Tom Harkin: “I asked my staff--and I have good staff, and they do a lot of work on health care--to look at this 654-page bill. I…”

“I asked my staff--and I have good staff, and they do a lot of work on health care--to look at this 654-page bill. I said: What in there will help keep the cost of drugs down? Anything at all? Nothing. Zero. There is nothing in the bill that is going to help keep the cost of drugs down. In fact, I say to the Senator, I think just the opposite is going to be true because this bill will allow plans to increase premiums any time they want. So you signed up for a plan, and your premium is $35 a month. The plan is not making much money. The drug company jacks up the price of the drugs a little bit. That means the plan is not making much money, but the plan can increase the premium. The drug companies are always left harmless. They can just keep jacking up the prices.”