Former Republican Governor; former Senate candidate (MA)
Likes health savings accounts & more competition
I've in the past thought that health savings accounts were a good idea so that's getting more of the decision-making into the hands of the individual so to that extent I'm not thematically off this truck.
But I think if you can introduce more competition, let people shop across state lines. I thought [former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich] wasn't crazy when he proposed letting people shop in Canada.
Source: Washington Post joint interview of Johnson & Weld
, Jul 7, 2016
Relaxed the eligibility rules for care under Medicaid
When Governor Weld assumed office in 1991, his administration confronted the reoccurring Medicaid funding problem. He petitioned the federal government for a waiver, obtaining additional federal funding under a false assumption that his reforms would
be "budget neutral." Once the waiver was granted, the Weld administration relaxed the eligibility rules for care under Medicaid in Massachusetts. The result was an explosion in Medicaid applications, going from 670,000 in 1995 to over a million in 2001.
Vetoed cigarette-tax hike that paid for kids' health care
As governor of Massachusetts he cut taxes sixteen times, balanced the budget annually, pursued privatization, vetoed minimum wage increases, and even rejected higher levies on cigarettes to pay for health care for children.
(Let's repeat that last one: He vetoed a cigarette-tax hike that would have paid for children's health care--in Massachusetts.)
Source: American Spectator, "Understanding Bill Weld"
, Aug 25, 2005
