Veteran Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) has a less-than-glowing review of the Affordable Care Act — which he helped write and pass in 2010 — and in his final days in Congress is suggesting that Democrats should have considered scrapping the bill altogether.
“We had the power to do it in a way that would have simplified health care, made it more efficient and made it less costly, and we didn’t do it,” Harkin reportedly told The Hill in a piece published Wednesday. “So I look back and say we should have either done it the correct way or not done anything at all.”
He added: “What we did is we muddle[d] through and we got a system that is complex, convoluted, needs probably some corrections and still rewards the insurance companies extensively."
Harkin stressed that key components of the law were necessary and important, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions and allowing grown children to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until age 26.
But looking back at the early years of the Obama administration, Harkin said Democrats should have pursued “single-payer right from the get-go or at least put a public option. … We had the votes to do that and we blew it." ....
-- Andy "It's a testament to ketchup that there can be no confusion."