We spend 12 million hours a week on the phone with health insurance

Why are drug prices so random? Meet Mr. PBM: I filled a prescription recently, and the drugstore said they wanted more than 700 bucks… for an old-line generic drug. My insurance ended up knocking that down, but it was WEIRD. And it meant a big homework assignment for me. Luckily, I got help. by An Arm and a Leg

18 min listen

Can they freaking DO that?!?: A woman got a bill from a medical testing lab she’s never heard of, for $35. Then, a follow-up bill said if she didn’t pay up right away, that price was going up — WAY up: to $1,287.Which raises a question that comes up a LOT with medical billing: C... by An Arm and a Leg

28 min listen

Why are ER bills so horrible? Sarah Kliff spent a year finding out. (Season One, episode 7): 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. by An Arm and a Leg

19 min listen

This is Water, and it sucks. Let’s talk. (Season One, episode 1): When I first started talking about doing a show about the cost of health care… everybody had a story. Including me. It’s like that famous speech by the writer David Foster Wallace called This is Water. It starts with a joke about two young fish swimmin... by An Arm and a Leg

20 min listen

So, Robin Hood’s got an approach to medical bills. (Season One, episode 5): The health-care system — especially the financial side — can feel like a Medieval torture device. So maybe it fits that workers from Renaissance fairs have come up with a work-around. In this episode I meet Robin Hood and a woman who has made more than... by An Arm and a Leg

16 min listen

How one drug got its $500,000 price tag. (With 99 Percent Invisible– Season One, episode 3): The answer involves a suburban housewife, a 1970s TV star, and a Las Vegas maker of popcorn and nacho cheese sauce. Also: Wall Street. Produced with our friends at 99 Percent Invisible. Many thanks to Abbey Meyers, Joshua Schein, and Nora Guthrie. by An Arm and a Leg

25 min listen

We thought we had adulted properly: Caitlin and Corey Gaffer got a surprise letter from their insurance company — saying they were being dumped for non-payment. Except, as far as they knew, they were paid up. As it turned out, they’d made a couple of small mistakes, by An Arm and a Leg

24 min listen

We’re back! Here’s a taste of Season 2, launching June 4.: Hey there! We’ve been working hard on season 2. We hope you enjoy this preview — there’s so much good (and frightening) stuff ahead. by An Arm and a Leg

2 min listen

To get paid, hospitals get creative: Hospital bills are too high, and insurance doesn’t cover enough. Turns out, that’s a crisis for hospitals too: more and more of us aren’t paying those bills, because we can’t. So, they’re getting creative about collecting — and offering discounts. by An Arm and a Leg

16 min listen

Why you (and I) will likely pick the wrong health-insurance plan (Season One, episode 4) by An Arm and a Leg

19 min listen

The surprising history behind insulin’s absurd price (and some hopeful signs in the wild): The price of insulin is iconic in its horribleness— doubling, tripling, multiplying like crazy. To understand it, we went back almost 100 years and dug up a story of sweaty Canadian researchers — swatting away flies and consorting with dog-nappers... by An Arm and a Leg

27 min listen

The hug shortage, the new abnormal, and the $7,000 COVID test. What we've learned in SEASON-19: We wrap up our COVID-19 popup season with stories from three folks with very different takes on what we've learned so far about what the pandemic is costing us. by An Arm and a Leg

22 min listen

Whoa, this medical device is spying on me. In my sleep. So my insurer can deny me coverage.: That’s the rude awakening Eric Umansky got when he called the company that provided his CPAP machine — a device that helps him breathe at night. He got mad. And he got even, in a way: Eric is an editor at the non-profit newsroom ProPublica, by An Arm and a Leg

17 min listen

Mom vs. Texas: Stephanie Wittels Wachs has a daughter born with hearing loss, which is how she found out insurance didn't cover hearing aids for kids. Those start at $6,000 and only last a few years. Stephanie teamed up with a few other moms to change Texas law..... by An Arm and a Leg

29 min listen

Why can't they tell you the price upfront?: When Sarah's son got a nasty cut, she did just about everything she could to avoid paying a fat bill to get the boy's knee stitched up — and failed. Which raises a big question: Why is it so hard to get a PRICE? We got some answers. by An Arm and a Leg

26 min listen

A “deal” on health insurance comes with troubling strings: Bari Tessler is a little famous as a “financial therapist,” but even she gets rattled by the price of health care. Also: What my family is doing for health insurance next year. by An Arm and a Leg

22 min listen

All the Marbles: One woman’s epic quest for health insurance (Season One, episode 2): Laura Derrick takes a drug that costs more than $500,000 a year. So when her family was going to lose their insurance, she made crazy sacrifices… and changed the course of history. Find Us Online Website: http://armandalegshow. by An Arm and a Leg

19 min listen

Coming next week: The price of insulin: As we started working on season two of this podcast, there was one topic that seemed like we just had to look at: insulin. … and I wondered: There are stories about insulin prices everywhere. Would we really have something to add? by An Arm and a Leg

2 min listen

A podcast about the cost of health care, coming November 2018: 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. by An Arm and a Leg

4 min listen

This hospital sued thousands of patients — until a reporter called them out.: They say the problem with relying on journalists to embarrass providers into caving on crazy bills is, there aren’t enough journalists to go around. Fair. But sometimes journalists can scale up.In Memphis, reporter Wendi Thomas found that t... by An Arm and a Leg

23 min listen

A place where they do health care more cheaply and effectively. (And yes, it’s in the U.S.): For our Season 2 finale, time for some inspiration. For 30 years, James Gingerich has run a super-effective clinic in Indiana, delivering great results at low cost — to high-need, low-income patients. He’s not a modest guy, by An Arm and a Leg

23 min listen

An actor walks into a doctor’s office…: Researcher Saul Weiner has been sending fake patients — actors, wired for sound — into real doctors’ offices, to learn about what actually happens, especially: How well doctors really listen to their patients. by An Arm and a Leg

18 min listen

How much for an MRI? Well, that depends…: This week, we look at three MRIs with four different price tags, and an enormous range. The first two price tags come from listener Liz Salmi, who has been living with brain cancer for more than a decade. Liz gets MRI scans twice a year, by An Arm and a Leg

22 min listen

Why Health Insurance Actually Sucks (Season One, episode 6): Turns out, insurance companies allow — even encourage — crazy price-gouging by hospitals. For example, the leg brace Blake needed was available for $150 on Amazon. But thanks to his insurance, he paid more than $500. by An Arm and a Leg

17 min listen

Watch Your Back: Outwitting the Back-Pain Industry: Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, an investigative reporter with a bad back, spent years researching the $100-billion back-pain industry. She found that the most commonly-prescribed treatments, including surgery, frequently do not work — and often leave people a... by An Arm and a Leg

29 min listen

My Neighbor the Health-Care Ninja: Meredith Balogh has spent years learning to navigate the financial side of the health-care system. She’s a type-one diabetic, she’s never had a lot of money, and for years she didn’t have health insurance.It hasn’t been easy, but she’s become a mast... by An Arm and a Leg

30 min listen

We spend 12 million hours a week on the phone with health insurance: Body: Yup. A Stanford professor measured it. So… we should probably learn how they actually make money, understand their incentives. by An Arm and a Leg

20 min listen

If I get COVID-19, what good will my insurance do me?: Lots of people have insurance plans that only cover them with certain places —providers, certain hospitals.But: in a COVID pandemic surge, who knows if you'd end up one of those places? And if you end up someplace else... then what? by An Arm and a Leg

32 min listen

A 21st-century Christmas Carol: How one Scrooge became a health-care whistleblower: Former health-care executive Wendell Potter spent part of 2020 publishing high-profile apologies for the lies he says he told the American people in his old job—and trying to debunk the myths he once sold. His story is a modern Christmas Carol. by An Arm and a Leg

22 min listen

Health Care: The Musical: It would sound a LOT like Explanation of Benefits, which is a musical revue that actually played in New York City in 2019.... so it would feature a parody of "Bills, Bills, Bills" — the 1999 Destiny's Child hit —rewritten for... by An Arm and a Leg

22 min listen

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We spend 12 million hours a week on the phone with health insurance

We spend 12 million hours a week on the phone with health insurance

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