Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) town hall on Medicare for All drew more than one million online viewers in addition to the hundreds of attendees who packed an auditorium at the U.S. Capitol to capacity.

Thank you to the 1.1 million people who tuned in live to the first-ever national Medicare for All town hall tonight. Together we will successfully move the United States to a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system and guarantee health care to all. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 24, 2018

Speaking with multiple panels featuring single-payer healthcare advocates and experts—including Dr. Don Berwick, who oversaw Medicare and Medicaid under President Barack Obama—Sanders moderated a nearly two-hour discussion about the failures of the current U.S. healthcare system and how its costs and outcomes compare to those in countries with universal healthcare.

When Sanders asked Berwick whether there is any legitimate economic reason not to expand Medicare to all Americans, he replied, "No, there's no reason. It's just will."

"You can stand up for people," Berwick added. "Why wouldn’t we do that for all Americans, not just people over 65?"

.@BernieSanders: It’s difficult to defend a system in which:

30 million people have ZERO health insurance

Even more are underinsured

Healthcare outcomes are not good

Life expectancy not particularly high

We spend twice as much as other countries#MedicareForAll Now! pic.twitter.com/foP3kJ1MXq — RoseAnn DeMoro (@RoseAnnDeMoro) January 24, 2018

The discussion also covered the economic impact of Medicare for All. While Republicans have spent years pushing the narrative about high tax rates as a result of government-funded healthcare, owners of businesses large and small explained to the national audience the increasingly heavy financial burden that the for-profit system is putting on both their companies and their employees.

#MedicareForAll Historic National Town Hall



Medicare for All is Better for Business



“Let’s control healthcare costs. Let’s do what the rest of the industrialized world does, let us pass a #SinglePayer healthcare system.” @BernieSanders pic.twitter.com/Q1IuFtTfdW — RoseAnn DeMoro (@RoseAnnDeMoro) January 24, 2018

In his closing remarks, Sanders noted that a town hall broadcast exclusively online was necessary to provide viewers with the facts on Medicare for All. Although 53 percent of Americans now support government-funded healthcare for all, he said, corporate media outlets hardly cover the issue.

"The reason we're doing this program tonight is you don't see this stuff," he said. "It ain't gonna be on CBS. It ain't gonna be on NBC. What astounds me is we already have a pretty good majority of the American people who already believe in universal health care, believe that it is the government's responsibility to make sure that health care is a right. And we have reached that stage with media not talking about the issue at all."