Kamala Harris Advocates Wiping Out The Private Insurance Market: ‘Let’s Eliminate All Of That. Let’s Move On’

Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris stated on Monday that she feels “very strongly” about fully embracing the single payer health insurance system which would overhaul the entire American health care market.

“We need to have Medicare for all,” Harris responded during a CNN Town Hall with Jake Tapper.

WATCH:

Referring to the current system as “cruel” and “inhumane,” Harris argued that health care should no longer be thought of as a privilege but “it should be understood to be a right.”

“It is inhumane to make people go through a system where they cannot literally receive the benefit of what medical science can offer because some insurance company has decided it doesn’t meet their bottom line in terms of their profit motivation,” Harris said. “That is inhumane.”

Tapper followed up, pressing Harris on what a Medicare-for-all system means for the Americans who like their current insurance.

“Listen, the idea is that everyone gets access to medical care and you don’t have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork, all of the delay that may require — who of us has not had that situation where you’ve gotta wait for approval? And the doctor says ‘well, I don’t know if your insurance company’s gonna cover this?” Harris asked. “Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on.”

The California senator announced on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that she is officially throwing her hat into the ring and seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2020. A week later, she ceremonially kicked off her presidential campaign with a speech that focused on racism and police brutality.

If elected, Harris would be the United States’ first female president. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ran, but lost to President Donald Trump in 2016.