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PODCAST

An Arm and a Leg

An Arm and a Leg

An Arm and a Legis 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

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

19:04

A whole book about fighting effed-up medical bills?...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/06/30

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. It’s called “Never Pay the First Bill.” We talked—about some of his best tips, about how you can’t win ‘em all, and about why it’s worth learning all you can and giving it your best shot.Marshall compares the U.S. health-care "system" to the bully he faced in 7th grade. Big, stupid, mean. And SOMETIMES—as he learned in junior high--you can stand

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12:55

Want to write a killer letter to insurance? Meet...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/06/09

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 that letter—and her notes to us about why she chose to include certain words and key facts—right here: https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Appeal_letter_2020_redacted_with_comments.pdfWe met Jeannine after our host addressed a conference of “industry insiders.” It wasn’t much fun. But this makes it all worthwhile.Links! You

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7:24

Mini-episode: One guy skirts a medical-bill trap, and...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/05/19

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 would be a friendly thing to share what he knew. (Kudos, Adam!)This story was originally reported by Julie Appleby for our pals at Kaiser Health News, and KHN editor-in-chief Elisabeth Rosenthal weighs in at the end. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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20:14

Why picking the right insurance is so hard...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/04/28

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 insurance plan?"Lots of people are suddenly eligible to pick possibly-cheaper health insurance thanks to the American Rescue Plan—the big stimulus bill Congress passed in March—so we thought it could be useful to bring this 2018 story back.Also useful: This essay from health-care reporter Zachary Tracer about how he picked his health insurance,

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1:34

Programming note: We're working on some cool new stuff.

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/04/07

... 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 it's a great time to sign up for our newsletter, where we'll have details on what's next, and stories we think you'll be interested in.Here's where to go: https://armandalegshow.com/newsletter/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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31:42

Who's been trying to cash in on COVID vaccinations?...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/03/17

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 the most? In Philadelphia, the good, the bad, and the ugly have all been on vivid display.The Bad comes with a giant serving of chutzpah: For a while, the city put its mass-vaccination program in the hands of a 22 year-old with no experience in health care, but with a healthy interest in making money. It did NOT go well. (You may have seen that

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31:06

Revisiting insulin, as relevant (and expensive) as ever

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/02/25

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 want price or profits to keep it away from people who need it—and what some people are doing about it, today.The story seems especially relevant right now, for two reasons:the COVID vaccine process has reminded all of us how vital it is to BOTH get breakthroughs in the lab AND to make sure everyone can afford to benefit from them.The second

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26:29

A legal strategy for erasing billions in medical...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/02/11

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 crush-able debt from a single year— a number that experts say looks more like a floor than a ceiling. Of course, it'll take a lot of work to actually zap those debts. But Jared Walker is off to a promising start. His organization, Dollar For, had already helped wipe out millions in medical bills before he made that video. Hosted on Acast. See

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24:04

A former "bad guy" lawyer shows us how the dark...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/01/28

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 us what he knows. For instance, we have more rights than we probably know.It can be tough to get them enforced, but he's got some tips there too.And his portait of how the dark machinery works is... kind of hilarious.Here's a transcript for this episode.Send your stories and questions:https://armandalegshow.com/contact/or call 724 ARM-N-LEGAnd

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10:50

Mini-episode: Two small doses of good news

An Arm and a Leg ·

2021/01/14

2021 is off to a rough start, but we've got a couple of small things that don't completely suck.First, a new federal rule could help cut through one completely-ridiculous issue. Then, a listener describes how he headed off an insurance nightmare, using what he learned from this show.Dan talked about the first story—a requirement that hospitals give us some information upfront about what a given service might cost us (after insurance, if we've got it)—in a short conversation with Niala Boodhoo for

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21:58

A 21st-century Christmas Carol: How one Scrooge...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/12/29

Former health-care executive Wendell Potter spent part of 2020 publishinghigh-profileapologiesfor the lies he says he told the American people in his old job—and trying to debunk the myths he once sold. The story of how he became a whistle-blower is a modern-dayChristmas Carol. And it's a story about the long, messy process of change—whether that’s changing your own life or trying to change a bigger system. It’s a great way to close out a pretty-terrible year.Another cheerful note:THANK YOU!!! Your

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23:29

From our reporter's notebook: What we learned in...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/12/18

This episode turns the tables: Host Dan Weissmann gets interviewed about what he's learned this year, and what's ahead for the show— with T.K. Dutes, an ace radio host and podcast-maker ... who was a nurse in a previous life, so she knows a thing or two about the health-care system. (She chronicled her career transition in an episode of NPR's Life Kit.)And here we learn: During her nursing career, she was uninsured. She's got some stories about life before-and-after health insurance.T.K. also coins

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19:13

Fight! My family tries to pick health insurance for...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/12/11

Keeping the plan we've got means paying $200 a month more. But... would a "cheaper" plan cost us more in the long run?It depends! And COVID makes it a lot more complicated. This stinks.You can hear my wife and me try to puzzle the whole thing out, and then I debrief with an expert. Who leaves me reminded how lucky we are to have the options we do. HEALTH INSURANCE SUCKS.But the alternative is so much worse.If you want to go deeper on health insurance, you might want to check these episodes from our

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27:40

Andy Slavitt gives us a COVID check-in from 40,000 feet

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/12/04

Andy Slavitt, who ran a big chunk of health care for the Obama administration, has spent 2020 talking with almost everybody who knows anything about the COVID pandemic— and sharing what he learns in real time, first on Twitter, then on his pandemic podcast "In the Bubble." When we wanted an episode taking a look at the big picture—what we've learned so far from the pandemic and what we might expect next—Andy was the person we wanted to talk to. And he said yes!We got into the money side of what we

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21:51

How to avoid a big bill for your COVID test: with...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/11/23

They're supposed to be free. And usually they are. But sometimes... things happen. Here's how to keep them from happening to YOU.New York Times reporter Sarah Kliff has been asking readers to send in their COVID-testing bills. She's now seen hundreds of them, and she runs down for us the most common ways things can go sideways, and how to avoid them.Here's Sarah's NYT story that inspired this episode.Support us: During November and December 2020, your donation counts for DOUBLE, thanks to a campaign

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27:56

How to Keep Cool in a Tough Moment: A self-defense...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/11/12

Possibly our most-useful episode ever. A listener asked: How do I remain cool when calling insurance companies?We called a veteran self-defense teacher— because self-defense means a lot more than hitting and kicking. It's about standing up for yourself in all kinds of difficult situations. Which means using your words.Lauren Taylor talks us through some of her top strategies, and how she used them this year in her own epic health-insurance fight.Send your stories and

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22:35

David v Goliath: How to beat a big hospital (using...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/10/29

In a classic—and hilarious—David vs. Goliath story, Jeffrey Fox takes on a huge hospital over an outrageous bill, and wins.He's a bit of an expert in using small claims court to get satisfaction, and he's got detailed instructions for all of us.Here's his first lesson: The other side—no matter how big they are, and no matter what they say to you—doesn't actually get to make the rules. Not the LEGAL rules.The details of how he got to victory in this case are super-entertaining, and

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28:08

How to handle debt collectors, with the TikTok Mom...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/10/15

There's a reason Shaunna Burns went viral with her videos about dealing with debt collectors: She used to be one, so she knows a few things. (Also she's smart and funny.)We fact-checked her advice with a legal expert: Jenifer Bosco, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. Who said: Yep, most of Shaunna's advice totally checks out.This one's full of useful tips—and it's fun— so please pass it around. Debt collectors are out in force, and as you'll hear in this episode, they can be

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25:07

Your TikTok Mom has some medical-bill tips, and a...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/10/01

Forty-something mom Shaunna Burns went viral on TikTok, thanks in part to a series of videos dishing out real-talk advice on fighting outrageous medical bills. She's become the virtual mom that thousands of Gen-Z followers love. She's funny, smart, and relatable—and she's got stories that'll make your hair stand on end. (Yep, medical bills figure into some of them.) Oh, and she can swear like a f---ing sailor. So maybe save this one for when the kids aren't around.Send your stories and questions:

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27:14

A Blast of Hope and Humanity: Here's what...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2020/09/17

Laura Derrick fought and endured for decades. When medical bills threatened to swamp her family, she made huge sacrifices, worked unbelievably hard... and helped change the course of history. In a moment when we're all enduring a LOT, it seemed like a great time for Laura's story. It's one of the first stories we ever told on this show, and it has special resonance right now. Bonus: We catch up with Laura for an update. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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