Claire Davenport

Medicare: Big pitfalls to avoid, part deux • An Arm And a Leg Hey there — Ermahgerd, Medicare is confusing. Or as John Oliver said in a recent Last Week Tonight segment on Medicare Advantage, “On a scale of one to

Signing up for Medicare means navigating a minefield of misleading ads, confusing deadlines, and an alphabet soup of parts and supplements. In our First Aid Kit newsletter, we get into those ABCs:

Incredible

How Truth Social’s bogus medical claims fool Trump fans It's not just "medbeds."

“Trump posted an AI-generated video on the platform that touted purported “medbeds,” a non-existent healing technology that people falsely believe will miraculously cure all maladies… after it was taken down, his Truth Social followers… took the post as a sign that medbeds are about to be unveiled.”

This is the rhythm of life in Gaza City, writes Mohammed al-Sawwaf: displacement after displacement, death after death, with no time for mourning—only desperate attempts to save whoever is left.

“…the ADL said that internet users began to display it alongside ‘violent or racist rap songs’ in the 2000s and that, by 2015, it was firmly ‘associated with alt right language and imagery, including explicit white supremacist imagery.’”

DHS has white nationalists running their social media.

“We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities as our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces. This is the last thing we wanted, as the needs in Gaza City are enormous,” says Jacob Granger, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza. prezly.msf.org.uk/msf-forced-t...

Key health programs face cliff as government funding bill falls Congress is taking a break after failing to extend health programs and prevent a government shutdown that would start in 12 days.

It's not just government funding at stake in this showdown.

It's also telehealth and hospital-at-home.

If Congress can't cut some sort of deal over the next week, thousands of people with telehealth appoints on Oct. 1 or remote hospital services will be out of luck.

Trump adds $100,000 fee for high-skilled foreign workers in major visa overhaul The president signed executive orders that would charge companies $100,000 a year to hire a worker on an H1-B visa and allow wealthy foreigners to get a visa for $1 million.

The president signed executive orders that would charge companies $100,000 a year to hire a worker on an H1-B visa and allow wealthy foreigners to get a visa for $1 million.

The “one-stop shop” resource list 2.0 • An Arm And a Leg Avid “First Aid Kit” readers might remember that in the spring, we wrote about a med student named Thomas who wanted a one-page resource guide — and we

A listener named Thomas started building a “one-stop shop” of resources for fighting medical bills, with contributions from our readers. Now he’s turned it into a printable guide:

We’re extremely honored to have won an Online Journalism Award for Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling.

And for this note from the judges: “The energy was fantastic from beginning to end… hearing real people's stories made it resonate on a personal level.”

South Carolina Republicans Move to Ban Birth Control 9.5.25

Super important issue of @jessicavalenti.bsky.social’s “Abortion Every Day” newsletter — about legislation in South Carolina that would impact not only access to abortion, but access to birth control.

And it’s the blueprint for a national model: jessica.substack.com/p/south-caro...

‘There needs to be justice,’ UN tells Israel after Gaza hospital bombing Human rights office demands that Israeli investigation into ‘double tap’ attack that killed 20 people yields results

“There needs to be justice,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, the spokesperson for the UN’s human rights office, told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva.

Human rights office demands that Israeli investigation into ‘double tap’ attack that killed 20 people yields results.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Democratic attorneys general sue to block HHS changes to ACA health insurance marketplaces A group of Democratic attorneys general sued Thursday to block the implementation of portions of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule set to go into effect next month that they say could lead to nearly 2 million people losing their health insurance.

According to Reuters, a group of Democratic attorneys general have separately sued to block parts of the rule. That lawsuit is still pending.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

SUPER-exciting news: @armandalegshow.bsky.social is a finalist — actually the *only* finalist so I think we're gonna win — for Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling, Ongoing Series.

Previous winners: @laist.com, @aljazeera.com, and @wsj.com!!

Our tiny team punching WAY above our weight here!

An Arm and A Leg • Why health care costs so much and what to do Want to fight the awful cost of health care — like outrageous medical bills, health insurance denials, shady debt collectors? Check out our reporting.

Our website got a makeover, and we're so excited to share it!

We've even added a new feature—Starter Packs. These are curated collections of our answers to some of your most-asked questions.

Explore it all here: armandalegshow.com

The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part Two - An Arm And a Leg Experts share their insider tips. Episode two in a two-part series.

The second episode in our series about managing high prescription drug costs is out! armandalegshow.com/episode/drug...

Come for the expert advice, and stay till the end for the wonky song I made (with the help of a robot).

You can check out the whole series here: armandalegshow.com/drugs/

And with @danweissmann.bsky.social as our incredible leader!

First Aid Kit | Dan Weissmann | Substack Surviving the health care system, financially. Click to read First Aid Kit, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Coming up across the next few weeks: Three more First Aid Kit installments and another podcast episode to round out our Prescription Drug Playbook.

You'll find An Arm and a Leg wherever you get podcasts, and you can sign up for First Aid Kit here.
firstaidkit.substack.com

Image of a pill bottle labeled, "The Prescription Drug Playbook." Text against a green background: "Paying for prescription drugs is the worst game none of us ever asked to play. Here's the best set of cheat codes we've found." Lower-left corner: Small logo for "An Arm and a Leg" - a podcast about the cost of health care.

One in four Americans say they've skipped taking meds in the past 12 months because of cost. We'd like to put a dent in that.

With help from listeners and experts, we've been putting together the best collection of hacks, patches and workarounds we can.

Now we're sharing it.
armandalegshow.com

Judge blocks Trump administration’s attempt to crush Harvard’s foreign student enrollment Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem notified the university Thursday that its certification for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was revoked.

New: A judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to crush Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students hours after the university sued.

New surgeon general nominee cofounded ‘biowearables’ startup with DOGE operative Levels launched with funding from a16z.

sure, new surgeon pick is a MAHA influencer............ but also? she cofounded a tech company with a freaking doge guy www.theverge.com/politics/663...

World Central Kitchen 'unable to replenish the stocks of food' for Palestinians in Gaza

The World Central Kitchen has been forced to halt operations in Gaza—because Israel is refusing to let in food and fuel.

Its trucks have been waiting at the border for 2+ months, loaded with supplies that could save lives.

Yep, you can negotiate with bill collectors!

Check out the third installment in our newsletter series about your rights and options when dealing with debt collectors.

firstaidkit.substack.com/p/yes-you-ca...

“A number of Republican legislators set to grill university presidents in a congressional hearing on antisemitism this week are associated with calls for Jews to convert to Christianity, have quoted Adolf Hitler, or have reportedly threatened to burn a synagogue to the ground.”

StoryCorps’ union rallies for reversal of layoffs The CWA unit representing StoryCorps workers is challenging how management handled recent layoffs, alleging retaliation.

As rally attendees circled the sidewalk in front of StoryCorps’ office, they shook tambourines, beat drums and chanted, “What do we want? Reinstatement! When do we want it? Now!” current.org/2024/12/stor...

Winning a two-year fight over a bogus bill - An Arm And a Leg How one listener stayed encouraged during a two-year fight over a bogus medical bill.

I so enjoyed reporting this story about Meagan and her more than two-year fight against a medical bill she didn't owe. I hope you give it a listen and maybe even find encouragement in her story that you can apply to your own health care battles:
armandalegshow.com/episode/winn...

'An Arm and a Leg" podcast explores the cost of health care in the U.S.

A recent "An Arm and a Leg" story on the shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what it means for people with medical debt ran on "All Things Considered" this weekend. Link below.

And shoutout to @danweissmann.bsky.social who reported this story!

www.npr.org/2025/03/22/n...

How my roommate and I are tackling almost $14,500 in medical bills Part 1: Getting Organized

My colleague @clairedavenport.bsky.social is helping her roommate push back against $14.5K in medical bills -- and sharing what she learns in our First Aid Kit newsletter.

It's a saga. Chapter 1 came out today...

firstaidkit.substack.com/p/how-my-roo...

Subscribe to "First Aid Kit" to read about how my roommate and I are fighting almost $14,500 in medical bills! firstaidkit.substack.com/p/how-my-roo...