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"Since doctors and hospitals lose money on nearly every treatment they provide in Medicare, experts predict that Medicare for all will cause a chronic shortage of doctors, and hospital overcrowding will be an epidemic," Brady added. Democrats countered that the current system forces many Americans to skimp or forgo medical care. "To say that everything is peachy keen and everybody has access is missing the point," Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) said. The first witness at the hearing was Rebecca Wood of Massachusetts, who spoke about how her family has coped with the high costs of medical care for her daughter, Charlie, who was born prematurely. To preserve funds for therapy for her daughter, Wood put off her own dental care, which led to an infection that spread through her mouth and jaw. She told Ways and Means about having all of her teeth pulled and parts of her jaw scraped away in a 6-hour procedure under local anesthesia, because she could not afford general anesthesia. "I sobbed the entire ride home afterwards. I don't know what the worst part is. The excruciating pain I live with every day, how I worry whether I'm drooling when I smile, how eating is awkward and challenging, or how I love jazz but will never play the trumpet again," Wood told the committee. The Medicare-for-all legislation, backed by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), would add dental coverage to the federal program's services, along with vision care and institutional and community-based long-term services and supports, Neuman said. "Benefits would be far more comprehensive than those that are typically offered by most private insurance plans and the current Medicare program — with no premiums, deductibles, or cost sharing," she said in testimony to the committee. To constrain spending, Medicare-for-all would establish payment rates for hospitals, physicians, and other clinicians. Under the current system, these are negotiated separately by private insurers and public programs.

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