Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat who was selected Tuesday as Harris’ running mate, has brought a progressive approach to health care with a focus on lowering health care costs.
Walz has said his health policy priorities are shaped in part by his own experiences: When he was 19, his father died of cancer and his mother struggled with medical debt.
In June, Governor Walz signed a law prohibiting health care providers from withholding medically necessary treatment because of unpaid debts.
Working with Democratic state legislators, Gov. Walz created the Prescription Drug Affordability Commission, which can set caps on how much insurance companies will pay. He signed a bill to help people buy insulin in emergencies, and the state reached a settlement with Eli Lilly this year to cap insulin prices at $35 for the next five years.
During his tenure as governor, Minnesota 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 health care is simple: they don’t want to get sick in the first place. But if they do get sick, they want care they can afford and close to home,” Walz said.
“As Minnesotans, we can figure out how to deliver health care more efficiently, more cheaply and with better outcomes. We can and must ensure all Minnesotans have access to affordable, quality health care.”
Walz is also pushing to establish the Minnesota Health Care Access Fund to help low-income Minnesota residents with health insurance.
A former high school teacher, he has demonstrated a hands-on approach to health care policy, particularly when it comes to providing incentives to keep health care operations in the state.
Governor Walz supported watering down hospital price transparency legislation after the state’s largest employer, the Mayo Clinic, threatened to pull billions of dollars in new investments. The threat also led Governor Walz and Democratic legislators to back away from legislation that would have required minimum nurse staffing ratios in hospitals and clinics.
On abortion, Walz aimed to make Minnesota a safe place for abortion access following the demise of Roe v. Wade.
Harris signed a bill that made abortion rights state law. Abortion is legal in Minnesota until the fetus is viable, usually between 23 and 25 weeks. In March, Harris visited a Planned Parenthood of Minnesota clinic that offers abortions, becoming the first US vice president to visit an abortion clinic.
Governor Walz also signed the Abortion Protection Act, which eliminates mandatory 24-hour waiting periods and parental consent requirements, and protects health care providers and patients from abortion-related prosecution in other states.
Last year, Governor Walz signed a bill into law legalizing marijuana for adults in the state, ushering in a new legal cannabis industry in Minnesota and allowing some low-level marijuana offenses to be expunged from criminal records.
During his time in Congress, Walz demonstrated a willingness to confront party leaders.
Walz voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and never supported a Republican replacement, a vote that was one of the areas Republicans attacked him for, but he still won reelection.
But in 2015, he voted for a bill to repeal the law’s excise tax on medical devices, putting him at odds with then-President Obama, who had previously vowed to veto the measure.
The law was suspended in 2016 and repealed in 2019 under former President Trump.
