Best Why Can T We Be Wizards Podcasts (2025)

1
A longtime expert puts 2025-so-far in perspective 25:30

18d ago25:30

25:30

With news blasting from Washington like a firehose, it feels impossible to take it all in — to stay on top of all the changes the Trump administration has been trying to make. But for health care, one person is probably closer to anyone than to understanding the full picture: KFF Heath News Chief Washington Correspondent Julie Rover. In this episod…

1
Why ‘The Pitt’ is our fave new drama 22:55

1M ago22:55

22:55

People who work in real-life emergency rooms have raved about how accurately the new drama The Pitt (Max) captures the dynamics and the medical details of their workplaces. Here at An Arm and a Leg, we’ve been nerding out about how the show depicts the financial forces that shape the ER’s day-to-day problems like crowding, eternal wait times, and s…

1
Winning a two-year fight over a bogus bill 23:40

2M ago23:40

23:40

A few months ago, we got a note from a listener named Meagan, who wanted to thank us. She said the stories she heard on this show had given her the advice and encouragement she needed to finally win a fight against a medical bill she didn’t owe — a battle she’d been waging for more than two years. As Meagan tells us, those two years were filled wit…

1
A medical-debt watchdog gets sidelined by the new administration 19:31

3M ago19:31

19:31

A federal agency called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — CFPB for short — has taken big steps to help people with medical debt. In early February, the Trump administration moved to effectively shutter the agency. We talked with credit counselor Lara Ceccarelli about how the CFPB has helped clients at the nonprofit where she works, and how…

1
Big news: Our ‘First Aid Kit’ newsletter is now weekly 4:49

3M ago4:49

4:49

Hey – real quick: some big news from the team at An Arm and a Leg. Our First Aid Kit newsletter is going weekly! First Aid Kit brings you advice from our show and more on how to survive and navigate America’s health care system. And allow us to introduce First Aid Kit’s new writer, Claire Davenport. When she was our intern last summer, she reviewed…

1
How do you deal with wild drug prices? 9:33

3M ago9:33

9:33

We’re kicking off a new reporting project about how much we pay for our medicine — and what we can maybe do about it — and we want to hear your stories. Because: Getting a case of sticker shock with a prescription happens all the time. So we’re asking: What have you done — or tried to do — to get the medicines you need at prices you can afford? And…

1
The ‘Shkreli Awards’ — for dysfunction and profiteering in health care 25:26

4M ago25:26

25:26

You remember a guy named Martin Shkreli? If his name rings a bell, it’s probably because back in 2015, he jacked up the price of an old drug — from around $13 a pill to $750. The media dubbed him “the pharma bro,” and he became a symbol of brazen pharmaceutical greed. Now, he’s the namesake for the Shkreli Awards — a kind of Oscars for the most out…

1
This is An Arm and a Leg 0:57

4M ago0:57

0:57

An Arm and a Leg is a show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it. New episodes every three weeks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By An Arm and a Leg

1
A listener fighting the good fight 11:48

5M ago11:48

11:48

A few weeks ago, a listener sent us a note with a link to a news article about a new resolution that had recently been adopted by the American Medical Association – the largest group representing doctors in the US. The resolution said: hospitals need to do more to guarantee charity care to patients who qualify. Legislators and regulators should mak…

1
Revisiting ‘Christmas In July’ 27:20

5M ago27:20

27:20

Today we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from the archive – a story about giving – and bringing you an update. In 1980, a young father named Denny Buehler was battling leukemia and needed to travel from Cincinnati to Seattle for treatment. To raise the money, his friends and family threw a softball tournament. Denny passed away a few mon…

1
New lessons from the fight for charity care 28:06

6M ago28:06

28:06

Longtime listeners to this show know we’ve been talking about something called “charity care” for years. Federal law requires that all nonprofit hospitals have charity care policies – that is, financial assistance policies — to reduce or remove people’s medical bills. The problem: people don’t know about it, and hospitals don’t always make it easy …

1
Fight health insurance — with help from AI 22:29

7M ago22:29

22:29

Several listeners sent us an article with the headline Make your health insurance cry, about a new AI tool to fight health insurance. We had to learn more. 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, Fig…

1
Can racism make you sick? 24:35

7M ago24:35

24:35

Something different: We talk with journalist Cara Anthony about topics that don’t always come up in conversations about the cost of health care. 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 call…

1
Special Feature: A Beloved Nursing Home, from “To See Each Other” 31:49

8M ago31:49

31:49

We're sharing an episode of “To See Each Other,” about a question that’s SUPER-relevant to this show: How do we pay for long-term care, like nursing homes? 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…

1
“Baby steps” in the fight against facility fees 23:32

8M ago23:32

23:32

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. In states like Connecticut and Indiana, legislators are trying to do something about fees like t…

1
Anatomy of a Fall: One rural hospital’s ransomware story (from Click Here) 27:10

9M ago27:10

27:10

What happens when a hospital gets hit by a ransomware attack? We’re sharing an episode from a podcast called Click Here that takes us inside the aftermath of a cyber attack on a rural hospital in Oregon. 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 …

1
Don’t get “bullied” into paying what you don’t owe 24:11

9M ago24:11

24:11

Caitlyn Mai expected her share of a recent surgery bill to be about $2,000, with insurance covering the rest. Then she started getting alerts on her phone from the hospital that she owed $139,000 — the full cost of her surgery. But Caitlyn, a legal assistant in Oklahoma, instinctively knew a cardinal rule of the American healthcare system — “never …

1
We want to see your hospital bills 3:07

10M ago3:07

3:07

We’re starting a new investigation and need your help. We’re looking into something we’ve talked about a lot on this show: hospital financial assistance – also known as “charity care” — which most hospitals are legally required to offer. Something like 60 percent of people might qualify to have their hospital bills reduced or even forgiven through …

1
The woman who beat an $8,000 hospital fee 25:31

10M ago25:31

25:31

Georgann Boatright's local hospital told her she'd need to pay an $8,000 "operating room" charge for a test she was pretty darn sure wouldn't involve an operating room. So she went elsewhere, even though it meant driving to another state. Avoiding that charge required more than just a willingness to go — literally — way out of her way. Georgann Boa…

1
Coming soon: your stories on facility fees 2:02

11M ago2:02

2:02

For months now, you’ve been sharing stories with us about facility fees, those sneaky fees that keep showing up on your medical bills. Facility fees are kind of like a cover charge for visiting a health care facility, usually one owned by a hospital. And many of you have been blindsided by them. Some of you have been going to the same place for yea…

1
Meet the Middleman’s Middleman 24:55

11M ago24:55

24:55

Folks who expected their health insurance to cover some out-of-network care have been getting stuck with enormous bills instead. Like one couple from Kansas City: Their insurance hung them out to dry for thousands of dollars, all while sending statements touting a “discount” the couple was supposedly getting. Turned out: A middleman was cutting the…

1
Staying on Medicaid seems tougher than it should be 23:06

12M ago23:06

23:06

We take our first look at Medicaid— the big, federally-funded health insurance program for folks with lower incomes— for two reasons: First, it’s a huge part of our health-care system. Medicaid covers a quarter of all Americans, and four in ten children. Second, it’s timely: In the last year, more than 20 million people have lost Medicaid — even th…

1
We’re digging into “facility fees.” We need your help. 10:22

1y ago10:22

10:22

We’re launching a brand new project and need your help! We’re zooming in on charges that are becoming more and more common on your medical bills: facility fees. Facility fees are charges tacked onto your bill for visiting a doctor’s office or clinic related to a hospital or larger health care system… or even talking with a doctor who’s in one of th…

1
The Hack 21:39

1y ago21:39

21:39

When a subsidiary of the giant UnitedHealth Group got hit by a cyberattack recently, a big chunk of the country’s doctors, pharmacists, hospitals and therapists just stopped getting paid. It’s been a huge disruption, with some providers wondering if they can keep their doors open. But thanks to their huge size and reach, the situation may have had …

1
Son of Medicare: Attack of the Machines 30:05

1y ago30:05

30:05

Reporter Bob Herman from STAT News unpacks his blockbuster investigation about the country’s biggest health care company. Covering the American health care system means we tell some scary stories. But this episode is almost like a horror movie. It’s got some of Hollywood’s favorite tropes: Machines taking over. Monsters from separate franchises mee…

1
The Medicare Episode 29:12

1y ago29:12

29:12

Health insurance sucks. Which leaves lots of us counting down the days until we turn 65 and can get on Medicare – the federal government’s health insurance program for seniors. But Medicare is a lot more complicated – and costs more money – than a lot of us realize. (Also, it involves insurance companies.) And:t There will be huge, complicated deci…

1
Wait, is insulin cheaper now? 25:18

1+ y ago25:18

25:18

A listener wrote to us at the beginning of the year with a query, “I was just reading the news about the price of insulin going down to $35! Is that for everyone?” It turns out, there is a lot of good news about the so-called “poster child” for the high cost of prescription drugs. But to say it costs $35 now is an oversimplification – and diabetes …

1
Self defense 101: Keeping your cool while you fight 24:57

1+ y ago24:57

24:57

Dealing with the American health care system as a patient means lots of tough moments – unexpected bills, meds not covered, insurance and hospitals making you go back and forth without a clear answer, endless hold times and phone trees… the list goes on. So listeners ask us all the time: How do I stay strong and fight for my rights without totally …

1
One last tip before 2024 4:14

1+ y ago4:14

4:14

Real quick: Now's the best time to support this show! Thanks to a few super-star Arm and a Leg listener/donors, your donation is matched two for one right now. Here's the link to donate. Ok, now: We’ve got a mini-episode for you today, a four-minute coda to the epic story we brought you in December. It features a last tip for anyone who might want …

1
When hospitals sue patients (part 2) 36:37

1+ y ago36:37

36:37

Hey! The BEST time to support this show with a donation just got even better. Right now, any gift you make, up to $1,000, will be matched TWO for ONE, thanks to a few super-generous Arm and a Leg fans who’ve pooled their dough. . It’s a great deal, and it will set us up to kick maximum butt in 2024. Here’s the link, go for it! And… are you ready fo…

1
When hospitals sue patients (part 1) 28:08

1+ y ago28:08

28:08

Hey, it’s the BEST time to support this show with a donation. Thanks to NewsMatch, any gift you make, up to $1,000, will be doubled. It’s a great deal, and it will set us up to kick maximum butt in 2024. Here’s the link, go for it! We’ve been working on this investigation all year, with our partners at Scripps News and the Baltimore Banner. For yea…

1
To get health insurance, this couple made a movie 18:42

1+ y ago18:42

18:42

Last fall, actor-writers Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023. To qualify for insurance through the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, Ellen would have to book a little more work — doable, but not a sure bet. So they came up with a plan: crowdfund a bunch of money to make a short film, starring Ellen … …

1
“Your Money or Your Life”: Dr. Luke Messac’s book on the history of medical debt 25:49

1+ y ago25:49

25:49

In 2019, Dr. Luke Messac was a medical resident who found himself spending his day off in a courthouse archive. He’d heard about hospitals suing their own patients over unpaid medical bills. He wanted to know if the hospitals he worked in were doing the same. They were. Trained as a historian, Messac then set out to trace the history of this phenom…

1
Paging Dr. Glaucomflecken: Presenting “The Nocturnists - Conversations: Will & Kristin Flanary (The Glaucomfleckens)” 1:04:13

1+ y ago1:04:13

1:04:13

First: an update on our recent two-parter with the writer John Green, about the global, decades-long fight to make an important tuberculosis drug more widely available. Just two days after we posted part 2, the activists waging that battle scored a major victory. John Green was kvelling on YouTube, of course. We’ll get you up to speed. And for the …

1
John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 2) 26:29

1+ y ago26:29

26:29

This is part two of our globe-spanning story about drugs, patents, and YouTube megastar John Green. Quick recap: In our last episode, we learned how writer and YouTube star John Green kicked up a fight with Johnson & Johnson over a medicine called bedaquiline. And appeared to score a victory. Here, we dig into the backstory: How everything John Gre…

1
John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 1) 22:48

1+ y ago22:48

22:48

This episode is special. When we heard that widely-beloved writer John Green was rallying his online community around a fight over drug prices — and apparently making a difference — we were pumped. And this story took us in so many different directions: Literally around the world, and then straight back home. The drug in question is bedaquiline, ma…

1
Something's coming, something good. 3:38

2y ago3:38

3:38

Hey there— our next story is gonna take a little more time to cook, but it is going to be SO worth it. It involves John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars — and yes, we've got an interview with him — and a global fight against multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. ... which turns out to be directly related to fights over the prices of drugs like …

1
How to Get a Surprise Bill on Your Way to the Hospital 19:45

2y ago19:45

19:45

For a year and a half now, the No Surprises Act has protected patients from some of the most outrageous out-of-network medical bills. But Congress left something pretty crucial out of the law — bills from ground ambulances. We look at just how wild ambulance bills can be, with a story about three siblings who took identical ambulance rides — from t…

1
Wait, what’s a PBM (and how do they work)? 21:32

2y ago21:32

21:32

If you’ve been told your insurance won’t cover your meds — or that you’re gonna have to pay an arm and a leg for them — you’ve met a PBM: a pharmacy benefits manager. And: Experts say they play a big role in jacking up drug prices overall. But how, exactly? We took a deep dive. This episode first went out in 2019. We’re bringing it back because PBM…

1
Credit Card, Please 21:49

2y ago21:49

21:49

A listener’s doctor wanted her credit card info up front — before her appointment. She wondered: Do I need to give it to them? We did too. After all, who wants the risk of being overcharged — and then having to fight for money back? Experts gave us their best advice, including a couple of tricks to try, and a legal protection you may be able to rel…

1
A ‘payday loan’ from a health care behemoth 22:52

2y ago22:52

22:52

When a New York doctor tweeted recently about “payday loans” for doctors from a branch of UnitedHealth Group — which operates the giant insurance company UnitedHealthcare — we were intrigued. Especially when we saw that the loan product — a “cash flow solution” for health care providers — was real. The doctor’s tweet essentially accused UHG’s insur…

1
Mental health ‘ghost networks’ — and a ghost-buster 24:41

2y ago24:41

24:41

For lots of people, trying to access mental health treatment — like a therapist or a psychiatrist —is nothing short of a horror story. You could even call it a ghost story. A “Ghost network” is what researchers and journalists call it when your insurance plan offers a list of “in-network” providers that turns out to be bogus. Attorney Abigail Burma…

1
A $229,000 medical bill goes to court 26:49

2y ago26:49

26:49

Before her surgery, a hospital told Lisa French she would end up owing them $1,337. After insurance paid them — more than they’d expected — the hospital billed her $229,000. And sued her for it. Her case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court. The questions before the court, and how they ruled, have potentially major implications for our le…

1
A doctor’s love letter to ‘the People’s Hospital’ 28:59

2y ago28:59

28:59

What if we had a decent, publicly-funded health system — available to everybody, with or without insurance? We’ve got one, says Dr. Ricardo Nuila. It’s where he works. And it could be a model for the whole country. Yes, really. That’s the pitch he makes in his new book, The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine. It’s a love letter …

1
Lessons from “wrestling with a giant” 19:41

2y ago19:41

19:41

The ER visit was quick and uneventful. The bill was $1,300. Our listener decided to push back. He didn't win, but he learned a lot — and so did we. We had help, from an expert we met by visiting a Renaissance Fair — which we did in this very fun early episode. Kaelyn Globig, head of advocacy for the Rescu Foundation, is a medical-bill wizard, and n…

1
The bill looked like BS. So she took it to small claims court. 25:37

2+ y ago25:37

25:37

“I sued a hospital in small claims court and lost — here’s what I learned.” That was the subject line for an email we got from listener Lauren Slemenda. She wrote: “I feel like I won” — and we knew we needed to talk with her. She wants to encourage more people to try taking providers to court over unfair bills. “If everybody that they screw stands …

1
Can They Freaking Do That?!? (2023 Edition) 21:25

2+ y ago21:25

21:25

We’re kicking off the year with a throwback. We revisit a 2019 episode that opened up new possibilities for fighting back against outrageous medical bills — a theme we’ll spend a lot more time exploring this year A listener named Miriam got a bill from a medical testing lab she’s never heard of, for $35. Then, a follow-up bill said if she didn’t pa…

1
2022 in Review 13:42

2+ y ago13:42

13:42

The Arm and a Leg editorial team gathered to talk about the moments from 2022 that we’ll never forget — including when work collided with real life. We’re so lucky we get to do this work, and we couldn’t do it without our community. From sending us your stories and questions, to supporting the show financially, our listeners and subscribers are wha…

1
Like pulling teeth. 25:46

2+ y ago25:46

25:46

When a car hit Susan and knocked out a bunch of teeth, her health insurance was supposed to pay for her oral surgery, and she knew it. So why has she had to chase them for 18 months and counting? Getting insurance to pay for anything dental is usually hard, but this had us asking ourselves… is it usually this hard? We connected Susan with law profe…

1
The best video about health insurance, ever 18:58

2+ y ago18:58

18:58

A couple months ago, we started getting messages from listeners telling us: you gotta watch this video. It’s a thirty minute YouTube video from a creator named Brian David Gilbert, and it’s probably the best video about health insurance we’ve ever seen. Brian David Gilbert is best known for his highly-detailed, hilarious videos for Polygon, a media…

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