"That's the whole idea and that's why I think at the end of the day this is going to be a very popular program because it is doing the right thing for the people of our country and my state," Christ said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday.
"People getting healthcare is like a civil right. I mean people need to have shelter. They need food. They need water and they need healthcare and they deserve it," said Crist who served as Florida's governor as a Republican before changing to the Democrat Party.
Asked about people losing their insurance because of the healthcare law, Crist said, "That's why we have the Affordable Care Act. Exactly why is to make sure that they don't lose it in the future, that they have someplace that they can go. They can get healthcare and that it's more affordable than what they may have had before."
Christ also had a message for Democrats who have tried to distance themselves from Obama because of the disastrous rollout of the HealthCare.gov website.
"They ought to strengthen up," he said. "The president is a smart guy and he's doing the right thing. And God bless him for it."
A straw poll at the end of a conservative conference that showed Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in first with only 31 percent, Crist said, showed how fractured the Republican Party is.
"It's fractured," he said, noting there were four GOP responses to Obama's State of the Union address earlier this year. "It's divided. You know, I don't think they know exactly what they want to do and it is sad."