Wendell Potter on The Healthcare Crisis
The Al Franken Podcast
The Al Franken Podcast
4.6 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 January 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a major blow to American healthcare, Congress has let the ACA subsidies expire. This means higher premiums and, as a result, fewer Americans enrolling. We are joined by Wendell Potter, former VP of Corporate Communications for Cigna turned whistleblower and healthcare reform advocate. Since 2009, Wendell has pulled back the curtain on how insurance giants game the system to prioritize profits over patients.
Wendell shares the two stories demonstrating the inhumanity of the American healthcare system that pushed him to speak out. He also talks about the impact of the expiring subsidies and why it could be what he calls a "death spiral." But don't worry! Donald Trump has a plan... or at least concepts of a plan.
Al and Wendell talk about the accomplishments of the ACA, while also acknowledging that Democrats should have done more to strengthen it during the Biden administration. Now with Trump and the Republicans in charge, any chance at meaningful reform is out the window.
Plus, we revisit the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and why that struck a nerve with so many Americans.
READ Wendell's substack, HEALTH CARE un-covered: https://healthcareuncovered.substack.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everybody. We got a great one today. You know, for a change, Wendell Potter, |
| 0:08.8 | former VP of Corporate Communications as Cigna Health Insurance. Well, he switched sides. He's now |
| 0:16.1 | the president of the Center for Health and Democracy and advocates for meaningful health care reform. |
| 0:23.1 | And so today, Wendell's with us on why health insurance costs so damn much in this country. |
| 0:30.7 | Well, I figured out why Trump decided not to invade Greenland and slaughter thousands of NATO troops, because next year, when they consider him |
| 0:40.3 | for the Nobel Peace Prize, it would kind of count against him. Of course, what really happened |
| 0:45.9 | was Taco. Trump chickened out, the bond market and the stock market had gone south. Europe was |
| 0:53.9 | going to enact retaliatory tariffs and hurt the economy. |
| 0:58.2 | So we got the bizarre rambling speech at Davos. Among other things, it was filled with lies. |
| 1:07.6 | Here he is talking about how the war in Ukraine never would have happened if the 2020 election hadn't been stolen from him. |
| 1:16.6 | It's a war that should have never started and it wouldn't have started if the 2020 U.S. presidential election weren't rigged. |
| 1:23.6 | It was a rigged election. now knows that they found out people will |
| 1:28.8 | soon be prosecuted for what they did it's probably breaking news but it should |
| 1:34.9 | be it's a rigged election can't have rigged elections now he says that was breaking |
| 1:40.7 | news hmm have we heard anything about it since? |
| 1:46.2 | Let's keep an eye out for when they announced these these prosecutions. |
| 1:51.6 | I'm sure the White House press court will follow up and ask him when these prosecutions |
| 1:57.1 | will be announced. |
| 1:58.9 | Mr. President, you said in Davos, people will soon be prosecuted |
| 2:03.1 | for rigging the 2020 election. You said it was breaking news. When will we know the details of who's |
| 2:10.4 | being prosecuted and on what charges? We haven't heard any follow-up on that, and I was wondering |
| 2:16.1 | if you could provide more about this breaking news that you announced in Davos. |
... |
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