "The problem we've always had is everyone's second choice is nothing and that's unacceptable because the status quo is unacceptable."
Chad Fradette, a Republican running for the 30th District seat held by Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, derided the plan as mandating costly health care for everyone in the state. Fradette said his family had benefited from a private plan that uses a health savings account to help pay doctor bills, and said he supports expanding the use of such plans.
A Hansen aide said the senator could be reached for comment.
Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, the author of Healthy Wisconsin, said the plan would need to be revised but Senate incumbents and new candidates remained supportive of the proposal or "something very close to it — getting people the same benefits we have."
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