New Health Insurance Law Provides Meaningful Protections And Benefits For Middle Class Families

Press Release

Today, Rep. Walz visited Winona State University to discuss what health care reform will mean for middle-class families and businesses. He participated in a roundtable discussion with several people who told him about what health care reform would mean for them. Two of those participants told Rep. Walz their personal stories earlier this year, informing Rep. Walz's decision and his work on the legislation.

"Middle class families in southern Minnesota want hassle free coverage they can count on and they want peace of mind knowing that if they get sick, they will not have to worry about insurance companies dropping them," said Walz. "Businesses want to grow and put us back on the path to prosperity, but they cannot do so when they are strangled financially and forced to choose between cutting salaries or paying sky-rocketing health insurance costs."

The discussion centered around how the legislation would improve the financial security of Americans through better prescription drug benefits for seniors, tax credits for small businesses, and prohibiting insurance companies from canceling your policy if you get sick.

"The folks who have joined me here today are honest, hard working people who just want a fair deal when it comes to health care, without the government or insurance companies intervening," Walz continued. "They have shared their stories with me and I took those stories back to Washington to make sure that health care reform legislation was a balanced approach and a good deal for southern Minnesotans."

Walz also heard from nursing students about the training they are doing to keep southern Minnesotans healthy and avoid preventable, high-cost diseases. These are a massive driver of health care costs and the nursing students highlighted the ways where personal responsibility can improve health and lower cost.

They also discussed several initiatives the new health care law authorizes to support nursing workforce development, such as expanded grant/scholarship programs and increasing loan amount maximums, which go into effect this year. These are critical to expanding the number of nurses as we cover more people and the population ages.

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