Arcade Fire‘s Win Butler, a self-described American-Montrealer, sat with a member of Bernie Sanders’ team to discuss universal health care, the reasons why the concept hasn’t taken off in the U.S., and the differences between the Canadian and American health care systems. Butler, who grew up in Texas and Florida before moving up far, far north, recalls a case of appendicitis he had as a child. Because his family didn’t have health insurance, they paid for his appendix removal out-of-pocket; it cost “a year at the University of Texas,” he estimated.
“I don’t think health care needs to be the Wild West, and it shouldn’t be like a scratch-and-win, like, ‘Hope my parents have money!'” Butler said, before throwing his support behind Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Bill.
Butler made his stance on health care clear at last year’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. “It’s an election year in the U.S., the U.S. has a lot they can learn from Canada: health care, taking care of people,” he stated in a post-game interview, which was promptly cut off.
Watch the interview in full below.
