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armandalegshow.bsky.social
An Arm and a Leg
@armandalegshow.bsky.social
A podcast about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it, in partnership with ‪@kffhealthnews.org‬ and ‪@kuow.org‬

Hosted by @danweissmann.bsky.social‬

Our newsletter: https://armandalegshow.com/first-aid-kit/
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Introducing... “Starter Packs!” – mini compilations of podcast episodes and newsletters on our most frequently covered topics.

Think of them as a beginner’s reference guide for dealing with our broken health care system. Check ‘em out and share ‘em:
Starter Packs Archive • An Arm And a Leg
Our best answers to some big questions, and collections of favorite podcast episodes.
armandalegshow.com
Reposted by An Arm and a Leg
Ambulance companies often negotiate with patients over large bills. “But you shouldn’t have to work so hard for it,” says an Ohio mom who was billed $9,250 for her toddler’s transport between hospitals.

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Not Serious Enough To Turn on the Siren, Toddler’s 39-Mile Ambulance Ride Still Cost Over $9,000 - KFF Health News
After her son contracted a serious bacterial infection, an Ohio mother took the toddler to a nearby ER, and staffers there sent him to a children’s hospital in an ambulance. With no insurance, the fam...
kffhealthnews.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Right now it’s NewsMatch, which means anything you donate to our show ‘till the end of the month gets TRIPLED. And we’ve been SO moved by folks who have already chipped in. Here are some of their notes.

If you also find our work useful and inspiring, donate here: https://armandalegshow.com/support/
November 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
@kffhealthnews.org “...The agency overseeing Medicare Advantage does little to enforce long-standing rules intended to ensure about 35 million plan members can see doctors...”
Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare. - KFF Health News
Health systems drop out of Medicare Advantage plans all the time. Yet government documents obtained by KFF Health News show that federal regulators rarely warn plans that their networks of health providers are so skimpy they violate legal requirements.
kffhealthnews.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This week, our team shops for insurance in possibly the worst open enrollment year ever. Listen in for what we learned along the way, including what they found in the fine print: armandalegshow.com/episode/how-...
November 20, 2025 at 5:56 PM
“ICE should be stationed outside of the room or outside of earshot during any communication between the patient and their doctor or medical provider,” according to one legal expert: 
Once a Patient’s in Custody, ICE Can Be at Hospital Bedsides — But Detainees Have Rights - KFF Health News
Federal law allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to guard detainees at health care facilities, but patients can ask to speak privately with medical providers and lawyers.
kffhealthnews.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:04 PM
“Kovitch’s tiny tick bite exposes how prior authorization policies can apply to treatments that are considered inexpensive and medically necessary.” @kffhealthnews.org

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Ticked Off Over Preauthorization: Walk-In Patient Avoided Lyme Disease but Not a Surprise Bill - KFF Health News
A Maine woman sought care at a clinic for a tick bite, then paid full price after her insurer denied coverage. Its reason? She didn't have preapproval for the walk-in visit, even though testing later ...
kffhealthnews.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Our “First Aid Kit” this week is all about why you should review your plan’s drug coverage this (and every) open enrollment season – and how.
Review your drug plan now, and potentially save thousands • An Arm And a Leg
Hey there, Back when we reported our Prescription Drug Playbook series about how to avoid sticker shock at the pharmacy counter, one piece of advice came
armandalegshow.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:00 PM
@danweissmann.bsky.social was on the Financial Feminist podcast sharing some of our best strategies to avoid getting ripped off by our health care system. Listen here: https://play.megaphone.fm/5gu_laxbqrcq_sq_uce-tg
November 12, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by An Arm and a Leg
LISTEN: Good news for health care access this year includes new state laws to rein in prior authorization and medical debt collectors. @danweissmann.bsky.social @armandalegshow.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...
A Few Good Things From 2025 (Really) - KFF Health News
Good news for health care access this year includes new state laws to rein in prior authorization and medical debt collectors.
kffhealthnews.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:15 PM
In this episode from our archives: A Bay Area software engineer made a new AI tool to fight insurance denials. Listen here:
Fight health insurance — with help from AI • An Arm And a Leg
A new tool helps fight back against health insurance denials, by writing appeal letters, using artificial intelligence.
armandalegshow.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by An Arm and a Leg
“It’s not competition. It’s more like collusion. They don’t care about price.” More health systems, doctor groups, and insurers are merging into giants. The Trump administration may not be willing or able to intervene. ⤵️
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
As Health Companies Get Bigger, So Do the Bills. It’s Unclear if Trump’s Team Will Intervene. - KFF Health News
As health systems, doctor groups, and insurers merge into ever-bigger giants, patient care gets more expensive. Yet the Trump administration has sent mixed signals about its willingness to intervene —...
kffhealthnews.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
We’re raising money for 2026, and through the end of this month, your donation is matched two-for-freaking-one. Give us $100, we get $300. Pretty sick deal right? If you wanna pitch in, head here:
Support • An Arm And a Leg
An Arm and a Leg is a scrappy, independent production. Your contributions go a long way to helping us make the show.
armandalegshow.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
"Some people may find another clinic, but a large share simply won't, and we'll see that reflected in higher rates of unintended pregnancy, untreated infections, and later-stage disease.”

A sobering @cbsnews.com read:
The quiet collapse of America's reproductive health safety net
"People don't realize how much these clinics hold together the local health system until they're gone," said the head of Maine Family Planning clinics.
www.cbsnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Big news: This month, every dollar you donate to an Arm and a Leg gets TRIPLED. That’s thanks to a journalism fundraising program called NewsMatch. Donate $50, and boom – it becomes $150. Love what we do and want your gift to count extra? Head to https://armandalegshow.com/support/
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
This might shock you, but not all health care news was totally sucky in 2025. Like new state regulations for insurers and debt collectors. Our first episode in a series about this year’s little wins:
Some things that didn’t suck in 2025 (really) • An Arm And a Leg
In states like Nebraska and Virginia, new laws could help a ton of people. In states like Nebraska and Virginia, new laws could help a ton of people.
armandalegshow.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Signing up for Medicare means navigating a minefield of misleading ads, confusing deadlines, and an alphabet soup of parts and supplements. In our First Aid Kit newsletter, we get into those ABCs:
Medicare: Big pitfalls to avoid, part deux • An Arm And a Leg
Hey there — Ermahgerd, Medicare is confusing. Or as John Oliver said in a recent Last Week Tonight segment on Medicare Advantage, “On a scale of one to
armandalegshow.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:03 PM
“Sixty-three thousand dollars for a broken ankle and a cut to the knee, with no head injury or internal damage... just to stay there overnight.”

@kffhealthnews.org 
Doctor Tripped Up by $64K Bill for Ankle Surgery and Hospital Stay - KFF Health News
A doctor in Colorado became the patient after an accident totaled her car and sent her to the operating room. The hospital kept her overnight, but her insurer stopped paying after she left the emergency room.
kffhealthnews.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by An Arm and a Leg
We have answers to almost 200 ACA Marketplace FAQs, including questions about applying for marketplace plans, the enhanced premium tax credits, special enrollment periods, and more.

Explore them here: https://on.kff.org/4fzAviF
FAQs: Health Insurance Marketplace and the ACA Archives | KFF
Some consumers with little or no credit history, such as young adults or recent immigrants, may have difficulty setting up accounts on HealthCare.gov. That is because the federal Marketplace uses real-time identity proofing techniques to protect consume...
on.kff.org
October 31, 2025 at 8:03 PM
An important @kffhealthnews.org update — Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a guidance asserting that federal law bars states from restricting medical debts from credit reports. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Trump Team Takes Aim at State Laws Shielding Consumers' Credit Scores From Medical Debt - KFF Health News
Reversing guidance from the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concludes that states cannot bar medical debt from their residents’ credit reports.
kffhealthnews.org
November 3, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Waiting it out, seeing if you qualify for an exception, and getting familiar with what “out-of-pocket” means … these are some of the options you have when your insurer and hospital are in a contract dispute.

More in this @kffhealthnews.org story here: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
So Your Insurance Dropped Your Doctor. Now What? - KFF Health News
Patients sometimes find themselves scrambling for affordable care when a contract dispute causes a hospital — and most of the doctors and other clinicians who work there — to be dropped from an insura...
kffhealthnews.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:57 PM
A wonderful, and of course, hilarious, breakdown of the pitfalls of Medicare Advantage plans.
This week’s main story details what Medicare Advantage is, why it basically has all the pitfalls of private insurance, and what a Mountain Chicken is. And if you don’t already know what a Mountain Chicken is, go ahead and visualize a “Mountain Chicken” in your head now. Great. It’s not that.
October 28, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Three years ago, we reported on plans by the state of California to produce its own insulin and sell it for cheap:
California plans to make its own insulin and sell it super-cheap. Really. • An Arm And a Leg
California has put up $100 million to produce its own insulin. How's it going to work? (IS it going to work?)
armandalegshow.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Some positive news for 75,000 New Yorkers heading into the weekend...
NYC cancels $135M in medical debt for 75,000 New Yorkers: ‘Peace of mind’
The city invested $18 million to provide one-time relief from medical debt for 500,000 working-class New Yorkers, resulting in over $2 billion in debt relief.
www.msn.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:02 PM
In part one in our “First Aid Kit” series all about Medicare, we break down the difference between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage —- and why you don’t want to get it wrong when you sign up.
Medicare: Big pitfalls to avoid, part 1 • An Arm And a Leg
Hey there — Our first podcast episode about Medicare — covering things to know before signing up — had a subtitle: “This one kind of blew our minds.”
armandalegshow.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:31 PM