Yang says many Americans believe Obamacare didn’t ‘go quite far enough in terms of coverage’

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang defended his support for moving toward a Medicare option for all Americans, saying that many believe the Affordable Care Act didn’t go “far enough in terms of coverage.”

“I was a fan of the themes of Obamacare, but many Americans agree that it didn’t go quite far enough in terms of coverage and allowing Americans to have access to high quality affordable care,” Yang said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. 

He added that he wouldn’t “get rid of private insurance.” {mosads}

“We need to create a path forward for Americans to have access to care,” he said. “I would not get rid of private insurance and to me, the pay for argument is misplaced because we’re already spending about 18 percent of GDP, almost four trillion dollars, in large part because the system is not designed to keep us strong and healthy.” 

“It’s designed to make money for the private insurance companies and the device manufacturers and the drug companies,” he added. 

The entrepreneur said in a recent CNN interview that the way to provide Medicare for All without prohibiting private insurance is to “demonstrate to the American people that this Medicare plan is superior to your current insurance without pulling the rug out from under you and saying the insurance no longer exists.”

He also clarified that he does not believe in the current “Medicare for All” bill which requires Medicare for everyone, but thinks it should be an option for everyone.  

“What does Medicare for All mean?” he said. “You have a Medicare program that everyone can be involved in.”

Yang told CNN that his campaign would put forth a”more detailed roll-out of the full plan in the days to come.”

Many Democrats in the current field are debating whether there should be a Medicare for All plan or public a public Medicare option in addition to private insurance.