For Immediate Release June 20, 2013

Contact: Barbara Morgan barbara@anthonyweiner.com (347) 480-8875

During Big Thought Thursday Anthony Weiner Discusses Transforming Healthcare in New York City Weiner Unveils New Plan for Lower-Cost, Better-Quality Healthcare for All New Yorkers Keys to the City Tour
New York City In a speech today, Anthony Weiner unveiled a transformational plan to reform how healthcare is provided and paid for in New York City. The speech, hosted by The Common Good, outlined Weiners plan to save money on healthcare in New York City while expanding access and growing the healthcare economy in the Big Apple. He proposed streamlining the administration of our nearly $16 billion annual healthcare spending while keeping more of the funding local and providing less expensive care for the nearly 500,000 New Yorkers who will still not be covered when Obamacare is fully implemented next year. The creation of a single payer model, like the efficient Medicare program, would also benefit employees of New York City who have seen their wages depressed because of the rising burden of paying for traditional health insurance. The changes would be administered by a new multi-agency taskforce that reports directly to the mayor. The current state of healthcare in New York City is unsustainable for both the near- and long-term fiscal health of the city and the well being of New Yorkers. While the phase-in of Obamacare for which Weiner fiercely advocated will reduce the number of uninsured over the next several years, far too many New Yorkers will still seek out and receive their primary healthcare from emergency rooms across the city. Access to and quality of care remains uneven over the past ten years, thirteen hospitals have closed or announced plans to close. Costs continue to skyrocket and comprise more and more of the city budget each year. $15.7 billion a year, or 20% of the Citys annual budget, is spent on Medicaid costs, city employee and retirees health benefits, union welfare benefit funds, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Medicare premiums, and the Health and Hospital Corporation (HHC). The increased costs are dollars that could go towards paying our employees the wages they deserve, improving our schools, making our neighborhoods safer, or investing in our communities, all results that can be accomplished while healthcare costs are, in fact, reduced. The Citys 200,000 small businesses continue to suffer because employer premiums are high and they are unable to offer their employees affordable care without fundamentally damaging their bottom line. For middle-class individuals and families without insurance, the market remains completely prohibitive and private sector employees throughout the city pay higher costs for their premiums than other large cities across the country.

Weiner proposed a task force, to be chaired by a newly-created Deputy Mayor for Health Care Innovation, that will bring together city agencies and non-profits to solve the main challenges of costs, quality, and access. The task force will be charged with examining whats working in the healthcare sector, fixing whats not, and creating plans to expand sustainable models across the city. Or, like under Medicare, finding efficiencies in overhead costs to bring down the overall costs of premiums. The task force, called the Task Force for Healthcare Reform, Innovation, and Vitality for Everyone or THRIVE, would be comprised of the heads of the government agencies that have interest in healthcare policy. Reform: Referred to as non-controllable costs in the citys annual budget summary, healthcare expenditures are expected to rise faster than any other budget item over the next three years. City employee health benefit costs are projected to increase by over 40% over the next three fiscal years, adding additional strain to the already-stretched budget. The task force will be responsible for creating an immediate plan to reform and rein in or control non controllable over the next four years. Innovation: As a single-payer laboratory, New York City will be a leader in innovative practices for ensuring coverage for all of its citizens. Costs would decline under this new model and workers would benefit. At the same time, Weiner would ask city employees to cover a portion of their health care premiums for the first time 10% for current employees, 10% for retirees, and 25% for smokers. This participation would make workers better stewards of quality and also put the fiscal stability of the city on firmer footing, thus freeing up city funds to pay for additional city services and contract settlements. Vitality: With approximately 565,000 New Yorkers working in the healthcare industry the second largest industry in the city Weiners plan will provide the opportunity to turn New York into a healthcare hub. By taking the action of creating a single-payer healthcare system, the city will not only lead the nation in demonstrating that quality, affordable healthcare for all is both fiscally and administratively achievable, but also demonstrate that such a system can in fact attract private investment. In turn, this plan can better direct taxpayer dollars and keep these expenditures within the five boroughs. The advances achieved through the single-payer system will boost the vitality of the city by creating jobs, reducing administrative burdens faced by community pharmacies and local clinics, and boosting healthcare infrastructure. For Everyone: Under Weiners plan, benefits will be felt across the city by taxpayers, city employees, uninsured New Yorkers, and businesses through the lowering of costs, improvements in quality, and expanded access for all New Yorkers. By reining in costs, Weiners plan will ensure taxpayers are investing in high-quality and sustainable services, funding for city employee wage increases is made available, and small businesses are now finally able to provide quality healthcare. For too long we have chosen passive over active when it comes to our healthcare in New York City, Weiner said. Soon that will change. Smarter management will improve our healthcare, increase jobs and save the city money. Never again should a mayor refer to the non-controllable healthcare budget. Weiners proposal as intended will reduce the rate of growth in city healthcare expenditure, currently expected to be 8% per year, by as much as 50% to 4% per year, thus saving approximately $1 billion over the next three years. ### www.anthonyweiner.com