An Arm and a Leg
An Arm and a Leg
Recent Episodes
Hey, first! If you value what we do, this is the best-ever time to support our work.
We have SO much work ahead in 2026. Donate here.
We’re back for another look at things that – believe it or not – did NOT suck in 2025.
Specifically: new state laws from around the country aimed at protecting people from things like medical debt, insurance delays and denials, and corporate profiteering.
In this episode, we dive into two examples from opposite sides of the country to look at how laws like these get made – and in some cases, defended.
In Maine, lawmakers unanimously voted to remove medical debts from people’s credit reports. While a nationwide court ruling raises questions about the new law’s future, we’ll hear why consumer rights attorney Chi Chi Wu remains optimistic.
And in Oregon, a law aims to prevent big corporations and private equity firms from taking over medical clinics and strip-mining them for profits.
Plus, a good-news update from our team at An Arm and a Leg.
Here's a transcript of this episode.
Send your stories and questions! Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
And, again… we’d love for you to support this show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hey, first! If you value what we do, this is the best-ever time to support our work: This month, every donation gets matched two-for-one.
We have SO much work ahead in 2026. Donate here — and get your money matched two-for-one.
It’s probably fair to say: this is the worst year ever for picking health insurance. Premiums are skyrocketing – whether you get insurance through work or from the Obamacare marketplace.
And with enhanced subsidies almost definitely expiring, millions of people with Obamacare plans are grappling with drastic changes to their household budgets.
We’re our own case study: You’ll hear us sorting through our own options. None of them are pretty, but because we know how to read the fine print, we figured out: Some are way, way less awful than others.
And to help you do the same: We’ve boiled down our fine-print-reading expertise in this starter pack on how to pick insurance.
Also in this episode: we talk with a listener who wonders: is paying for health insurance even worth it at this point? (Her ultimate answer: Yes, but argh.)
Read Julie Appleby’s reporting for KFF Health News about what could happen if Congress changes course and extends the subsidies.
Here’s a transcript of this episode.
Send your stories and questions! Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
And, again… we’d love for you to support this show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hey, first! If you value what we do, this is the best-ever time to support our work: This month, every donation gets matched two-for-one.
We have SO much work ahead in 2026. Head to https://armandalegshow.com/support/ to donate — and get your money matched two-for-one.
This statement might shock you: some actual good things happened in 2025. Or, at least things that did not totally suck.
Stuff like: new limits on the hoops insurance companies can make you jump through, and new protections from predatory debt collectors..
These are just a couple examples of what state governments have been up to this year – in red, blue, and purple states alike.
State governments can’t do it all, but across a couple of episodes, we’ll dive into a handful of meaningful wins, and learn how they came to pass.
Today’s episode takes us to Nebraska, where the state passed aggressive new restrictions on prior authorization.
And Virginia, where lawmakers banned wage garnishment for lots of medical debts.
Here's a transcript of this episode.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Economist Vivian Ho has been researching the US health care system for four decades. These days she focuses on what she describes as the biggest burden on the average American: runaway hospital prices and rising health insurance premiums. (You know, Arm and a Leg stuff.)
And she’s developed a strategy for addressing high insurance premiums – one based on a real-life success story.
So when she asked us to help her gather data for a new study, we were intrigued.
We break down Vivian’s theory of change, and how sharing your medical bills with her team could help build a data arsenal for the fight ahead.
Want to share your documents with Vivian and her team?
You can find all details about how to send them here.
Here’s a transcript of this episode.
Send your stories and questions! Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
Of course we’d love for you to support this show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A listener named Thomas Sanford wrote to us earlier this year, asking for help with a little DIY project. And it’s turned into the most encouraging thing we’ve seen all year.
With input from the Arm and a Leg community — specifically folks who get our First Aid Kit newsletter — Thomas has drafted a one-page handout, packed with resources for anyone who needs help with medical bills.
It’s ready for you to use, and he wants your help making it better.
You’ll hear all about Thomas’s story — he’s a medical resident, who started out just wanting something to hand to his own patients — in today’s mini-episode.
And now you can get involved. Thomas’s current version is great — and there’s also tons of room to improve it, with your help.
- Print out the current version and pass it around: Download it right here.
- Make suggestions for the next version: Anybody can comment on this Google doc.
- Volunteer to pitch in: Got design skills? Editorial chops? Language skills, to translate it? Other ideas? Here’s a sign-up form.
And you can make your own adaptations! Thomas has registered it with a Creative Commons license.
This project has been incubating in our First Aid Kit newsletter. If you’re not subscribed, this is a great time to sign up.
Here’s a transcript of this episode.
Send your stories and questions! Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
Of course we’d love for you to support this show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.