Anthony Weiner: Waiver might work for New York

From POLITICO

By KATE NOCERA | 3/23/11 4:37 PM EDT

Rep. Anthony Weiner said Wednesday he was looking into how a health law waiver might work for New York City.

Weiner, who is likely to run for mayor of New York, said that because of the city’s special health care infrastructure, his office was looking into alternatives that might make more sense. Weiner is one of the health care law’s biggest supporters; during the debate leading up to reform, he was one of the last holdouts in Congress for the public option.

"The president said, 'If you have better ideas that can accomplish the same thing, go for it,'" said Weiner. "I'm in the process now of trying to see if we can take [President Barack Obama] up on it in the city of New York, ...and I'm taking a look at all of the money we spend in Medicaid and Medicare and maybe New York City can come up with a better plan."

New York is one of two states that pass on Medicaid expenses to cities and localities, so "the city winds up having an enormous Medicaid expense," Weiner said.

The congressman was trying to debunk Republican "myths" about the health care law during a speech at the Center for American Progress. He used the waivers as way to describe how flexible the law actually is and how "this notion that the government is shoving the bill down people's throats" is not true.

"The administration needs to make this argument more forcefully," he said. "A lot of people who got waivers were ...people who are our friends."

The New York Democrat said that he does not have the power to get the city to apply for a waiver but that he is "personally looking at whether he can make the numbers work."

"We in New York already have hospitals, we already employ doctors and we employ nurses. We have a lot of uninsured people. ... [Setting up] the exchanges is the one piece of the puzzle that would be difficult for us to do," he said. "I’m just looking internally to whether the city can save money and have more control over its own destiny."

Weiner is slated to hold at least five events on the anniversary of the and has been one of the most outspoken Democratic supporters of the law.

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September 16, 2010

Weiner says he 'wrote' the House health care bill

Here's a clip of Rep. Anthony Weiner at a town hall meeting, asked about the health care bill, declaring, "I wrote the bill. ... The bill and I are one."

Weiner made the comments on Monday night at the Middle Village Property Tax Association, taking rather strong ownership of the congressional reform bill that few are embracing when a voter asked about it. Weiner had been a strong advocate for a single-payer option, which was never part of the final drafts.

The Senate version of the health care bill had most of the elements that actually passed, not the House one. Weiner's little-known GOP opponent, Bob Turner, was also there, as were Democratic officials including state Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, I'm told.