An Arm and a Leg

When a subsidiary of the giant UnitedHealth Group got hit by a cyberattack recently, a big chunk of the country’s doctors, pharmacists, hospitals and therapists just stopped getting paid. It’s been a huge disruption, with some providers wondering if they can keep their doors open.But thanks to their...

Reporter Bob Herman from STAT News unpacks his blockbuster investigation about the country’s biggest health care company.   Covering the American health care system means we tell some scary stories. But this episode is almost like a horror movie. It’s got some of Hollywood’s favorite tropes: Machine...

Health insurance sucks. Which leaves lots of us counting down the days until we turn 65 and can get on Medicare – the federal government’s health insurance program for seniors. But Medicare is a lot more complicated – and costs more money – than a lot of us realize. (Also, it involves insurance comp...

A listener wrote to us at the beginning of the year with a query, “I was just reading the news about the price of insulin going down to $35! Is that for everyone?”It turns out, there is a lot of good news about the so-called “poster child” for the high cost of prescription drugs. But to say it costs...

Dealing with the American health care system as a patient means lots of tough moments – unexpected bills, meds not covered, insurance and hospitals making you go back and forth without a clear answer, endless hold times and phone trees… the list goes on. So listeners ask us all the time: How do I st...

Real quick: Now's the best time to support this show! Thanks to a few super-star Arm and a Leg listener/donors, your donation is matched two for one right now. Here's the link to donate.Ok, now: We’ve got a mini-episode for you today, a four-minute coda to the epic story we brought you in December....

Hey! The BEST time to support this show with a donation just got even better. Right now, any gift you make, up to $1,000, will be matched TWO for ONE, thanks to a few super-generous Arm and a Leg fans who’ve pooled their dough. . It’s a great deal, and it will set us up to kick maximum butt in 2024....

Hey, it’s the BEST time to support this show with a donation. Thanks to NewsMatch, any gift you make, up to $1,000, will be doubled. It’s a great deal, and it will set us up to kick maximum butt in 2024. Here’s the link, go for it!We’ve been working on this investigation all year, with our partners ...

Last fall, actor-writers Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023. To qualify for insurance through the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, Ellen would have to book a little more work — doable, but not a sure bet. So they came up with a plan: crowdfund a bunc...

In 2019, Dr. Luke Messac was a medical resident who found himself spending his day off in a courthouse archive. He’d heard about hospitals suing their own patients over unpaid medical bills. He wanted to know if the hospitals he worked in were doing the same. They were. Trained as a historian, Messa...