Author's posts
‘An Arm and a Leg’: The Insurance Warrior’s Battle Plan
Health care — and how much it costs — is scary. But knowledge is power. Take a master class in winning insurance appeals. In the case of Matthew Lientz, taking on his insurance also meant going up against his employer.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Need Surgery to Save Your Life? Tips for Getting Insurance to Pay
Laurie Todd calls herself the “Insurance Warrior” and is sharing her strategies for getting health insurance companies to bend to her will.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Hello? We Spend 12 Million Hours a Week on the Phone With Insurers
In this episode, we get our bearings on self-funded insurance plans, and how they affect the average — sometimes burned-out — American worker trying to get answers about insurance.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How One State Protects Patients From Hospital Lawsuits
In Maryland, it’s now illegal for a hospital to sue a patient who qualifies for charity care. But in many other states, that’s still a thing.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: They Turned Grief Into Action
This episode highlights how New York enacted a charity care law, one of the precursors to the federal provision on charity care in the Affordable Care Act.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How Charity Care Made It Into the ACA
In this episode, we hear how the political tango over guaranteeing that nonprofit hospitals provide charity care nearly tanked the Affordable Care Act — and how the battle over the ACA “broke America.”
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Meet the Mississippi Lawyer Who Helped Start the Fight for Charity Care
The man famous for taking on Big Tobacco in the ’90s, and winning, launched a series of ill-fated national lawsuits against nonprofit hospitals. This episode is the first in a series looking at the origins of charity care.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Tips for Fighting Medical Bills from ProPublica’s Marshall Allen
Veteran health journalist Marshall Allen has been exposing health care grifters for years. Now he’s written a book about how to fight them. Host Dan Weissmann spoke with Allen about some of the best tips from “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.”
‘An Arm and a Leg’: When Your Insurance Company Says No, How to Ask for a Yes
Health care insiders get surprise medical bills, too. One of them shares tips for writing an insurance appeal.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: In Vaccinating Philadelphia, A Mix of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Covid vaccinations are ramping up, so “An Arm and a Leg” checked in on the effort in Philadelphia, where capitalism and compassion have clashed.
