Alexander got language allowing states to show their waiver requests will achieve "comparative affordability," which basically means they would have more leeway over who ends up with what kind of insurance.
He initially said he did not want to talk, but then when he was shown the waiver to his right to silence he had signed earlier in the morning, he agreed to answer questions".
Steven Sanders, a Democrat from Manhattan, who is chairman of the State Assembly's Education Committee, called the decision heartening, saying he believes Mr. Mills is prepared to show flexibility on waivers to the remaining Regents exams.
Administration officials said the waivers showed a pragmatic, flexible approach to carrying out the law.
Participants in unscripted shows generally sign waivers protecting producers from legal liability and, in some cases, allowing them to manage performers' outside appearances.
Only David Letterman had his writers with him, after his production company, which he owns and which owns his show, negotiated a waiver with the union.
Representative Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the waivers showed that the law, approved by Congress without any Republican votes, was "fundamentally flawed".
A government Web site listing the waivers shows that each of the insurers has more than 200,000 people currently enrolled in mini-meds.
This article originally appeared on Van Hollen
The administration counters that the ability to grant waivers shows both that the government is flexible and that it is taking prudent steps to ensure that people can keep what coverage they have, until better options are available when the law is fully implemented in 2014.
