CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Affordable Care Act

Interview

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BLITZER: Hold for a moment.

We just heard the speaker of the House, John Boehner, says scrap the whole plan, you can't fix it, get rid of. Almost all the Republicans agree with him. The Democrats disagree. But there are voices among the Democrats beginning to waffle, shall we say.

Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Matt Cartwright from Pennsylvania.

Where do you stand, Congressman, on the issue going forward? Is it fixable or should the president just delay not only the one element of the Affordable Care Act but the whole thing?

REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT, (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, Wolf, you have to start from the backdrop. My district, where we have seen a downward spiral of the health care delivery industry, we've seen hospitals closing, rates spiraling up. Health care is broken in northeastern Pennsylvania, and that's why I support the Affordable Care Act. It is a shame that the website isn't working. It's unfortunate the president oversold that one piece of the plan. And I think that the fix that, as suggested now, is probably appropriate. It's certainly better than the Upton bill that would be coming up tomorrow. Upton bill is a huge overreaction to that problem. It seems like extending that question one year for the people who did have policies and wanted to keep them. That is a much better tailored answer to the problem at hand. If you support the Affordable Care Act --

BLITZER: I was going to say, Congressman, you think the president can do this without additional legislation?

CARTWRIGHT: I do. Obviously, insurance companies are not thrilled about it because it's going to change the equation. They're going to have to sharpen their pencils and go back to the drawing board. But they've done that before.

Look, we get back to what Governor Leavitt, from Utah, said when he was head of HHS and they were rolling out Medicare Part D. There were headaches. There were problems. There were terrible conundrums. People didn't understand the new situation. But in the end, it worked out and people loved it. And nobody remembers those headaches now. And Mr. Leavitt, Governor Leavitt, says these days openly, everybody take a deep breath, this is going to be a good thing in the long run. Don't get crazy about these speed bumps that we're hitting as we roll these things out.

BLITZER: Congressman Cartwright, Democrat of Pennsylvania, thanks very much for joining us.

CARTWRIGHT: You bet.

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