"For decades, the health insurance industry has been scaring Americans about Canada's health care system. We hear from a whistleblower about his role in the disinformation campaign."
Why is this relevant today? The same types of disinformation are being used to smear the Affordable Care Act.
AMANDA ARONCZYK, BYLINE: When I first moved to the U.S. 20 years ago, people would say the strangest things to me about Canadian health care - that Canadians wait forever, that doctors don't want to work there and, weirdly specifically, that Canadians get left on gurneys in the hallways of hospitals to die. These rumors were everywhere. They were in TV ads...
This National Public Radio report from a Canadian reveals the lies perpetrated by "a man who worked in PR for health insurance companies for over 20 years named Wendell Potter."
"One of the ways Potter is making amends is by revealing how he smeared an entire health care system. He says there were three main tactics. Tactic No. 1, use anecdotes. Find Canadians who had negative experiences and disseminate their stories widely."
"Tactic No. 2, cherry-picked statistics. For example, he'd play up how long Canadians have to wait. Thing is, he'd only focus on elective surgeries and the things that you can wait for."
"Tactic No. 3, plaster the airwaves with negative ads."
Listen to the 3 minute report or read the transcript: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/931990578/why-americans-have-been-deceived-about-canadas-health-care-system
So be skeptical when you hear/read politicians, journalists and the general public discuss health care, the ACA, and insurance.
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