'I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you're not': Julian Castro comes out swinging at Biden over healthcare in Democratic debate

Mike Blake/Reuters

• Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro accused former Vice President Joe Biden of forgetting the details of his own healthcare plan at Thursday's Democratic debate in Houston. 
• Castro argued that while his plan would automatically enroll people who didn't have private insurance into a public option when they lost their jobs, for example, Biden's would require people to actively enroll. 
• Biden argued that people would not have to buy in to Medicare under his plan, but Castro pushed back, saying, "you just said two minutes ago that people would have to buy in - are you forgetting already what you said two minutes ago?"
• "I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you're not," Castro told Biden, to which Biden shot back, "that'll be a surprise to him."
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Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro accused former Vice President Joe Biden of forgetting the details of his own healthcare plan at Thursday's Democratic debate in Houston. 

Biden and Castro - both former Obama administration officials - support plans that would offer Americans a public option for healthcare in addition to private insurance. 

"The problem with your plan is that it leaves 1o million people uncovered," Castro said. "I want every American family to have a Medicare plan available to them. If they have solid private insurance that they want to keep, they should be able to do that."

Castro argued that while his plan would automatically enroll people who didn't have private insurance into a public option when they lost their jobs, for example, Biden's would require people to actively enroll. 

"The difference between what I support and what you support is that you require them to opt-in, and I do not require them to opt in," Castro said. "Barack Obama's vision was not to leave 10 million people uncovered, he wanted every single person in this country to be covered." 

Read more: Biden touts Obamacare while slamming Sanders and Warren's healthcare plans

Biden argued that people would not have to buy in to Medicare under his plan, but Castro pushed back, saying, "You just said two minutes ago that people would have to buy in - are you forgetting already what you said two minutes ago?" We need a system that automatically enrolls people no matter what," Castro said. 

"I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you're not," Castro told Biden, to which Biden shot back, "That'll be a surprise to him."

Mayor Pete Buttigieg admonished both Castro and Biden, saying, "This is why presidential debates have become unwatchable, this reminds people of what they cannot stand about Washington; people scoring points at each other, people poking at each other." 

"That's what a Democratic primary election is, that's what an election is," Castro responded to Buttigieg, receiving loud cheers from the audience.