What you need to know about Obamacare rate increases, cuts to the federally-funded navigator program, and what Congress could do to avert the premium price hikes all in last week’s “First Aid Kit” newsletter:

Our senior producer prepares to sign up for Obamacare in 2026 — a year millions are being hit with what @kffhealthnews.org calls a “double whammy” of rate increases and the expiration of federal subsidies. armandalegshow.com/episode/insu...

Loacker Quadratinis slowly taking over every aisle of my local grocery store

This undersells what insurance exchange policyholders will feel if Congress doesn't act. The 18 percent increase is on the raw cost of insurance. But many will also lose enhanced subsidies that expire at the end of December. Those people will feel an average increase of *more than 75%.*

You need a little hope in your day? Right here. The "one man" in the headline is @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social — who will be the first to tell you he didn't fight alone. Give a listen. (Disclosure: I co-reported this w/ @emilypisacreta.bsky.social.) www.organizedmoney.fm/p/how-one-ma...

We're all wary of em dashes now but we need to talk about ChatGPT laying waste to the rule of three

When a couple needed to buy health insurance, they found an affordable plan through a telemarketer. Soon, they realized they'd been hustled. They weren't the only ones.

One in four Americans say they've skipped taking meds in the past 12 months because of cost. We'd like to put a dent in that. With help from listeners and experts, we've been putting together the best collection of hacks, patches and workarounds we can. Now we're sharing it. armandalegshow.com

Soda bread a very difficult insulin calculation

We're collecting stories for An Arm and a Leg about your bespoke strategies for getting the medicine you need in a society that makes it really hard. Gimme your worst here and check out Dan's post for a list of some tried and (often) true existing options: armandalegshow.com/drugs/

Seeing lots of confusion about this in the diabetes-verse. The $35 copay cap on insulin for people with Medicare is still in effect (fwiw and all).

Been hard at work on this for months. The Maine Public team has been incredible to work with. current.org/2024/12/main...