Joe Biden endorsed a public option for health insurance in the form of a Medicare buy-in on the campaign trail Monday, moving closer into alignment with calls from others in the Democratic primary to go beyond Obamacare.
“We have to give everybody the peace of mind they deserve. Whether you’re covering it through your employer or on your own or not, you all should have a choice to be able to buy into a public option plan for Medicare. Your choice. And the insurance company isn’t doing the right thing by you, you should have another choice,” the former vice president said in his first rally since announcing his candidacy for president in 2020 in Pittsburgh.
Biden framed a Medicare buy-in as the next step in achieving universal healthcare after the Affordable Care Act, a key achievement of the Obama administration.
“Affordable healthcare was a huge step forward, the [Affordable Care Act], in our country. We made historic progress by extending health care to 22 million people. Americans that didn’t have it before now have it, 22 million,” Biden said. “We have to stop this administration’s effort to gut it first and then we have to move on and finish the job and make healthcare — make healthcare a right. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.”
Biden’s position on government-financed healthcare proposals was previously unclear.
Democratic presidential candidates are divided on how to achieve universal healthcare. Some have embraced the Medicare for All Act, legislation written by Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that would make the government the sole payer for healthcare insurance and would eliminate private health insurance, while others support a Medicare buy-in that preserves the private health insurance industry.
Biden has led most Democratic presidential field polls, with Sanders coming in close behind him.
