NPR'S Michel Martin speaks with former health insurance executive Wendell Potter about the differences between U.S. and Canadian health systems highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic.
We're going to turn back now to the coronavirus pandemic, which has been the major story around the world these past few months. And one of the things exposed by the crisis has been the wildly varying quality and form of health systems around the globe. This week, a former Cigna health insurance executive went on Twitter to highlight how much better he says Canada's COVID response has been compared to that of the U.S.
POTTER: Well, two reasons. One, yes, you're right. I have been talking about this for quite a long time. But I hadn't talked very fairly recently about what I used to do for a living as it pertained to vilifying the Canadian health care system. I was recently on a webinar.
MARTIN: So let's talk about your role in this. In one of your tweets, you say,"here's the truth. Our industry PR and lobbying group, AHIP, supplied my colleagues and me with cherry-picked data and anecdotes to make people think Canadians wait endlessly for their care. It's a lie. And I'll always regret the disservice I did to folks on both sides of the border," unquote.
I went there out of curiosity. And when I got there, I just was absolutely stunned at what I saw. I just couldn't imagine that I was still in the United States. When I walked through the fairground gates, I saw people who were lined up by the hundreds waiting to get care, and it was truly an epiphany.
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