Unearthed audio exposes stunning El-Sayed admission about his healthcare pitch

His resurfaced comments, made as part of a program on inequalities in healthcare, reveal El-Sayed's long-standing thinking behind his proposed policy changes.

In particular, he has championed Medicare-for-all, an expansion of the federal program that covers healthcare costs for U.S. citizens over the age of 65 and for some younger recipients with long-term disabilities.

El-Sayed's plan would expand public coverage for everyone, regardless of income, age or job.

Skeptics of the plan argue it is too expensive and does little to address existing inefficiencies in the American healthcare system.

"Mark my words, Medicare-for-all would soon become Medicare for none."

Despite its hefty price tag, in El-Sayed's view, the plan is key to ensuring equality of outcomes, even if individual patients are charged differently. He expounded on his design in the 2011 interview.

"We wouldn't necessarily be 'stealing from the rich to give to the poor' in the U.S. because the rich will always have the ability to pay for the care that they need," El-Sayed said.

"The argument would be that everyone's premiums would go up a little bit. But for the people who actually have premiums now, what they're losing in terms of the added costs on their health plans are more manageable to them than is the absolute lack of access to healthcare among the people that don't have it now."

El-Sayed argued that his vision would make costs only marginally more expensive for top earners.