Tom Harkin On ObamaCare: “It’s Just Really Complicated”

Sen. Tom Harkin gave his opinion of ObamaCare on Wednesday, stating the bill was “really complicated” and that “Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them.”

The Iowa Democrat was one of the co-authors of the Affordable Care Act. He chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Harkin told The Hill, “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. So I look back and say we should have either done it the correct way or not done anything at all. What we did is we muddled through and we got a system that is complex, convoluted, needs probably some corrections, and still rewards the insurance companies extensively.”

The senator posits that the law was made to be overly complicated to satisfy the concerns of Democratic centrists who have since left Congress.

Tom Harkin’s critique of ObamaCare is the second to come from a Democratic senator in recent days. The first was New York’s Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Democratic leader. Schmuer said Democrats should have been focusing on helping the middle class economically after the 2008 elections, not healthcare reform.

Harkin admitted that the Affordable Care Act contains important reforms. These include preventing insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions and allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until 26.

He’s also happy that the legislation promotes healthier habits that prevent diseases.

However, the left leaning Democrat believes Congress should have enacted a single-payer healthcare system or a public option to give the uninsured access to government-run health plans that compete with private insurance companies. Harkin added that Democrats had the votes and the power in 2009 to pass one of those options as law.

He explained, “There’s this old saying, ‘If you have the votes, vote. If you don’t, talk.’ We had the votes but we talked.”

Five years ago, many Democrats were disappointed that the party’s majority in the Senate and House didn’t pass a public option.

While Schumer criticized the political timing of the Affordable Care Act, Harkin found flaws in the substance of the bill. Even with the flaws, the senator is glad the legislation passed and hopes the country can build upon it.

Harkin retires from his 30-year Senate career at the end of this Congress.

Sen. Tom Harkin’s views on ObamaCare note that there are plenty of flaws with the legislation. However, he’s a wise enough man to know that the opinion was much easier to form in hindsight rather than in the moment of creating the bill.

[Photo Credit: Greg Hauenstein]

Tom Harkin On ObamaCare: “It’s Just Really Complicated”