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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

36:20

Medicare plans keep disappearing

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/09/24

By October 1, at least two million seniors will get alarming notices: Their health plans — which they got through Medicare Advantage, the version of Medicare run by private insurance companies — will disappear at the end of the year. Many of them will be stuck without a lot of options. In some cases, no other companies in their area may offer Medicare Advantage plans to replace them. Almost three million seniors got stuck in similar situations last year, and experts say the scenario will

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34:09

System meltdown: employer-sponsored health insurance

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/09/03

Employer-sponsored health insurance covers 165.6 million Americans. It’s the default. For lots of workers, it’s a key reason to accept a job offer, or to stay in a job. But that system is slowly imploding. As premiums have grown explosively — the average employer plan now prices out at $27,000 for family coverage — businesses have passed more costs onto their workers. And, as STAT News reporter Bob Herman wrote in July: America's Small Businesses are Giving Up on Health

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28:28

A Texas doctor’s love letter to ‘the People’s...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/08/13

We’re bringing back a favorite episode from 2023 that raises a question as relevant as ever: 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 he works. And it could be a model for the whole country. Yes, really. That’s the pitch he made in his 2023 book, The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine. It’s a love letter to Houston’s Ben

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29:50

Julie Rovner is worried: Checking in with a veteran...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/07/23

Last May, just a few months into the second Trump Administration, changes to federal health programs were happening at a bewildering pace. We brought inKFF Heath News Chief Washington Correspondent Julie Rover to help give us — and you —a big picture look at what some changes would mean. A year-and-change later, we wanted to check back in. We talk about the “crumbling Jenga tower” of public health infrastructure, the fallout from cuts to Obamacare subsidies, and Medicaid, and

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41:45

How to Fight a Health Insurance Denial With a...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/07/02

After her husband L was hospitalized for a severe mental health crisis, Teressa barely had a moment to breathe before the health insurance denials started coming in, burying their family in medical debt. But Teressa’s a fighter, and an organized one at that — ready to endure months of back and forth until she stumbled on a "secret door" to reversing her husband’s insurance denials: the external review. In this episode of Paper Trail, a podcast from the investigative journalists at

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44:21

The Prescription Drug Playbook (Full Version)

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/06/11

While we’re busy working on some big projects this summer, we’re re-releasing some of our most ambitious and useful reporting to date. Last year, we set out on a mission: Collect all the best advice about what to do when your prescription drugs cost more than you can afford. Our listeners wrote to us about their experiences getting around this most demoralizing — and distinctly American — problem in order to get the medicine they need. Those responses allowed us to map a

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56:07

The Chatbot Will See You Now: Big Tech In Therapy...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/05/21

One place you might assume is safe from prying ears is your therapy session. But as more therapists struggle to negotiate with insurers, they’re turning to tech middlemen like BetterHelp and Headway that promise to take care of the insurance admin and match them with patients. And these companies are sometimes recording and transcribing your sessions — and then turning around and sharing that data with social media companies and investors. And there are concerns that these confidential

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18:24

The Supreme Court case that could slow generic drugs

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/04/27

It’s a case you’ve (probably) never heard of: This week, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in Hikma v. Amarin — a legal battle that could impact how much you ultimately pay for prescription drugs. Here’s why the case matters: As soon as a generic version of a brand-name drug comes to market, its price typically drops by half. Within 10 years, by more than 75%. Meaning: the sooner we have access to generics, the less we pay at the pharmacy counter. But one of the

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34:03

Why drugs cost so much, 101: Medicine monopolies

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/04/09

We’re always asking: Why do drugs cost so freaking much? And it’s a complicated question. There are a bunch of reasons —to be sure. But in our reporting over the years, like our stories on insulin and tuberculosis drugs, experts cited one big reason over and over again: The pharmaceutical industry wages sophisticated legal battles to keep monopoly control over their best selling, most lucrative drugs — blocking generic competition, and increasing their prices along the way

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26:21

‘Not workable’: How two Americans picked a plan this...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/03/19

This year, the price of health insurance increased dramatically for millions of people. Tens of millions. Obamacare subsidies shrunk, and premiums skyrocketed. People asked themselves: how on earth am I supposed to make this work? Two of those folks — attorney Nicole Wipp and skate-shop owner Noah Hulsman — tell the story of how they chose among lousy options. Nicole chose to dump health insurance altogether — even though she could have found a way to pay for it. Noah chose to pay

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58:33

The EpiPen and Food Allergies (from Drug Story)

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/02/26

Hey, first! We’re looking for your help. Can you take a couple minutes and fill out our Audience Survey? We’re dying to know more about the community that’s using this show — and about what’s working for you and what you’d like to see. Let us know! Today we’re switching it up. We’re sharing an episode from the new podcastDrug Story. In each episode, science journalist and self-described “public health nerd” Thomas Goetz goes deep on the

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29:25

NYT’s Ron Lieber: ‘These people are not going to win.'

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/02/05

Thirty-six hours before his wife was scheduled for a major surgery, New York Times personal finance columnist Ron Lieber got a letter in the mail that sent him reeling. Insurance was denying prior authorization for the surgery. The only way forward would be to appeal the decision. But it was Saturday night, and the surgery was Monday morning. There wouldn’t be any time. Should they even go to the hospital? They decided to bet on being able to reverse the denial later on, but the last minute

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26:02

'Sh**’s wild': Scaling up, doubling down, and...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2026/01/15

For five years, we’ve been following the work of Dollar For and its founder Jared Walker, watching them quickly scale up their efforts to help people crush medical debt by tapping into “charity care” — the financial assistance that hospitals are legally required to offer some patients. Their work represents what a small, scrappy, thoughtful group of people can do. Last year, their tiny staff helped wipe out more than $55 million in medical bills. As we kick off 2026, we

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15:13

Our favorite project of 2025 levels up – and you can...

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/12/29

Hey, first! If you value what we do, we need your support to keep it going in 2026. We have SO much work ahead, and we can’t do it without you. Every little bit counts. Here’s where you can chip in.Thank you SO much! Our listeners have been teaming up on an incredible project – kicked off earlier this year by a med student named Thomas Sanford. The idea: create a list of reliable resources to help with medical expenses and avoid debt, and circulate it where people might find it

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32:15

Some more things that didn’t suck in 2025

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/12/11

Hey, first! If you value what we do, this is the best-ever time to support our work. We have SO much work ahead in 2026. Donate here. We’re back for another look at things that – believe it or not – did NOT suck in 2025. Specifically: new state laws from around the country aimed at protecting people from things like medical debt, insurance delays and denials, and corporate profiteering. In this episode, we dive into two examples from opposite sides of the country to look at how

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30:02

How to pick health insurance — in the worst year ever

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/11/20

Hey, first! If you value what we do, this is the best-ever time to support our work: This month, every donation gets matched two-for-one. We have SO much work ahead in 2026. Donate here — and get your money matched two-for-one. It’s probably fair to say: this is the worst year ever for picking health insurance. Premiums are skyrocketing – whether you get insurance through work or from the Obamacare marketplace. And with enhanced subsidies almost definitely expiring, millions of

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24:14

Some things that didn’t suck in 2025 (really)

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/11/06

Hey, first! If you value what we do, this is the best-ever time to support our work: This month, every donation gets matched two-for-one. We have SO much work ahead in 2026. Head to https://armandalegshow.com/support/ to donate — and get your money matched two-for-one. This statement might shock you: some actual good things happened in 2025. Or, at least things that did not totally suck. Stuff like: new limits on the hoops insurance companies can make you jump through, and new protections

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20:02

This health economist wants your medical bills

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/10/23

Economist Vivian Ho has been researching the US health care system for four decades. These days she focuses on what she describes as the biggest burden on the average American: runaway hospital prices and rising health insurance premiums. (You know, Arm and a Leg stuff.) And she’s developed a strategy for addressing high insurance premiums – one based on a real-life success story. So when she asked us to help her gather data for a new study, we were intrigued. We break down

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10:48

We love this listener’s project — and your response

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/10/09

A listener named Thomas Sanford wrote to us earlier this year, asking for help with a little DIY project. And it’s turned into the most encouraging thing we’ve seen all year. With input from the Arm and a Leg community — specifically folks who get our First Aid Kit newsletter — Thomas has drafted a one-page handout, packed with resources for anyone who needs help with medical bills. It’s ready for you to use, and he wants your help making it better. You’ll hear

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29:01

Will we be able to afford insurance in 2026?

An Arm and a Leg ·

2025/09/18

For the first time, our senior producer, Emily, has to sign up for Obamacare. And it turns out, it’s one heck of a year to do that. A recent headline from KFF Health News reads: “Insurers and customers brace for double whammy to Obamacare premiums.” We break down what those “whammies” might mean in dollars and cents for Emily and the millions of others signing up for Obamacare in 2026. Plus, we cover what’s happening with ACA navigators – the people charged

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171 results

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