Cape Gazette NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 2- MONDAY. MARCH 5. 2012 3S
A Dining With Progressives
Town Hall Meeting on Afford-
able Health Care held Feb.12 at
Nage restaurant in Rehoboth at-
tracted 75 people. The meeting
was moderated by Delaware
Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark
South; and Rep. Earl ]aques, D-
Glasgow; Dr. ]oAnn Fields, pri-
mary care physician in Kent
County; and Mitch Crane, for-
mer regulatory specialist in the
Delaware Department of Insur-
ance.
Kowalko and Jaques discussed
the single-payer bill they are
Staton files,for
Senate 6th District ;eat
preparing and plan to introduce
this legislative session. Both
strongly support the Affordable
Care Act, but say Delaware can
make it stronger by including a
single-payer option.
Crane explained and com-
mented on the recently approved
affiliation between Pittsburgh's
Highmark Inc. and the much
smaller Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Delaware.
Fields, who gave an overview
of the Affordable Care Act and
how the exchange will work in
Delaware, believes the passage of
the Affordable Care Act in 2010
was a political miracle. "If I am
handed a miracle I will be deter-
mined to protect it and promote
it. Miracles don't happen every
day. The past 100 years are full of
times when America tried to do
health reform but countervailing
forces fought against each other
until the whole thing fell apart."
Fields also told the group that
ever since the Affordable Care
Act was passed in March 2010, it
has been under assault.
Fields explained that the Af-
fordable Care Act is being
planned and implemented by the
Department of Health and Social
Services and the Delaware
Health Care Commission. As a
frequent attendee of monthly
meetings of the Health Care
Commission, Fields said, "The
implementation of the ACA to its
full extent is in jeopardy Unless
we have a strong advocate that
insists on an active, consumer
oriented Health Benefits Ex-
change with strong consumer
advocacy."
She is especially concerned
about the composition of the
Health Benefits Exchange gov-
erning board. She encouraged
the enthusiastic group to contact
elected officials and urge them to
make complete the implementa-
tion of the Affordable Care Act
with strong consumer advocacy
a priority this year.
Democrat Andrew ' dy" Sta-
ton, 39, a Rehoboth Beach resi-
dent, local business owner and
community leader, has filed with
the Sussex County Board of Elec-
tions to run for the newly formed
state Senate District 6.
"I filed to rtm for the state Sen-
ate because I have a plan to cre-
ate jobs, address the tong-term
needs of our residents, and stim-
ulate the economic engine in the
6th District," Staton said.
someone who has created
jobs in this community and taken
leadership positions in our local
organizations, I have seen the
needs and opportunities we have
here in the 6th District. The 6th
District has the state's greatest
opportunity to create long-term,
sustainable jobs, develop trans-
portation services through pub-
lic-private partnerships, and
work with the county and towns
to develop a plan to preserve our
community without burdening
our resources or our residents. It
will be an honor to represent the
6th DistriCt, working together to
implement new ideas," Staton
added. In the coming weeks, Sta-
ton will unroll his plans for sus-
tainable job growth in Delaware.
Staton is gaining the attention
of voters in the 6th District, hav-
ing already raised more than
$20,000 in donations from Small-
dollar, local grassroots support-
ers.
Staton currently works as a
full-time real estate professional
and leads the Andy Staton
Group, which performed in the
top 1 percent of all Sussex Coun-
ty agents in 2011: He was named
the 2010-11 Realtor of the Year
and was appointed by Gov. lack
Markell to the Delaware Real Es-
tate Commission where he
serves as chairman for the 2011-12
term.
Anactive member of the com-
munity, Staton sits on the board
of the Sussex Family YMCA, the
CAMP Rehoboth Leadership
Council, and the Beebe Medical
Center Advisory Board. He has
also been appointed by Markell
to the Delaware Economic Fi-
nancial Advisory Council, re-
sponsible for forecasting rev-
enue and expenditures for the
state.
Staton holds a bachelor's de-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A~DY ~YA~"ON of Rehoboth Beach
has officially filed to run for the state
Senate 6th District seat.
gree in political science and a
master's degree in management.
Previously, he worked as an asso-
ciate with Booz Allen Hamilton
and served as a legislative assis-
tant to Delegate Bill Mires, who
went on tO become attorney gen-
eral of Virginia and now sits on
the Virginia Supreme Court.
Staton can be found on most
mornings training for his next
marathon, the Rehoboth Beach
Marathon in December 2012.
Bath, Kitchen
Center
