HC Summit: ' 'Step by step' drowns Americans.'
"American families will drown if we try an incremental approach"Senator Tom Harkin reminds those at the meeting that while it's easy to get caught up in the debate over numbers and policy details, it's ultimately about making progress to help ordinary folks across the country struggling under today's broken system: "I keep thinking we have got to bring it back home to what this is all about. We all have our stories. I got a letter yesterday from a farmer in Iowa that really encapsulates it. [He said] 'I'm a 57-year-old Iowa farmer. I'm writing to voice my concern regarding my family's rapidly escalating health care costs. On Saturday, February 20th, I received a notice informing me that our health insurance premium will be increasing $193.90 per month to a monthly total of $1,516.20. This is a 14.6% increase.'"