<description>&lt;p&gt;Several listeners sent us an article with the headline &lt;a href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/23/holden-karau-fight-health-insurance-appeal-claims-denials/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Make your health insurance cry&lt;/a&gt;, about a new AI tool to fight health insurance. We had to learn more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meet Holden Karau: a Bay Area software engineer who says she’s “trying to make health insurance suck a little bit less.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;So she’s created an AI tool to appeal insurance denials.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her project, &lt;a href="http://fighthealthinsurance.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Fight Health Insurance&lt;/a&gt;, is a labor of love (she’s not earning money from it) and fueled by hatred (of insurance companies).&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;It draws on her tech expertise and on her years of experience fighting health insurance: for gender-affirming care, for rehab after getting hit by a car, and even for her dog, Professor Timbit.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;We talked with Holden about what it took to build the tool, how it works, and what she hopes comes next.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/S12-Ep07_Fight-with-Holden.png" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here’s a transcript of this episode&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Send your stories and questions.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Of course we’d love for you to&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;support this show&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. This month, every dollar you give gets matched dollar-for-dollar, by NewsMatch, from the Institute for Nonprofit News.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

“I hate insurance companies,” says tech worker Holden Karau. So she made a bot to battle with them.

Several listeners sent us an article with the headline <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/23/holden-karau-fight-health-insurance-appeal-claims-denials/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Make your health insurance cry</a>, about a new AI tool to fight health insurance. We had to learn more.&nbsp; Meet Holden Karau: a Bay Area software engineer who says she’s “trying to make health insurance suck a little bit less.” So she’s created an AI tool to appeal insurance denials. Her project, <a href="http://fighthealthinsurance.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fight Health Insurance</a>, is a labor of love (she’s not earning money from it) and fueled by hatred (of insurance companies).&nbsp; It draws on her tech expertise and on her years of experience fighting health insurance: for gender-affirming care, for rehab after getting hit by a car, and even for her dog, Professor Timbit.&nbsp; We talked with Holden about what it took to build the tool, how it works, and what she hopes comes next. <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/S12-Ep07_Fight-with-Holden.png" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Here’s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG. Of course we’d love for you to<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> support this show</a>. This month, every dollar you give gets matched dollar-for-dollar, by NewsMatch, from the Institute for Nonprofit News. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Fight health insurance — with help from AI

<description>&lt;p&gt;Something different: We talk with journalist Cara Anthony about topics that don’t always come up in conversations about the cost of health care.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the last four years, she’s been reporting on the public health effects of racism, violence, and intergenerational trauma in a small Missouri town.. The result: A new documentary and podcast series called &lt;a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/silence-in-sikeston/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Silence in Sikeston&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. &lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;She sat down with us to talk about the value of breaking silences and the possibility for healing.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S12-Ep06_Sikeston.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here’s a transcript of this episode&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Send your stories and questions.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Of course we’d love for you to&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;support this show&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Violence, silences, and public health, with journalist Cara Anthony

Something different: We talk with journalist Cara Anthony about topics that don’t always come up in conversations about the cost of health care.&nbsp; For the last four years, she’s been reporting on the public health effects of racism, violence, and intergenerational trauma in a small Missouri town.. The result: A new documentary and podcast series called <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/silence-in-sikeston/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Silence in Sikeston</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp; She sat down with us to talk about the value of breaking silences and the possibility for healing.&nbsp; <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S12-Ep06_Sikeston.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Here’s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG. Of course we’d love for you to<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> support this show</a>. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Can racism make you sick?

<description>&lt;p&gt;We're sharing an episode of “To See Each Other,” about a question that’s SUPER-relevant to this show:&amp;nbsp; How do we pay for long-term care, like nursing homes?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;To See Each Other aims to complicate the narrative about small-town Americans. In this new season, host George Goehl heads to Lincoln County, Wisconsin — population, 28,000-and-some. And home to a publicly-run nursing home with a 5-star quality rating from the feds.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;A conservative county board plans to sell the home to a private operator, but senior citizens aren’t having it. They show up to board meetings, march in the Labor Day parade, and fight with… their last breath.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;George goes deep into questions of aging in America, public versus private versions of long-term care, and the nuts and bolts of organizing. The show aims to put you in a fighting mood, and to think differently about aging.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

We're sharing an episode of “To See Each Other,” about a question that’s SUPER-relevant to this show:&nbsp; How do we pay for long-term care, like nursing homes?&nbsp;&nbsp; To See Each Other aims to complicate the narrative about small-town Americans. In this new season, host George Goehl heads to Lincoln County, Wisconsin — population, 28,000-and-some. And home to a publicly-run nursing home with a 5-star quality rating from the feds.&nbsp;&nbsp; A conservative county board plans to sell the home to a private operator, but senior citizens aren’t having it. They show up to board meetings, march in the Labor Day parade, and fight with… their last breath. George goes deep into questions of aging in America, public versus private versions of long-term care, and the nuts and bolts of organizing. The show aims to put you in a fighting mood, and to think differently about aging. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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

<description>&lt;p&gt;An $88 “observation room” fee for a check-up didn’t sit right with Kari Greene, a listener from Oregon. When the price went up to $99 the next year, Kari complained to her benefits rep; they thought it was weird, too — but couldn’t do anything about it.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;In states like Connecticut and Indiana, legislators are trying to do something about fees like these – often called “facility fees.”&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this episode, we go deep on Kari’s bill, one of dozens that listeners have shared with us over the past few months.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;And we talk with Christine Monahan, a researcher and attorney who knows more about facility fees — and state efforts to limit them — than any other expert in the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S12_Ep04_Facility-Fee-part-2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here’s a transcript of this episode&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Send your stories and questions.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Of course we’d love for you to&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;support this show&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

States are tackling facility fees, but it’s slow going.

An $88 “observation room” fee for a check-up didn’t sit right with Kari Greene, a listener from Oregon. When the price went up to $99 the next year, Kari complained to her benefits rep; they thought it was weird, too — but couldn’t do anything about it.&nbsp; In states like Connecticut and Indiana, legislators are trying to do something about fees like these – often called “facility fees.”&nbsp; In this episode, we go deep on Kari’s bill, one of dozens that listeners have shared with us over the past few months.&nbsp; And we talk with Christine Monahan, a researcher and attorney who knows more about facility fees — and state efforts to limit them — than any other expert in the country. <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S12_Ep04_Facility-Fee-part-2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Here’s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG. Of course we’d love for you to<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> support this show</a>. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

“Baby steps” in the fight against facility fees

<description>&lt;p&gt;What happens when a hospital gets hit by a ransomware attack? We’re sharing an episode from a podcast called &lt;a href="https://therecord.media/podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Click Here&lt;/a&gt; that takes us inside the aftermath of a cyber attack on a rural hospital in Oregon.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;The story starts the minute the hospital’s IT director finds out they’ve been hacked, and follows him and his colleagues as they scramble to keep the place running while they try to get it back online.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;It’s a fascinating adventure, and it gives us a window into the growing problem of cyberattacks in health care – why places like hospitals have become such a major target for cyber-criminals and how the industry is dealing with it.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://therecord.media/podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Click Here&lt;/a&gt; is a bi-weekly tech news podcast from Recorded Future News, hosted by Dina Temple-Raston.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;We’ll be back with more episodes of An Arm and a Leg in a few weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Send your stories and questions.&lt;/a&gt; Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course we’d love for you to &lt;a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;support this show&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

How one rural hospital dealt with a cyberattack.

What happens when a hospital gets hit by a ransomware attack? We’re sharing an episode from a podcast called <a href="https://therecord.media/podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click Here</a> that takes us inside the aftermath of a cyber attack on a rural hospital in Oregon.&nbsp;&nbsp; The story starts the minute the hospital’s IT director finds out they’ve been hacked, and follows him and his colleagues as they scramble to keep the place running while they try to get it back online.&nbsp; It’s a fascinating adventure, and it gives us a window into the growing problem of cyberattacks in health care – why places like hospitals have become such a major target for cyber-criminals and how the industry is dealing with it.&nbsp; <a href="https://therecord.media/podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click Here</a> is a bi-weekly tech news podcast from Recorded Future News, hosted by Dina Temple-Raston.&nbsp; We’ll be back with more episodes of An Arm and a Leg in a few weeks. <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG. Of course we’d love for you to <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">support this show</a>. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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

A show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it. Hosted by award-winning reporter Dan Weissmann (Marketplace, 99 Percent Invisible, Planet Money, Reveal). <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

A show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it. Hosted by award-winning reporter Dan Weissmann (Marketplace, 99 Percent Invisible, Planet Money, Reveal).

An Arm and a Leg

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