An Arm and a Leg

The spiraling cost of medical care shapes people’s lives: The jobs we’re afraid to leave because of insurance, the risk that a trip to the doc could end in bankruptcy. It’s not healthy.

This is my story too, and that’s why I’m making this podcast. Here’s what I’ve got in mind.

An Arm and a Leg will be entertaining, empowering— even useful. As a reporter, I’ll bring my skill at finding and telling revealing, surprising stories. But the project’s big focus— since I’m in this mess too—is connecting and problem-solving, together.

You are not alone. We may be screwed, but we’re together. And if we want to get even a little bit less-screwed, we need each other. If nothing else, we can be good company to each other.

• We can have a good, dark laugh.
• We can offer each other empathy.
• We can sing hilarious punk-rock campfire-songs of rage at whoever turns out to be responsible.

So I’ll be looking to you, over time, to offer up your own stories— by sending in voice memo recordings (and email, and FB posts). Also, punk-rock campfire songs.

To start, I’ll be reporting out on stuff I’ve found out on my own— stories that help us get a little less scared and confused about the mess we’re in. Early episodes will:

• Pull back the curtain and show how the dark machinery works. A simple leg brace shows how insurance companies allow— even encourage— crazy price gouging.
• Check out inventive hacks: Renaissance-fair workers have cooked up a creative, home-brew safety net.
• Tell some wild stories. Like one woman’s epic quest for health insurance. To keep her family out of medical bankruptcy, she made crazy sacrifices— and tweaked history.

Over time, you’ll tell me what needs finding out.

We can’t count on single-payer or some other big fix getting enacted and coming to save our butts anytime soon. (We don’t even have to agree on single-payer.

No matter what our politics, we’re all screwed right now.) But we need each other’s help and company RIGHT NOW, just muddling through the mess we’re in.

You know what? I think it’s going to be fun.

Meanwhile:

• Are you game to share your two cents about stuff we should do?
• Maybe you can support us with a donation to help get the show launched?

Thanks! Talk with you soon.

Till then... take care of yourself.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 getting non-profit hospitals to quit price-gouging low-income patients, and chasing them hard for payment. It... didn't go as well as the tobacco lawsuit, by a long shot. Scruggs did help start something that ended up making real change.

For instance: We’ve been following the work of Jared Walker, who went super-viral on TikTok, spreading the word that non-profit hospitals are legally obligated to provide charity care. That obligation didn’t exist when Scruggs launched those lawsuits.

This is the start of a four-part series about how change actually happens. In this case, it’s a wild ride, and it's not done. By the end of this series, we'll meet folks today who are pushing that work forward.

Next stop: The White House. It’s gonna be fun.

Meanwhile, maybe you can help make change happen: Researchers at the Innovation for Justice program at the University of Arizona are looking at hospitals’ debt collection practices, and how laws or regulations could do a better job protecting people. They’re looking to talk to some people who have been sued over medical bills. If that’s you, or someone you know, here’s a link to get in touch: bit.ly/talkmeddebt. It’s a 30-minute interview. They’re not gonna release your name or anything to ANYBODY, it’s all anonymous. (And there might be a gift card in it for you.)

Here's a transcript for this episode.

Big thanks to Kindling Group for allowing us to use audio from their documentary Do No Harm in this episode. You can learn more about their work at kindlinggroup.org.

Send your stories and questions: https://armandalegshow.com/contact/ or call 724 ARM-N-LEG

And of course we'd love for you to support this show.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 up to 'em, and not get stomped. Worth. Your. Best. Shot.

Marshall is a kindred spirit—we talked to him for stories in 2019 and 2020— and the conversation is a whole vibe. He shares some “magic words” that are worth memorizing or writing down somewhere.

Here’s one you can copy and paste, for if you ever end up in the ER. There’ll be a form they want you to sign, that says you’ll pay WHATEVER insurance doesn’t cover. If you can, X that out, and write in this instead:

I consent to appropriate treatment and (including applicable insurance payments) to be responsible for reasonable charges up to two times the Medicare rate.

(Why Medicare? Listen in for the details.)

Here’s a transcript for this episode.

Send your stories and questions: https://armandalegshow.com/contact/ or call 724 ARM-N-LEG

And of course we’d love for you to support this show. https://armandalegshow.com/support/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emergency rooms often bill you a “cover charge” just for walking in the door, and it can be thousands of dollars.

That’s in addition to the huge markup on everything that happens there: seven bucks for a band-aid. Twenty dollars for a couple of pills.

Reporter Sarah Kliff has collected more than a thousand ER bills from her readers at Vox.

She was an expert on health care before starting this project — she covered it for years at the Washington Post before moving to Vox — but even she found plenty of surprises.

Find Us Online

• Website: http://armandalegshow.com
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/armandalegshow
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/armandalegshow
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/armandalegshow

About Us

• Host: Dan Weissman (www.danweissmann.com)
• Editor: Whitney Henry-Lester (thedarlingkiller.com)
• Consulting Producer: Daisy Rosario (@RunDMR)
• Audio Wizardy: Adam Raymonda (adamraymonda.com)
• Music: David Winer (wearefancymountain.com)

Image adapted from a drawing posted to flickr by Wellness Corporate Solutions.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bari Tessler is a little famous as a “financial therapist,” but even she gets rattled by the price of health care.

Her story is complicated. And very relatable.

Bari chose to use a Christian "health share" instead of regular insurance. It's cheaper, but it comes with strings: Things the group doesn’t cover, limits on their obligations to you... and a religious vision that not everybody is comfortable with. Including Bari.

She sees it, for now, as the least terrible of a bunch of terrible options — but she’s conflicted about it.

Also: What my family is doing for health insurance next year.

And: A taste from one of the most painfully-hilarious things to hit the Internet for a long time. Welcome to Our Modern Hospital, Where if You Want to Know a Price, You Can Go F*** Yourself, published by McSweeney’s.

There’s a longer excerpt, and an interview with the author, Alex Baia — that’s on our Patreon. Thanks to Alex for permission to record excerpts, and to ttsreader for dramatizing the text for us!

Find Us Online

• Website: http://armandalegshow.com
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/armandalegshow
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/armandalegshow
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/armandalegshow

Our Team:

• Host: Dan Weissman (www.danweissmann.com)
• Editor: Whitney Henry-Lester (thedarlingkiller.com)
• Consulting Producer: Daisy Rosario (@RunDMR)
• Audio Wizardy: Adam Raymonda (adamraymonda.com)
• Music: David Winer (wearefancymountain.com)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.