(CNN) Beto O'Rourke says he supports universal health care, but he wants to take a different path to get there than many of his more progressive rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

The former Texas representative is backing a little-known House Democratic proposal called Medicare for America, which calls for expanding government-run health coverage while keeping employer-sponsored insurance plans.

For O'Rourke, the proposal's appeal is that he thinks it moves the country to guaranteed health care more quickly than the alternatives, including the signature Medicare for All proposal from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who is also vying for the Democratic nomination. That's in part because it would maintain the private insurance industry, which is a deal breaker among progressives.

"What it says is, if you like your employer-sponsored insurance, you like the network that you're in, you like the doctors that you can see, you're happy with that, you can keep it," O'Rourke said Thursday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. in response to an audience question. "If you do not like your employer-based insurance and want to enroll in Medicare, you can. If you have no insurance whatsoever or if you are under-insured today, you can enroll in Medicare as well."

While many Americans like the idea of expanding Medicare, their support drops when they hear private insurance would be eliminated, according to polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Medicare for America would address those concerns, said Jen Tolbert, the foundation's director of state health reform.

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