Walz nervous about debt ceiling vote success

Aug. 21--MANKATO -- Tim Walz thinks the past months spent of divisive debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act was necessary to get to a point where members of both parties can start focusing on improving it.

"We got caught up in the politics rather than the solution," he said of the failed attempts to repeal the law. Now, said the 1st District congressman, "We're at a reset position."

But while Walz held some optimism for a renewed effort on improving health care, he was less optimistic about an upcoming debt ceiling vote and a new Farm Bill.

Walz said the ACA successfully gave insurance access to many millions of people who didn't have it before. But as the cost of insurance skyrockets for many who are buying it on the market, he said the focus must turn to affordability, reducing overall health care costs and honing in on wellness and preventive care.

"You can't say to someone that they're guaranteed health care if their premiums are $26,000 a year," said Walz during a Monday morning breakfast sponsored by Greater Mankato Growth.

He said a recent health care listening session at Farmfest proved to him that even those who may have opposed Obamacare realize it will remain the law of the land. He said the questions and comments focused on ways to improve the ACA, not calls to repeal it.

Noting that most of health-care costs are consumed by a relatively small portion of the population, Walz said a renewed focus is needed on holding down costs. For starters, he said, the country needs to ramp up efforts to prevent diabetes and to better manage it when someone does have it. And, he said, requiring insurance on younger people is needed to spread out the costs of premiums.

"People say you want young, healthy people to help pay for older, sicker people? Well yes, that's what insurance is."

Walz, a Mankato Democrat who has announced he is running for governor, serves on the House Veterans and Agriculture committees.

He said that while national politics has been dominated by presidential and congressional turmoil, the Veterans Committee has found compromise and bipartisan support to pass major legislation, including a new GI bill that expands services for veterans. The bill was passed unanimously in both chambers and signed into law by President Trump.

He said the action in that committee shows there are members of Congress who want to work together on compromise legislation even as they disagree on policies.

Walz was less positive as the Ag Committee begins work on writing a massive new multi-year farm and nutrition bill.

In the past, when rural lawmakers held great sway in Congress, the farmer programs in the Farm Bill were crafted and then members gained support from urban lawmakers by negotiating things they wanted in the portion of the bill covering nutrition programs. Now, with few rural lawmakers left, pressure is on to spend less on the Farm Bill, with much of that cost-cutting aimed at farm programs.

Walz said the bill provides stability and security to farmers but also offers stability and lower costs in the food markets. "It's not just for the producers, but for the consumers in the grocery store."

Walz said his biggest fears about the mood in Washington is over upcoming votes on lifting the nation's debt ceiling, something that is required to keep the country from defaulting on its debts.

He said the majority part has traditionally brought up and approved the debt ceiling with support from the other party. But Walz said there's been no debate on the vote, which needs to take place in September.

"This one should make you nervous," he said, noting that if the debt ceiling isn't raised, it prevents virtually any other legislation from being passed as well as putting the nation in an unprecedented position of defaulting on its debts.

Follow Tim Krohn on Twitter @TimKrohn

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