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An Arm and a Leg
An Arm and a Leg is a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can (maybe) do about it.
If you’ve ever been surprised by a medical bill, you’re in good company. But as our team of seasoned journalists has learned from years of reporting — you’re not always helpless. We don’t have all the answers, but we’ll offer you tools and big picture insights with plenty of humor and heart.
An Arm and a Leg is co-produced with KFF Health News and…
Episodes
- An Arm and a Leg
To get health insurance, this couple made a movie
Last fall, actor-writers Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023. To qualify for insurance through the…
- An Arm and a Leg
“Your Money or Your Life”: Dr. Luke Messac’s book on the history of medical debt
In 2019, Dr. Luke Messac was a medical resident who found himself spending his day off in a courthouse archive. He’d heard about hospitals suing their own…
- An Arm and a Leg
Paging Dr. Glaucomflecken: Presenting “The Nocturnists - Conversations: Will & Kristin Flanary (The Glaucomfleckens)”
First: an update on our recent two-parter with the writer John Green, about the global, decades-long fight to make an important tuberculosis drug more widely…
- An Arm and a Leg
John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 2)
This is part two of our globe-spanning story about drugs, patents, and YouTube megastar John Green. Quick recap: In our last episode, we learned how writer and…
- An Arm and a Leg
John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 1)
This episode is special. When we heard that widely-beloved writer John Green was rallying his online community around a fight over drug prices — and apparently…
- An Arm and a Leg
Something's coming, something good.
Hey there— our next story is gonna take a little more time to cook, but it is going to be SO worth it. It involves John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars…
- An Arm and a Leg
How to Get a Surprise Bill on Your Way to the Hospital
For a year and a half now, the No Surprises Act has protected patients from some of the most outrageous out-of-network medical bills. But Congress left…
- An Arm and a Leg
Wait, what’s a PBM (and how do they work)?
If you’ve been told your insurance won’t cover your meds — or that you’re gonna have to pay an arm and a leg for them — you’ve met a PBM: a pharmacy benefits…
- An Arm and a Leg
Credit Card, Please
A listener’s doctor wanted her credit card info up front — before her appointment. She wondered: Do I need to give it to them? We did too. After all, who wants…
- An Arm and a Leg
A ‘payday loan’ from a health care behemoth
When a New York doctor tweeted recently about “payday loans” for doctors from a branch of UnitedHealth Group — which operates the giant insurance company…
- An Arm and a Leg
Mental health ‘ghost networks’ — and a ghost-buster
For lots of people, trying to access mental health treatment — like a therapist or a psychiatrist —is nothing short of a horror story. You could even call it a…
- An Arm and a Leg
A $229,000 medical bill goes to court
Before her surgery, a hospital told Lisa French she would end up owing them $1,337. After insurance paid them — more than they’d expected — the hospital billed…
- An Arm and a Leg
A doctor’s love letter to ‘the People’s Hospital’
What if we had a decent, publicly-funded health system — available to everybody, with or without insurance? We’ve got one, says Dr. Ricardo Nuila. It’s where…
- An Arm and a Leg
Lessons from “wrestling with a giant”
The ER visit was quick and uneventful. The bill was $1,300. Our listener decided to push back. He didn't win, but he learned a lot — and so did we. We had…
- An Arm and a Leg
The bill looked like BS. So she took it to small claims court.
“I sued a hospital in small claims court and lost — here’s what I learned.” That was the subject line for an email we got from listener Lauren Slemenda. She…
- An Arm and a Leg
Can They Freaking Do That?!? (2023 Edition)
We’re kicking off the year with a throwback. We revisit a 2019 episode that opened up new possibilities for fighting back against outrageous medical bills — a…
- An Arm and a Leg
2022 in Review
The Arm and a Leg editorial team gathered to talk about the moments from 2022 that we’ll never forget — including when work collided with real life. We’re so…
- An Arm and a Leg
Like pulling teeth.
When a car hit Susan and knocked out a bunch of teeth, her health insurance was supposed to pay for her oral surgery, and she knew it. So why has she had to…
- An Arm and a Leg
The best video about health insurance, ever
A couple months ago, we started getting messages from listeners telling us: you gotta watch this video. It’s a thirty minute YouTube video from a creator named…
- An Arm and a Leg
Health insurance post-Roe, and a grassroots network of abortion funds
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion has been banned in more than a dozen states. As you choose your insurance plan for next year, you…
- An Arm and a Leg
A listener asks: Could NOT having insurance be a better deal?
It’s open enrollment for 2023 health insurance for lots of folks — a time when you might find yourself asking: what good is health insurance anyway? One…
- An Arm and a Leg
Quick update from Arm and a Leg HQ
Hey there, You may have noticed, we've been keeping a slower pace for the last few months — publishing every three weeks instead of every two — since Dan…
- An Arm and a Leg
California plans to make its own insulin and sell it super-cheap. Really.
This year, the state of California put up $100 million to produce its own insulin, and sell it for cheap. How’s it going to work? (Is it going to work?) The…
- An Arm and a Leg
Congress fixed (a piece of) Medicare. It only took a few decades.
Lots of seniors have to pay thousands of dollars for drugs—even tens of thousands—or do without life-saving medicine. That’s finally going to change. The new…
- An Arm and a Leg
The Medical-bill "Negotiation Lab"
It’s often possible to negotiate medical bills. It sounds hard — and it can be — but what if we got it down to a science? Mapped out all the moves ahead of…
- An Arm and a Leg
The Genetic Testing ‘Bait-and-Switch’
Is it possible for a health care company to make enough people mad about their billing practices that it hurts their business? For one genetic testing company…
- An Arm and a Leg
One ER Doc’s Journey Through the Pandemic — and the Health Care System
Thomas Fisher is an emergency room doc in Chicago. His book, The Emergency, is an up-close chronicle of the COVID pandemic’s first year in his South Side ER…
- An Arm and a Leg
These docs are trying to kick private equity out of their ER
About a third of ER doctors now work for companies backed by private equity. A lot of those docs do not like the arrangement, which they say puts profits ahead…
- An Arm and a Leg
Credit Where It’s Due
Credit reporting bureaus announced in April that they would start taking most medical debt off of people’s credit reports. At first, we weren’t sure that would…
- An Arm and a Leg
“The Golden Age of Older Rectums” (for investors)
A new golden age is dawning, and it starts where the sun don’t shine. A listener got a pricey quote for her colonoscopy, but the medical practice behind it…
- An Arm and a Leg
Sick Note, pt. 2: Dang
Dan’s COVID has hung on there for a while, kept him SUPER tired. Yoinks. Back in a couple weeks! Meanwhile, as always, we'd love for you to: Get in touch to…
- An Arm and a Leg
Sick Note: Dan has COVID. (He's fine, but ...)
Hey there — I got COVID a little before we were scheduled to tape this week's episode. Whoops! I'm fine now, but kinda tired. Just to be on the safe side —…
- An Arm and a Leg
Fighting for the Right to Help
It’s illegal to advise someone who’s being sued for medical debt, unless you're a lawyer. Yep, really. Even in its most basic form (like helping people fill…
- An Arm and a Leg
Swimming with sharks
Pharma and insurance companies play devious, clever games, competing for dollars. They’re sharks! It’d be fun to track, but they’re eating us alive. If anyone…
- An Arm and a Leg
Introducing: Half Vaxxed
Last year we brought you the story — part caper, part tragedy — of how Philadelphia tried to hand off its COVID vaccination program to a wannabe tech bro right…
- An Arm and a Leg
Introducing: Last Day
Stephanie Wittels Wachs has made the show about a topic that's actually too enraging, terrifying, and depressing for An Arm and a Leg: the opioid crisis. And…
- An Arm and a Leg
Meet your new rights under the No Surprises Act
The No Surprises Act — a new law that protects us from some outrageous out-of-network hospital bills — takes effect this month. That's great news, but (and…
- An Arm and a Leg
2022 update: How to avoid a big bill for your COVID test (feat. Sarah Kliff)
COVID testing—the kind they send to a lab— is supposed to be free in the U.S. But it’s never been quite that simple. We’re revisiting our sadly-still-relevant…
- An Arm and a Leg
Our Year in Review, with members of the Arm and a Leg team
An Arm and a Leg wraps up a big year, and some of the team takes a moment to reflect. Consulting Managing Producer Daisy Rosario, Editor Marian Wang, and…
- An Arm and a Leg
Why rapid COVID tests are so freaking expensive
Who’s making a buck: rapid test edition. Rapid, at-home COVID tests are pretty much essential if you want to see friends and family this holiday season, and…
- An Arm and a Leg
Fighting with health insurance is easy (for Jacqueline Fox)
Health insurance is like some medieval horror, says law professor Jackie Fox. But, funny thing: She also says insurance fights are easy. For her. She’s been…
- An Arm and a Leg
How to avoid the crappiest health insurance.
We kick off with a wild ride: How one journalist almost got roped into a scam. While hunting for a new insurance plan, Mitra Kaboli got an offer that seemed…
- An Arm and a Leg
The Insurance Warrior takes on a $61B Company
When Mattew Lientz needed surgery to save his life, his insurance wouldn’t cover it. Enter: Laurie Todd, the Insurance Warrior. Her first task: Figuring out…
- An Arm and a Leg
Meet the Insurance Warrior
In 2005, Laurie Todd needed surgery to save her life. Her insurance company had no intention of paying for it. She went to war, and won. She's been helping…
- An Arm and a Leg
We spend 12 million hours a week on the phone with health insurance
Yup. A Stanford professor measured it. So… we should probably learn how they actually make money, understand their incentives. Here’s one clue: A lot of the…
- An Arm and a Leg
Wait, that was legal until now?!?
Hospitals in Maryland were suing patients over bills that should’ve been forgiven. It wasn’t illegal. Until now. How a coalition changed that. This year. Plus…
- An Arm and a Leg
"We just kept right on pushing"
Manny Lanza died because he didn't have insurance. His parents fought back, with help from New York’s favorite tabloid. After years of work by advocates and…
- An Arm and a Leg
The wild backstory of a tiny but crucial Obamacare provision (ft. David Axelrod)
How one Republican senator made sure the ACA required non-profit hospitals to act more like charities—and less like loan sharks—before voting against the whole…
- An Arm and a Leg
A legendary lawyer sued hospitals for price-gouging their patients. And got his butt handed to him.
The lawyer was Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the lawyer who beat Big Tobacco in the 1990s. Later, he launched a series of ill-fated national lawsuits aimed at…
- An Arm and a Leg
We’re back! Starting Aug 19. And we’ve got some doozies for you.
We’ve been on a hiatus for a minute, and we are SO excited about what we’re coming back with. These are stories we’ve been collecting for months—some of them…
- An Arm and a Leg
Badass volunteers help Jared level up, in the fight to crush medical debt
An update on Jared Walker, whose viral TikTok described a little-known (and effective) method to “crush” many hospital bills, and offered to help folks deploy…
- An Arm and a Leg
A whole book about fighting effed-up medical bills? Yes, please.
For years, at ProPublica, Marshall Allen has been exposing health care grifters. (He’s our kind of guy.) Now, he's written a book … about how to fight back…
- An Arm and a Leg
Want to write a killer letter to insurance? Meet Jeannine.
Health care insiders get stupid medical bills too. One of them taught us how to write an insurance appeal—like the one that saved her son $14,000. You can read…
- An Arm and a Leg
Mini-episode: One guy skirts a medical-bill trap, and shares the secret.
When Adam Woodrum's insurance denied a claim for an ER bill, he sent his story to NPR... because he happened to KNOW how to deal with it. And he figured it…
- An Arm and a Leg
Why picking the right insurance is so hard (bonus/encore)
How hard is it to pick the best health insurance? ECONOMISTS find it hard. Including one who has studied the question, "How hard can it be to pick a decent…
- An Arm and a Leg
Programming note: We're working on some cool new stuff.
... and it's gonna take us a little while to get it ready for you— maybe a couple months. Meanwhile, we'll have little updates for you here and there. ... and…
- An Arm and a Leg
Who's been trying to cash in on COVID vaccinations? (And how did racism help them out?)
With COVID vaccinations ramping up, it's time to check in: Who's been trying to make a buck? And who's been doing their best to serve the folks who need help…
- An Arm and a Leg
Revisiting insulin, as relevant (and expensive) as ever
We're re-releasing and updating a story we first reported in 2019, about how insulin got to be so horribly expensive—the scientists who discovered it did NOT…
- An Arm and a Leg
A legal strategy for erasing billions in medical debt— that works—from a 60-second video.
Yep. This viral TikTok video's recipe for "crushing" medical bills is legally sound. And IRS filings from thousands of hospitals attest to $2.7 billion of…
- An Arm and a Leg
A former "bad guy" lawyer shows us how the dark machinery works. And our rights.
Jeff is a lawyer who used to represent medical-bill collectors in court. ("I was a bad guy, for sure," he says.) But he switched sides, and he's here to tell…