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All Episodes

An Arm and a Leg — 163 episodes

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Title
1

Why drugs cost so much, 101: Medicine monopolies
2

‘Not workable’: How two Americans picked a plan this year — or didn’t
3

The EpiPen and Food Allergies (from Drug Story)
4

NYT’s Ron Lieber: ‘These people are not going to win.'
5

'Sh**’s wild': Scaling up, doubling down, and buckling in
6

Our favorite project of 2025 levels up – and you can help
7

Some more things that didn’t suck in 2025

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8

How to pick health insurance — in the worst year ever

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9

Some things that didn’t suck in 2025 (really)

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10

This health economist wants your medical bills

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11

We love this listener’s project — and your response

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12

Will we be able to afford insurance in 2026?

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13

The Insurance Warrior battles a $61 billion company (from 2021)

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14

A wild health insurance hustle

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15

The great American drug shortage isn't an accident, it's artificial (from Organized Money)

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16

The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part Two

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17

Trailer: The Prescription Drug Playbook

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18

The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part One

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19

Could this mathematician’s formula fix US hospitals?

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20

A longtime expert puts 2025-so-far in perspective

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21

Why ‘The Pitt’ is our fave new drama

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22

Winning a two-year fight over a bogus bill

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23

A medical-debt watchdog gets sidelined by the new administration

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24

Big news: Our ‘First Aid Kit’ newsletter is now weekly

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25

How do you deal with wild drug prices?

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26

The ‘Shkreli Awards’ — for dysfunction and profiteering in health care

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27

This is An Arm and a Leg

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28

A listener fighting the good fight

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29

Revisiting ‘Christmas In July’

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30

New lessons from the fight for charity care

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31

Fight health insurance — with help from AI

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32

Can racism make you sick?

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33

Special Feature: A Beloved Nursing Home, from “To See Each Other”

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34

“Baby steps” in the fight against facility fees

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35

Anatomy of a Fall: One rural hospital’s ransomware story (from Click Here)

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36

Don’t get “bullied” into paying what you don’t owe

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37

We want to see your hospital bills

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38

The woman who beat an $8,000 hospital fee

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39

Coming soon: your stories on facility fees

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40

Meet the Middleman’s Middleman

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41

Staying on Medicaid seems tougher than it should be

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42

We’re digging into “facility fees.” We need your help.

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43

The Hack

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44

Son of Medicare: Attack of the Machines

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45

The Medicare Episode

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46

Wait, is insulin cheaper now?

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47

Self defense 101: Keeping your cool while you fight

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48

One last tip before 2024

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49

When hospitals sue patients (part 2)

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50

When hospitals sue patients (part 1)

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51

To get health insurance, this couple made a movie

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52

“Your Money or Your Life”: Dr. Luke Messac’s book on the history of medical debt

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53

Paging Dr. Glaucomflecken: Presenting “The Nocturnists - Conversations: Will & Kristin Flanary (The Glaucomfleckens)”

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54

John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 2)

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55

John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 1)

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56

Something's coming, something good.

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57

How to Get a Surprise Bill on Your Way to the Hospital

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58

Wait, what’s a PBM (and how do they work)?

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59

Credit Card, Please

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60

A ‘payday loan’ from a health care behemoth

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61

Mental health ‘ghost networks’ — and a ghost-buster

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62

A $229,000 medical bill goes to court

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63

A doctor’s love letter to ‘the People’s Hospital’

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64

Lessons from “wrestling with a giant”

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65

The bill looked like BS. So she took it to small claims court.

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66

Can They Freaking Do That?!? (2023 Edition)

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67

2022 in Review

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68

Like pulling teeth.

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69

The best video about health insurance, ever

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70

Health insurance post-Roe, and a grassroots network of abortion funds

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71

A listener asks: Could NOT having insurance be a better deal?

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72

Quick update from Arm and a Leg HQ

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73

California plans to make its own insulin and sell it super-cheap. Really.

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74

Congress fixed (a piece of) Medicare. It only took a few decades.

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75

The Medical-bill "Negotiation Lab"

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76

The Genetic Testing ‘Bait-and-Switch’

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77

One ER Doc’s Journey Through the Pandemic — and the Health Care System

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78

These docs are trying to kick private equity out of their ER

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79

Credit Where It’s Due

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80

“The Golden Age of Older Rectums” (for investors)

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81

Sick Note, pt. 2: Dang

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82

Sick Note: Dan has COVID. (He's fine, but ...)

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83

Fighting for the Right to Help

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84

Swimming with sharks

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85

Introducing: Half Vaxxed

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86

Introducing: Last Day

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87

Meet your new rights under the No Surprises Act

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88

2022 update: How to avoid a big bill for your COVID test (feat. Sarah Kliff)

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89

Our Year in Review, with members of the Arm and a Leg team

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90

Why rapid COVID tests are so freaking expensive

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91

Fighting with health insurance is easy (for Jacqueline Fox)

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92

How to avoid the crappiest health insurance.

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93

The Insurance Warrior takes on a $61B Company

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94

Meet the Insurance Warrior

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95

We spend 12 million hours a week on the phone with health insurance

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96

Wait, that was legal until now?!?

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97

"We just kept right on pushing"

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98

The wild backstory of a tiny but crucial Obamacare provision (ft. David Axelrod)

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99

A legendary lawyer sued hospitals for price-gouging their patients. And got his butt handed to him.

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100

We’re back! Starting Aug 19. And we’ve got some doozies for you.

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101

Badass volunteers help Jared level up, in the fight to crush medical debt

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102

A whole book about fighting effed-up medical bills? Yes, please.

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103

Want to write a killer letter to insurance? Meet Jeannine.

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104

Mini-episode: One guy skirts a medical-bill trap, and shares the secret.

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105

Why picking the right insurance is so hard (bonus/encore)

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106

Programming note: We're working on some cool new stuff.

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107

Who's been trying to cash in on COVID vaccinations? (And how did racism help them out?)

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108

Revisiting insulin, as relevant (and expensive) as ever

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109

A legal strategy for erasing billions in medical debt— that works—from a 60-second video.

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110

A former "bad guy" lawyer shows us how the dark machinery works. And our rights.

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111

Mini-episode: Two small doses of good news

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112

A 21st-century Christmas Carol: How one Scrooge became a health-care whistleblower

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113

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

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114

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

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115

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

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116

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

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117

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

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118

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

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119

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

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120

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

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121

A Blast of Hope and Humanity: Here's what perseverance looks like

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122

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

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123

How to fight like a bulldog (against bogus medical bills)

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124

Financial self-defense school, now in session: Make your own luck.

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125

We’re back! Dealing with the cost of health care seems pretty relevant right now.

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126

The hug shortage, the new abnormal, and the $7,000 COVID test. What we've learned in SEASON-19

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127

How Katelyn survived COVID—without going bankrupt. (Not easy. She has tips.)

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128

From inside the health insurance company: Angst, and advice we can use.

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129

The severe, weird recession... in health care. And what it means for our wallets

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130

COVID tests are free, except... when they're not

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131

Like a fire with no one to call: 'We've left no latent capacity in health care.'

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132

If I get COVID-19, what good will my insurance do me?

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133

Makers unite: Speeding PPE to a COVID hospital

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134

Whoa. Welcome to SEASON-19

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135

Reporter's Notebook: What we've learned so far, and what's ahead.

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136

Watch Your Back: Outwitting the Back-Pain Industry

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137

Christmas in July

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138

This hospital sued thousands of patients — until a reporter called them out.

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139

Can they freaking DO that?!?

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140

Why can't they tell you the price upfront?

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141

Health Care: The Musical

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142

My Neighbor the Health-Care Ninja

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143

Mom vs. Texas

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144

Hey there! Season 3 is coming November 14. Here’s a preview.

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145

A place where they do health care more cheaply and effectively. (And yes, it’s in the U.S.)

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146

An actor walks into a doctor’s office…

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147

Whoa, this medical device is spying on me. In my sleep. So my insurer can deny me coverage.

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148

The surprising history behind insulin’s absurd price (and some hopeful signs in the wild)

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149

Coming next week: The price of insulin

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150

Why are drug prices so random? Meet Mr. PBM

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151

How much for an MRI? Well, that depends…

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152

To get paid, hospitals get creative

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153

We thought we had adulted properly

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154

We’re back! Here’s a taste of Season 2, launching June 4.

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155

A “deal” on health insurance comes with troubling strings

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156

Why are ER bills so horrible? Sarah Kliff spent a year finding out. (Season One, episode 7)

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157

Why Health Insurance Actually Sucks (Season One, episode 6)

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158

So, Robin Hood’s got an approach to medical bills. (Season One, episode 5)

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159

Why you (and I) will likely pick the wrong health-insurance plan (Season One, episode 4)

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160

How one drug got its $500,000 price tag. (With 99 Percent Invisible– Season One, episode 3)

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161

All the Marbles: One woman’s epic quest for health insurance (Season One, episode 2)

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162

This is Water, and it sucks. Let’s talk. (Season One, episode 1)

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163

A podcast about the cost of health care, coming November 2018

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