Walz’s record on health care: Progressive with a dash of pragmatism

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who was chosen Tuesday to be Vice President Harris’s running mate, brings a progressive approach to health care, with a focus on reducing costs. 

Walz has said his health policy priorities have been shaped in part by his personal experience. His father died of cancer when Walz was 19, leaving his mother drowning in medical debt. 

In June, Walz signed a law banning medical providers from withholding medically necessary care due to unpaid debt. 

With a Democratic state Legislature, Walz has launched a prescription drug affordability board that can set limits on what insurers pay. He signed a bill to help people afford insulin in emergency situations, and the state this year reached a settlement with Eli Lilly to cap all insulin prices at $35 for the next five years. 

During his tenure as governor, Minnesota has also implemented a drug price transparency initiative.  

In his first inaugural address in 2019, Walz said he wanted to reaffirm health care in the state as a human right.  

“What Minnesotans want from their health care is simple. They don’t want to get sick in the first place. But if they do, they want care at a price they can afford and at a location close to home,” Walz said.  

“As Minnesotans, we can figure out how to deliver health care more effectively, more affordably and with better results. We can, and must, ensure that every Minnesotan has access to quality care at a price they can afford.” 

Walz has also championed the Minnesota Health Care Access Fund, which helps fund health care coverage for low-income state residents.  

The former high school teacher has demonstrated a pragmatic approach to health care policy, particularly when it comes to incentivizing medical businesses to continue operating in his state.

Walz supported watering down a hospital price transparency bill after the Mayo Clinic — the state’s largest employer — threatened to pull billions of dollars in new investments. The threat also led Walz and the Democratic Legislature to back down from a bill that would have mandated hospitals and clinics create “core staffing plans” to establish the maximum number of patients each nurse could care for. 

On abortion, Walz aimed to make Minnesota a safe haven for access in the wake of the end of Roe v. Wade.  

He signed a bill making the right to an abortion a state law. Abortion in Minnesota is legal until fetal viability, typically around 23 to 25 weeks. Harris in March visited a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic that provides abortions, becoming the first U.S. vice president to visit an abortion clinic. 

Walz also eliminated a mandatory 24-hour waiting period and parental consent requirement and signed an abortion “shield law” to protect health providers and patients from abortion-related prosecution in other states. 

Last year, Walz signed legislation legalizing adult-use marijuana in his state. Along with ushering in a new legalized cannabis industry into Minnesota, the bill also allowed for some low-level marijuana offenses to be expunged from criminal records. 

During his time in Congress, Walz showed his willingness to cross party leaders. 

Walz voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and never supported any of the GOP replacements. The 2010 vote was among the factors that put him in Republican crosshairs, but he still managed to win reelection.

But in 2015, he voted in favor of a bill repealing the law’s excise tax on medical devices, putting him at odds with then-President Obama, who had vowed to veto previous iterations of the bill.  

The law was put on temporary hiatus in 2016 and repealed under former President Trump in 2019.