Harkin: Healthcare bill will focus on prevention

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Monday that his primary focus in drafting healthcare legislation is an emphasis on preventative care.

Harkin, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said the Senate plans to send a bill to the president’s by October, as President Obama has requested.

“A big part of this bill,” Harkin said on MSNBC, “is to make prevention a part of every aspect of this bill. In other words, make it easier for people to be healthy.”

Currently, Harkin said the country has “sick-care” instead of healthcare.

How Democrats and the president will pay for new healthcare programs has become a major sticking point in the negotiation process. In the interview, Harkin refused to rule anything out, saying only that “everything is on the table.”

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com