As the newly announced Democratic vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz brings a record of supporting nursing homes from his tenure as Minnesota’s governor.
As governor since 2019, Walz demonstrated a strong commitment to the sector by securing $173 million in funding to nursing homes and long-term care facilities in August 2023. This financial support was directed towards enhancing nursing care and staffing for the facilities across Minnesota.
Walz worked collaboratively with legislators from both parties to direct aid to Minnesota’s struggling nursing homes.
“This session, we worked across the aisle to prioritize the needs of middle-class families and seniors,” Walz had said in a statement at the time. “We’re providing direct support to nursing homes across the state to ensure Minnesota’s seniors have the quality care and safe environments they deserve.”
Walz’s approach focused on not only increasing funding but also investing in staffing solutions.
“By funding nursing homes and investing in workforce incentives, we’re working to ensure our seniors have access to high-quality care while bringing new workers into this critical profession and building the workforce of the future,” Walz had said.
Republican VP candidate Vance’s stance on supporting older adults
Meanwhile this past spring, the Republican vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), along with Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced the Continuous Skilled Nursing Quality Improvement Act, which would redefine in-home skilled nursing care.
The act aims to redefine “private duty nursing services” as “continuous skilled nursing services,” remove outdated provider red tape, and mandate that the Secretary of Health and Human Services convene a working group to establish national quality standards of care for these services.
“Federal regulations are preventing Ohioans with disabilities and complex medical conditions from receiving the specialized, in-home nursing care they need,” said at the time Senator Vance. “This bipartisan legislation will prevent our laws from standing in the way of these lifesaving services.”
Moreover, in a 2022 interview with AARP during his Senate campaign, Vance said he supported allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
“I think we have to let Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices so that our seniors aren’t paying through the roof for prescription drugs,” Vance said.
