Weiner Wants Obamacare Waiver for New York City

By Kate Nocera

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.