As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz prepares to take the DNC stage tonight, Protect Our Care is highlighting his demonstrated record of fighting to ensure that his constituents have access to affordable, high-quality health care. While in Congress, he helped pass the Affordable Care Act, and he has since worked to safeguard and build on its success. Walz has fought to protect Medicaid and Medicare, lower prescription drug costs, and protect access to reproductive health care.
“Governor Tim Walz is a health care champion,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “During his time in Congress, Walz played a key role in passing the Affordable Care Act, and he worked to defend the law from Donald Trump’s repeal efforts. As Governor, he continues to increase coverage, lower health care costs and fight for reproductive freedom. His career is defined by his efforts to improve the health and well-being of hardworking families.”
Passed, Safeguarded, and Built On The Affordable Care Act
Governor Tim Walz Oversaw Record Affordable Care Act Marketplace Enrollment. Walz has built on the Affordable Care Act, ensuring that eligible Minnesotans can enroll in affordable health care coverage offered through the state’s ACA Marketplace. Under his leadership, Walz oversaw record enrollment in ACA Marketplace coverage. More than 146,000 Minnesotans purchased coverage on the Minnesota ACA Marketplace for 2024 – an increase of 13 percent over 2023 – with 60 percent of people enrolled saving an average of $6,460 per year on health insurance premiums thanks to premium tax credits.
2017: While Serving In Congress, Tim Walz Helped Kill Trump’s Affordable Care Act Repeal. Tim Walz represented Minnesota’s southernmost 1st Congressional district from 2007 to 2019. While serving in the House of Representatives, Walz voted against the passage of Trump’s American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would have repealed the Affordable Care Act and replaced it with a much worse law. Approximately 1 in 2 people in America with pre-existing conditions would have lost protections for coverage and 23 million people would have lost coverage under this bill by 2026. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the AHCA would have raised premiums by 20 percent. The negative economic impact of the AHCA would have caused 1.8 million people to lose their jobs by 2022.
2015: Tim Walz Helped Prevent A Total Repeal Of The Affordable Care Act. Walz voted against HR 596, an act “to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.” The bill also ordered House committees to develop a replacement that would “provide people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage,” but provided no specifics.
2010: Tim Walz Helped Pass The Affordable Care Act. While serving in Congress, Walz voted for HR 3590, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), in March 2010. Walz celebrated passage of the bill because it provided protections for pre-existing conditions and helped make coverage more affordable for middle class families.
Thanks to Walz and Democrats in Congress:
- GAINED: Protections for more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
- GAINED: Medicaid expansion, which covers about 24 million people.
- GAINED: Quality, affordable coverage for over 21.3 million people who buy insurance on their own.
- GAINED: 2.3 million adult children are able to stay on their parents’ insurance.
- GAINED: Ban on insurance companies charging women more than men.
- GAINED: Ban on insurance companies having annual and lifetime caps on coverage.
- GAINED: Requirements that insurance companies cover prescription drugs and maternity care.
- GAINED: Premium tax credits that make premiums affordable for 80 percent of people who purchase health care on the Marketplace.
- GAINED: Closing the Medicare ‘donut hole,’ which helps around 52 million seniors pay less for prescription drugs.
- GAINED: Critical funding for rural hospitals.
- GAINED: Policies that help around 67 million people on Medicare have lower costs and better medical care.
Protecting Medicare & Medicaid
Governor Walz Has Fought To Preserve The Health Care Access Fund. While serving as Governor, Walz has fought to preserve the Health Care Access Fund, which 1.2 million Minnesotans rely upon for health care access.
2017: While Serving In Congress, Tim Walz Helped Kill Trump’s ACA Repeal, Which Would Have Cut $880 Billion From Medicaid. Walz voted against Trump’s ACA repeal, which included $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Vox called Trump’s ACA repeal bill a “sneaky” reversal of Medicaid expansion, writing, “The AHCA reverses this expansion. But to avoid the criticism that the law throws poor children off their health insurance, it reverses it in a somewhat sneaky way. Rather than taking Medicaid away from families who have it, it simply caps new enrollments in Medicaid so no new poor families can sign up.”
Lowering Costs and Improving Care
Governor Walz Has Fought To Lower Prescription Drug Costs For Minnesotans. While serving as Minnesota Governor, Walz has championed legislation to increase transparency in prescription drug costs. He also signed the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act to provide relief to Minnesotans struggling to afford their insulin.
Under Governor Walz, Minnesota Has Been Named The Best State For Health Care. Minnesota has been named the best state for health care for two consecutive years under Walz’s leadership.
Governor Walz Has Worked To Improve Long-Term Care. Last year, Walz signed a bill increasing protections for seniors in assisted living facilities. The bill requires facilities to an assisted living bill of rights, including minimum staffing requirements, training requirements, and eviction protections.
Fighting To Protect Reproductive Health Care
Governor Walz Has Fought To Protect People Seeking Reproductive Health Care In Minnesota. Earlier this year, Walz issued an executive order declining to extradite people who are charged under other states’ laws that criminalize providing, seeking, or obtaining an abortion. He declared, “As long as we occupy this office, access to abortion services and reproductive care will be safe, legal, accessible and as affordable as we can make it.”