On this #GivingTuesday, consider giving to An Arm and a Leg: We’re your one-stop-shop reporting resource for all things cost of health care in America. Plus, anything you donate through the end of the year is DOUBLED. Which is also pretty snazzy. https://armandalegshow.com/support/

“In certain specialties, including psychiatrists, eye doctors, and dermatologists, nearly half of the in-network providers didn’t treat a single enrollee of the Medicaid plan that listed them.” A great @wsj.com story about ghost networks in Medicaid plans. www.msn.com/en-us/health...

A great Sunday read from @veritenews.org and @kffhealthnews.org on a New Orleans nonprofit with a new model for training at-home caregivers:

Calling all Arm and a Leg fans! 🚨 For just TWO MORE DAYS, anything you donate towards our show is TRIPLED. So smash that link button:

Want your money to go further this Black Friday? Donate to An Arm and a Leg — because for a few more days, anything you give is TRIPLED, meaning we can get our reporting in front of more folks navigating America’s health care system in 2026. You can give here, at

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...

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/

@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...”

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-...

“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: 

“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...

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.

@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

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...

In this episode from our archives: A Bay Area software engineer made a new AI tool to fight insurance denials. Listen here:

“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...

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:

"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:

Earlier this year, we put together a package of reporting about what to do when you can’t afford your meds. This week, @danweissmann.bsky.socialwent on @npr.orgLife Kit to break down our biggest takeaways: https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/nx-s1-5592923/how-to-get-lower-prices-on-prescription-drugs.

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/

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:

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:

“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 

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

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...

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...

A wonderful, and of course, hilarious, breakdown of the pitfalls of Medicare Advantage plans.

Three years ago, we reported on plans by the state of California to produce its own insulin and sell it for cheap:

Some positive news for 75,000 New Yorkers heading into the weekend...

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.

@cbsnews.com.web.brid.gy reports on a new Office of Inspector General report about mental health ghost networks in Medicare Advantage and privately-run Medicaid plans. www.cbsnews.com/news/private...

For 2026, under the Medicare Part D standard benefit, enrollees face a deductible of $615, and then will pay 25% of their drug costs in the initial coverage phase until their out-of-pocket spending reaches $2,100, an annual cap that took effect this year. https://on.kff.org/4ovDIFb

From battling bill collectors to navigating the health insurance marketplace, the “First Aid Kit” newsletter summarizes our best tips for financially surviving health care in America.  Subscribe for weekly practical guides, straight to your inbox.   

One of the most encouraging things we’ve seen all year: One listener’s project to make a resource for dealing with health care expenses — and how our audience has jumped in to help. armandalegshow.com/episode/we-l...

“More than 2.5 million North Carolina residents are getting over $6.5 billion in medical debt eliminated…” Love to see it! apnews.com/article/nort...

Have questions about TrumpRX, or all the talk about "most favored nation" policies? "Today Explained" by@vox.com has a great rundown:

A non-paywalled link to a @wsj.com street story about new powers in California to prevent corporate investors, like private equity, from getting involved in health care decisions: www.msn.com/en-us/money/...

An uplifting @kffhealthnews.org story for all you Barbara Kingsolver fans out there:

A 91-year-old learns to check health portals; a 7-year-old finally can do homework. They were among rural residents helped by a digital navigator, until President Trump abruptly canceled the Digital Equity Act’s dollars. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

According to this @propublica.org investigation, psychiatric hospitals are denying care to patients they are legally required to treat. And 80% are owned by for-profit corporations. 

@armandalegshow.bsky.social's recent episode highlighted a useful handout put together by Thomas Sanford that helps US patients get help with their medical bills.

“When you say, ‘We’re just cutting provider rates,’ you’re actually cutting access for him for all his needs." -- one mom, who is a medical caregiver for her son.

A heartbreaking, but important, story from @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Sign up for our best advice on financially surviving America’s health care hellscape — in your inbox every Thursday.

It’s day 3 of the government shutdown, and expiring Marketplace subsidies are at the center of the battle. In our last episode, we follow one person trying to budget for the subsidies expiring: Our senior producer, @emilypisacreta.bsky.social armandalegshow.com/episode/insu...

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:

reupping my explanation of how the shutdown impacts health programs with the aid of my corgis... www.youtube.com/shorts/N4VvV...

Important to note: "Most other Medicare and Medicaid services will continue as normal during the shutdown, and providers' insurance claims will still be paid out." But for now, some seniors have lost access to telehealth and at-home hospital-level care. www.axios.com/2025/10/01/t...

It's officially spooky season -- and if you find robots scary, the news is keeping pace.

The story of one patient who had to drop her healthcare.gov plan once she no longer qualified for a subsidy, and got stuck with a gigantic bill after a fall about two months later: "https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/broken-arm-uninsured-surprise-bill-of-the-month-september