{"id":9963,"date":"2026-09-09T14:03:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T20:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/?p=9963"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:29:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:29:41","slug":"pih-wendell-potter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pih-wendell-potter\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast episode 58: Wendell Potter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listen now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen below or on any of your favorite podcast services. Like and subscribe to stay up-to-date with each new episode!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/share.transistor.fm\/e\/60dcf9ac\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-grid wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9d260ee2 wp-block-group-is-layout-grid\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-2fff173e-3a4d-4dc6-b261-0abc5fcc2200\"><a href=\"https:\/\/feeds.transistor.fm\/pioneers-in-health\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-11.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is RSS-Feed.png\" class=\"wp-image-6580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-11.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-11-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-cc066fe7-7bae-4813-b4c5-2a537f6ba338\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pioneers-in-health\/id1743590014\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-9.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Apple-Podcasts.png\" class=\"wp-image-6578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-9.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-9-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-d84c7149-75a6-4eb7-a2b9-8ecad6ba840f\"><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3jka7vMKpBCEacwnrhdLgw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-10.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Spotify.png\" class=\"wp-image-6579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-10.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-10-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-62fca925-59ab-4ffa-ba8d-7087a7255ec5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/7e986df9-578e-416a-b3bf-3c78473c70a8\/pioneers-in-health\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Amazon-Music.png\" class=\"wp-image-6577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-b1457c2f-42fe-42d3-b614-bdbca33fa59c\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to the <a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pioneers-in-health\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"6150\">Pioneers in Health podcast<\/a>. In this podcast, we share inspiring stories of pioneering leaders from our nation and from your backyard who are working to improve health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 24%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In episode 58, we interview <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendellpotter.com\">Wendell Potter<\/a>. He is a\u00a0bestselling author and journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times,\u00a0The Washington Post,\u00a0USA Today\u00a0and many other media outlets. Since leaving his 20-year career as an executive at two of the world\u2019s largest healthcare corporations \u2013 Cigna and Humana \u2013 he has testified before Congress numerous times to explain how the health insurance industry really works.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A former investigative reporter, Washington correspondent and corporate executive, Wendell delivers an insider\u2019s perspective into those issues as editor-in-chief of his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/healthcareuncovered.substack.com\/\">HEALTH CARE un-covered<\/a>\u00a0newsletter and through the nonprofit work he leads.\u00a0He is the founder and president of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.centerforhealthanddemocracy.org\/\">Center for Health and Democracy<\/a>\u00a0and leads the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.loopcoalition.co\/\">Lower Out-of-Pockets (LOOP) NOW<\/a>\u00a0coalition, which works with policymakers, employers and health benefits consultants to reduce the unsustainably high deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements that burden millions of American families. He also has helped produce four documentaries that delve into various aspects of the U.S. health care system.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendellpotter.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9966 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wendell-Potter-headshot-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode, he shares how his career started in journalism and has now returned to journalism. He first was introduced to journalism in high school when he became a correspondent from his school to the local newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I just fell in love with journalism,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After that, he went on to major in journalism at the University of Tennessee and became editor of the student newspaper. From there, he continued to work as a journalist after graduating, eventually working for Scripps Howard newspapers covering Washington, including Congress, the Supreme Court and White House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His career later took another path, though, and led to him working for two of the world&#8217;s largest healthcare corporations. Now, however, he&#8217;s returning to his roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve kind of returned to journalism,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve always loved to do, and it is one of the reasons why later in life, in my \u2014 in my corporate life \u2014 I decided that I had to leave that corporate job because of just how different it was from my job as a journalist.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode, he also discusses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How his career transitioned to one in healthcare<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>His two decades of time spent as an executive in the health insurance industry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Healthcare reform and the influence of corporations on politics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Becoming a consumer advocate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How he became an advocate for universal health coverage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Money and politics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Affordable Care Act and Medicare For All<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medicare Advantage plans<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Negative impacts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>His Substack newsletter, HEALTH CARE un-covered<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What gives him hope<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And much more! Listen now, and learn more about how Wendell is an innovative leader in health care.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-1b1c93a7-add0-4bfc-a94e-9cc5b459d210\"><strong>Please see the <a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pioneers-in-health\/\"><em>Pioneers in Health<\/em> page<\/a> on our website for more information on our podcast series and links to other episodes. <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pioneers-in-health\/\" style=\"background-color:#1f2d4a\">View other episodes<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen now Listen below or on any of your favorite podcast services. Like and subscribe to stay up-to-date with each new episode! Welcome to the Pioneers in Health podcast. In this podcast, we share inspiring stories of pioneering leaders from our nation and from your backyard who are working to improve health. In episode 58, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9963"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10017,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9963\/revisions\/10017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}