Ocasio-Cortez: Biden needs a ‘real’ health care plan

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Monday said that the presumptive Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, needs a “real” health care plan to boost enough enthusiasm for his candidacy to beat President Trump.

Ocasio-Cortez told The Associated Press that “at a bare minimum” the former vice president needs to create a health care plan “that helps extend health care to young people.” She said any plan needs to earn the approval of millennials and people of color. 

“This is not just about Donald Trump. It’s about a systemic structure in this country that is set up to fail working class people, the young and people of color,” she said. “We need a real plan and not just gestures.”

The freshman representative supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Democratic primary and has been a central voice in the progressive movement. She told the AP she understands Biden is working to appeal to more voters but emphasized the plan as necessary.

She made her comments to the AP two hours before Sanders endorsed Biden and declined through a spokesperson to speak to the news outlet after.

Ocasio-Cortez has not endorsed Biden but said she expects to eventually and added she has not ruled out campaigning for him.

After Sanders announced he was dropping out of the race, Biden made efforts to appease the progressive wing of the Democratic Party by advocating to move the Medicare eligibility from 65 to 60 and vowing to cancel federal student debt for many low- and middle-income borrowers. 

The former vice president has also pledged to choose a woman to be his vice presidential candidate.

But Ocasio-Cortez said he hasn’t done enough to win over the progressives yet.

“Dropping Medicare to 60 is not going to help millennials, is not going to help this electorate that Biden is struggling with,” she said.

Biden faces a tough task of appealing enough to the left to earn their votes and not end up like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while also maintaining a moderate platform to avoid attacks from President Trump.