Bill Clinton: I "support" Obamacare
Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday revisited the issue of his support of Obamacare, a day after he called President Obama’s signature healthcare law a “crazy system.”
“I want to say one thing about the healthcare law, because that’s another thing they’ve been trying to tangle in...I supported the ACA. I support it today,” Clinton said at a Hillary Clinton campaign rally in Steubenville, Ohio.
Clinton said the healthcare law -- which his wife, the Democratic presidential nominee, has defended -- has done a “great job” insuring 25 million more people.
“And it did something for 100 percent of the people. It says you cannot deny anybody health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. All of that is really important,” he said.
At the same time, he explained that there is a “big problem with it that needs to be fixed.”
“If you’re just above the line to qualify for the Medicaid expansion or just above the line to qualify for the subsidies for small businesses and workers, the likelihood is that your premiums have gone up, your coverage has gone down,” he said.
Clinton said that people “have no bargaining power” and that 80 percent of the healthcare costs each year are claimed by 20 percent of the people.
“The smaller the insurance pool, the riskier it is for the insurance company if you get more than 20 percent in that pool,” he said. “That’s why President Obama, Hillary and a lot of the Democrats have said all along: You ought to let the people over 55 buy into Medicare and give everyone else a public option so they can have an affordably policy.”
At a campaign event In Flint, Michigan a day earlier, Clinton criticized Obamacare and said it’s “the craziest thing in the world.”
“You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people are out there busting it sometimes 60 hours a week wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” he said.
CBS News’ Jacqueline Alemany contributed to this report.