First-ever "Medicare for All" Congressional hearings happening right now

Regular readers know that I'm a strong supporter of going with the "Medicare for America"-style approach to achieving universal heatlhcare coverage as opposed to the "Medicare for All" proposal. Regardless, this is still an historic moment in U.S. history:

Chairman McGovern, Congresswoman Jayapal, and Congresswoman Dingell Announce Historic Rules Committee Hearing on the Medicare for All Act

WASHINGTON, DC — Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) announced today that the House Rules Committee will hold an original jurisdiction hearing on the Medicare for All Act of 2019 on Tuesday, April 30th at 10am ET in H-313, The Capitol. It marks the first time Congress has ever held a hearing on Medicare for All. Witnesses will be announced later this week. 

“I’m proud to announce this historic hearing on Medicare for All legislation. We’ve made tremendous progress expanding health care over the years, most notably with passage of the Affordable Care Act, which provided coverage to more than 20 million Americans. We have more work to do though and that’s why I’m a proud cosponsor of this bill. It’s a serious proposal that deserves serious consideration on Capitol Hill as we work toward universal coverage,” said Chairman McGovern.   

“I want to thank Chairman McGovern for holding this historic hearing. Even with passage of the Affordable Care Act, there are more than 70 million people either without coverage or have coverage that leaves them still unable to access medical care due to prohibitively high out-of-pocket costs. There is no other developed country on the face of the Earth that has a health care system that is as fragmented and costly as ours. The health outcomes and barriers to care in America are the worst of any industrialized nation. Health care is a human right and I’m proud the Rules Committee will be holding this hearing on the Medicare for All Act as this Majority discusses ways to strengthen our health care system for everyone,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. 

“The time is now to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable healthcare. Medicare for All is the beginning of a national conversation about how to improve healthcare and bring down costs. Chairman McGovern’s leadership in holding this first-ever hearing on Medicare for All is a critical step in this long journey, but much work remains. We’re going to continue engaging stakeholders across the country to realize the vision of universal healthcare coverage,” said Congresswoman Dingell. 

More than 100 members have already cosponsored the Medicare for All Act of 2019, which would improve and expand the overwhelmingly successful and popular Medicare program so that every person living in the United States has guaranteed access to healthcare with comprehensive benefits.

The Majority witnesses include:

• Ady Barkan, author and patient advocate
• Dr. Dean Baker, Senior Economist, Center for Economic and Policy Research
• Dr. Sara Collins, Vice President for Health Care Coverage and Access, The Commonwealth Fund
• Dr. Doris Browne, Immediate Past-President, National Medical Association
• Dr. Farzon Nahvi, Emergency Room Physician

The Minority witnesses include:

• Ms. Grace Marie-Turner, President, Galen Institute
• Dr. Charles Blahous, J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Chair & Senior Research Strategist, Mercatus Center

You can watch the hearing live via the embedded YouTube feed above; here's the link to the feed.