An Arm and a Leg

Latest Episodes:

From our reporter's notebook: What we learned in 2020, and what's ahead, with T.K. Dutes Dec 18, 2020

Show notes

This episode turns the tables: Host Dan Weissmann gets interviewed about what he's learned this year, and what's ahead for the show— with T.K. Dutes, an ace radio host and podcast-maker ... who was a nurse in a previous life, so she knows a thing or two about the health-care system. (She chronicled her career transition in an episode of NPR's Life Kit.)

And here we learn: During her nursing career, she was uninsured. She's got some stories about life before-and-after health insurance.

T.K. also coins what could be a new tagline for this show: "Where there's money, there's going to be scams."

Check out Open World, a terrific podcast T.K. published recently with fellow superstar Rose Eveleth. The first episode features a reading by and discussion with the writer N.K. Jemisin, who won a MacArthur "genius" award the day after the show came out. (Clearly, the MacArthur folks were listening.)

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Fight! My family tries to pick health insurance for next year. COVID makes it harder. Dec 11, 2020

Show notes

Keeping the plan we've got means paying $200 a month more. But... would a "cheaper" plan cost us more in the long run? It depends! And COVID makes it a lot more complicated. This stinks.

You can hear my wife and me try to puzzle the whole thing out, and then I debrief with an expert. Who leaves me reminded how lucky we are to have the options we do. HEALTH INSURANCE SUCKS.

But the alternative is so much worse.

If you want to go deeper on health insurance, you might want to check these episodes from our first season:

In Why you (and I) will likely pick the wrong health insurance, we learn: Smart economists have proved it's actually super-hard—even they aren't sure they'll pick correctly— and most of us don't even know the vocabulary, or how to do the math. (It's not our fault, either.)
Why health insurance actually sucks illuminates one big answer: Insurance companies allow a LOT of price-gouging. And often WE end up paying those prices. Argh. It really does suck.
In the first-ever episode of this show, my family confronts the big puzzle: Can we even get insurance that'll work for us?
In A "deal" on health insurance comes with troubling strings, we go on a journey with a kinda-famous "financial therapist" who says she gets rattled when it comes to picking health insurance. And she's pretty uncomfortable—morally, personally—with some of the choices she's made. (Also, my family makes another cameo.)

And here are some other helpful big-picture takes:

Listener Anna Jo Beck made a really great booklet explaining how health insurance works. It's a zine! You can read it online.
I borrowed some core insurance-picking advice—consider what a health plan does for you if you get hit by a bus—from this great story by Zachary Tracer at Business Insider, spelling out how he picked his insurance.

Want to go really deep? Like, you're actually looking at buying health insurance, maybe on the Obamacare exchange?

I found healthcare.gov to be SUPER-usable this year, way better than last time I checked: I punched in the answers to a few questions, and got to quickly tell it which doctors our family sees (and what meds we take)... and it provided a clear list that showed which plans cover our docs, how much they would cost us, etc.
SUBSIDIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR OBAMACARE PLANS. Our pals at the Kaiser Family Foundation—who run Kaiser Health News, our production partners— have this explanation of how they work. (It's a slog, but thorough. Print it out, open a beer, and settle in.)
Remember how we said in this episode that lots of folks qualify for a plan with no premium? That's this bit of research from...

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Andy Slavitt gives us a COVID check-in from 40,000 feet Dec 04, 2020

Show notes

Andy Slavitt, who ran a big chunk of health care for the Obama administration, has spent 2020 talking with almost everybody who knows anything about the COVID pandemic— and sharing what he learns in real time, first on Twitter, then on his pandemic podcast "In the Bubble." When we wanted an episode taking a look at the big picture—what we've learned so far from the pandemic and what we might expect next—Andy was the person we wanted to talk to. And he said yes!

We got into the money side of what we can expect with vaccines and testing, and treatment—which wasn’t always pretty but wasn't all bad news—and we ended up with some really big-picture questions about the profit motive in health care.

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How to avoid a big bill for your COVID test: with Sarah Kliff of the New York Times Nov 23, 2020

Show notes

They're supposed to be free. And usually they are. But sometimes... things happen. Here's how to keep them from happening to YOU.

New York Times reporter Sarah Kliff has been asking readers to send in their COVID-testing bills. She's now seen hundreds of them, and she runs down for us the most common ways things can go sideways, and how to avoid them.

Here's Sarah's NYT story that inspired this episode.

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How to Keep Cool in a Tough Moment: A self-defense expert breaks it down Nov 12, 2020

Show notes

Possibly our most-useful episode ever. A listener asked: How do I remain cool when calling insurance companies?

We called a veteran self-defense teacher— because self-defense means a lot more than hitting and kicking. It's about standing up for yourself in all kinds of difficult situations. Which means using your words.

Lauren Taylor talks us through some of her top strategies, and how she used them this year in her own epic health-insurance fight.

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

Support us: During November and December 2020, your donation counts for DOUBLE, thanks to a campaign called NewsMatch. So cool. You can make a one-time donation OR make an ongoing monthly pledge. Here's the link: https://armandalegshow.com/support/

Support the show: https://armandalegshow.com/support/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David v Goliath: How to beat a big hospital (using small claims court) Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

In a classic—and hilarious—David vs. Goliath story, Jeffrey Fox takes on a huge hospital over an outrageous bill, and wins.

He's a bit of an expert in using small claims court to get satisfaction, and he's got detailed instructions for all of us.

Here's his first lesson: The other side—no matter how big they are, and no matter what they say to you—doesn't actually get to make the rules. Not the LEGAL rules.

The details of how he got to victory in this case are super-entertaining, and super-satisfying.

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AND: During November and December 2020, your donation counts for DOUBLE, thanks to a campaign called NewsMatch. So cool. Just click here to give: https://armandalegshow.com/support/

Want more detail on this whole small-claims-court strategy? Got you covered:

Some folks have used just the threat of small claims court to get outrageous bills lowered. You'll hear all about it in our 2019 episode Can They Freaking DO That?!?: https://armandalegshow.com/episode/can-they-freaking-do-that/
Law professor Christopher Robertson describes some of the legal theory behind this approach in a Harvard Law School blog post: https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2017/10/03/medical-bills-are-open-price-contracts-a-victory-for-the-little-guy/
Jeffrey Fox posted documents from his case, and a brief narrative:http://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Writeup-1.pdf
Finally, here's this episode's transcript: https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Arm-and-a-Leg-Transcript-S4-Ep07-David-v-Goliath-Published-Oct-29-2020.pdf

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

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How to handle debt collectors, with the TikTok Mom and a legal expert Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

There's a reason Shaunna Burns went viral with her videos about dealing with debt collectors: She used to be one, so she knows a few things. (Also she's smart and funny.) We fact-checked her advice with a legal expert: Jenifer Bosco, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. Who said: Yep, most of Shaunna's advice totally checks out.

This one's full of useful tips—and it's fun— so please pass it around. Debt collectors are out in force, and as you'll hear in this episode, they can be super-unscrupulous. But, as you'll also learn: We've got rights.

You don't need to have heard our earlier episode about Shaunna and her story; you can just start right here. (There's lots of strong language in both this and the previous Shaunna episode, so maybe save them for when the kids aren't around.)

Meanwhile, here's a bunch of links to resources:

The National Consumer Law Center, where Jenifer Bosco works, publishes the book Surviving Debt

There are chapters on medical debt, dealing with debt collectors, and what to do if you get sued
The book is updated every year
It's free to read online at https://library.nclc.org/sd

Consumer-finance expert Gerri Detweiler, who helped fact-check one big question for this episode, has a VERY useful-looking site: https://www.debtcollectionanswers.com/

She just published a new article with answers to questions like "Can medical bills be sent to collections if you're making payments?" (yep) and "How do I dispute a medical bill in collections?
There's another, more-general primer on medical debt/collections, also updated recently.
Gerri and co-author Mary Reed offer their e-book Debt Collection Answers as a free download. (It was published in 2015, so it may not be as up-to-date.)

Shaunna's dealing-with-debt-collectors TikTok videos

Be sure to note Jen Bosco's legal caveats, but these are great and will get you in a fighting spirit

Rapid-fire advice: They can't just call whenever they want. There's a statute of limitations on debt. You can— and should — demand documentation.
If they can't document that this debt is valid... you've got options.
You're under no obligation to give them any information.
If the debt is valid, BE NICE. Take their calls. You may eventually be able to work out an OK deal.

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Your TikTok Mom has some medical-bill tips, and a hell of a story Oct 01, 2020

Show notes

Forty-something mom Shaunna Burns went viral on TikTok, thanks in part to a series of videos dishing out real-talk advice on fighting outrageous medical bills. She's become the virtual mom that thousands of Gen-Z followers love. She's funny, smart, and relatable—and she's got stories that'll make your hair stand on end. (Yep, medical bills figure into some of them.) Oh, and she can swear like a f---ing sailor. So maybe save this one for when the kids aren't around.

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A Blast of Hope and Humanity: Here's what perseverance looks like Sep 17, 2020

Show notes

Laura Derrick fought and endured for decades. When medical bills threatened to swamp her family, she made huge sacrifices, worked unbelievably hard... and helped change the course of history. In a moment when we're all enduring a LOT, it seemed like a great time for Laura's story. It's one of the first stories we ever told on this show, and it has special resonance right now. Bonus: We catch up with Laura for an update.

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She tangled with health insurance every day for 25 years. And loved it. Here's what she can teach us. Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

Barbara Faubion got up every day psyched to go to work—which she says puzzled her friends. “They’d go, ‘You love your job?!? You spend your whole day talking to an insurance company. Are you kidding me?’”

She wasn’t kidding. Because she loved to win—and she was really, really good at untangling other people’s health-insurance problems.

She's here to teach us what she knows.

And we'll learn something else too, from a conversation with ProPublica reporter Marshall Allen: Why doesn't EVERY health insurance broker have someone like Barbara on staff? This story he did in 2019 has some big clues.

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(Audio excerpt from “Going Down Now” used with permission. ℗&© 2020 The Rockmores. Published by The Rockmores, Boston, MA www.therockmores.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is a violation of applicable copyright laws.)

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