Republican lawmakers had bet that hearings for the House's “Medicare for All” bill would surface deep disagreements among Democrats over their vision for the country's health care system. But on Wednesday the bill was debated in its highest-profile venue yet, and instead of initiating an intraparty pillow fight, Democrats made a show of solidarity. They discredited the GOP's attacks with a reminder of that party's attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
The hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee was called “Pathways to Universal Health Care.” It served as an opportunity for members of Congress to debate not only Rep. Pramila Jayapal's (D-Wash.) Medicare for All Act, which would establish a single-payer health care system, but also a number of other bills that would create universal care, such as Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky's (D-Ill.) Medicare for America Act, which would create a federal insurance program but allow employer-provided plans to exist. As the 2020 field remains largely undecided on health care policy—save for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who authored the Senate's single-payer bill—the hearing offered a forum for airing the particulars of the various plans touted by Democratic presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail.
