WATCH: House Democrats Hold Historic Second Hearing on Medicare for All

After Democrats held the first-ever congressional hearing on Medicare for All last month, the House Budget Committee on Wednesday morning invited federal officials to testify at an historic second hearing on the costs replacing the nation’s current for-profit system with one that guarantees healthcare as a right for all Americans.

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Unlike the hearing in April in the House Rules Committee, Wednesday’s hearing did not feature outside experts or activists. Instead, all three witnesses are officials from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal agency that provides budget and economic information to Congress.

Given the hearing’s focus on a recent CBO analysis, Susannah Luthi highlighted “five things to listen for as Republicans look for points for 2020 campaign messaging and Democrats try to keep the focus on how to close the coverage gap that persists despite the Affordable Care Act” in an article for Modern Healthcare: cost, hospital ownership, private insurance, rates, and limiting utilization.

The hearing’s restrictive witness list did not stop advocates of the Medicare for All Act of 2019 (H.R. 1384)—introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in February—from showing their support. On Tuesday, 209 economists signed a public statement which says in part, “the time is now to create a universal, single-payer, Medicare for All healthcare system in the United States.”