Former health-care executive Wendell Potter spent part of 2020 publishing high-profile apologies for the lies he says he told the American people in his old job—and trying to debunk the myths he once sold. The story of how he became a whistle-blower is a modern-day Christmas Carol. And it's a story about the long, messy process of change—whether that’s changing your own life or trying to change a bigger system. 

It’s a great way to close out a pretty-terrible year.


Another cheerful note: THANK YOU!!! Your support for this show has MAXED OUT the matching program NewsMatch. It’s a huge, huge boost for our work in 2021.

Of course, we could still use your support before the year ends. We would love it. There is SO much work ahead.


AND, if you’re looking for other places to help out, here are a few places doing powerful work:
Remote Area Medical runs free pop-up clinics— and seeing one played a role in Wendell Potter’s move from Scrooge to whistle-blower.
Get Us PPE helps front-line workers get the personal protective equipment they need to stay safe during the pandemic. (And yep, that is still a thing. Grrr…)
RIP Medical Debt pools money to buy up old medical debt and forgive it. By doing bulk transactions, they can take a $5 donation and use it to discharge $500 in debt. (We featured their work in a 2019 episode, Christmas in July.)
MLK 50: Justice Through Journalism does powerful investigative reporting. After they exposed how the biggest hospital in Memphis was suing patients over unpaid bills, the hospital was shamed into dropping thousands of lawsuits and erasing almost $12 million in debt.




And of course it is absolutely not too late to support this show. Here’s that link: https://armandalegshow.com/support/


Send your stories and questions: https://armandalegshow.com/contact/ or call 724 ARM-N-LEG

Former health-care executive Wendell Potter spent part of 2020 publishing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/opinion/healthcare-choice-democratic-debate.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">high-profile</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/08/06/health-insurance-canada-lie/?arc404=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">apologies</a>&nbsp;for the lies he says he told the American people in his old job—and trying to debunk the myths he once sold. The story of how he became a whistle-blower is a modern-day&nbsp;Christmas Carol. And it's a story about the long, messy process of change—whether that’s changing your own life or trying to change a bigger system. It’s a great way to close out a pretty-terrible year. Another cheerful note:&nbsp;THANK YOU!!! Your support for this show has MAXED OUT the matching program NewsMatch. It’s a huge, huge boost for our work in 2021.Of course, we could&nbsp;<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">still use your support before the year ends</a>.&nbsp;We would love it. There is SO much work ahead. AND, if you’re looking for other places to help out, here are a few places doing powerful work:<ul><li><a href="https://www.ramusa.org/pop-up-clinics/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Remote Area Medical</a>&nbsp;runs free pop-up clinics— and seeing one played a role in Wendell Potter’s move from Scrooge to whistle-blower.</li><li><a href="https://getusppe.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get Us PPE</a>&nbsp;helps front-line workers get the personal protective equipment they need to stay safe during the pandemic. (And yep, that is still a thing. Grrr…)</li><li><a href="https://ripmedicaldebt.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">RIP Medical Debt</a>&nbsp;pools money to buy up old medical debt and forgive it. By doing bulk transactions, they can take a $5 donation and use it to discharge $500 in debt. (We featured their work in a 2019 episode,&nbsp;<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/christmas-in-july-one-familys-tragedy-becomes-a-1-million-gift-to-their-neighbors/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Christmas in July</a>.)</li><li><a href="https://mlk50.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MLK 50: Justice Through Journalism</a>&nbsp;does powerful investigative reporting. After they exposed how the biggest hospital in Memphis was suing patients over unpaid bills, the hospital was&nbsp;<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/a-hospital-sued-thousands-of-patients-then-a-reporter-called-them-out/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shamed into dropping thousands of lawsuits</a>&nbsp;and erasing almost $12 million in debt.</li></ul> And of course it is absolutely not too late to support this show. Here’s that link: https://armandalegshow.com/support/ Send your stories and questions:&nbsp;<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://armandalegshow.com/contact/</a>&nbsp;or call 724 ARM-N-LEG

An Arm and a Leg is a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can (maybe) do about it.

If you’ve ever been surprised by a medical bill, you’re in good company. But as our team of seasoned journalists has learned from years of reporting — you’re not always helpless. We don’t have all the answers, but we’ll offer you tools and big picture insights with plenty of humor and heart. 

An Arm and a Leg is co-produced with KFF Health News and distributed in partnership with KUOW.

You can support An Arm and a Leg by donating at armandalegshow.com/support/

Show Credits: Created, hosted, and produced by Dan Weissmann with senior producer Emily Pisacreta and engagement producer Claire Davenport, edited by Ellen Weiss. Audio wizard: Adam Raymonda. Music is by Dave Weiner and Blue Dot Sessions. Bea Bosco is our consulting director of operations. Lynne Johnson is our operations manager.

An Arm and a Leg&nbsp;is a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can (maybe) do about it.
If you&rsquo;ve ever been surprised by a medical bill, you&rsquo;re in good company. But as our team of seasoned journalists has learned from years of reporting &mdash; you&rsquo;re not always helpless. We don&rsquo;t have all the answers, but we&rsquo;ll offer you tools and big picture insights with plenty of humor and heart.&nbsp;
An Arm and a Leg is co-produced with <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/">KFF Health News</a> and distributed in partnership with <a href="https://www.kuow.org/">KUOW</a>.
You can support An Arm and a Leg&nbsp;by donating at <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/">armandalegshow.com/support/</a>
<hr>
Show Credits:&nbsp;Created, hosted, and produced by Dan Weissmann with senior producer Emily Pisacreta and engagement producer Claire Davenport, edited by Ellen Weiss. Audio wizard: Adam Raymonda. Music is by Dave Weiner and Blue Dot Sessions. Bea Bosco is our consulting director of operations. Lynne Johnson is our operations manager.

An Arm and a Leg

Former health-care executive Wendell Potter spent part of 2020 publishing high-profile apologies for the lies he says he told the American people in his old job—and trying to debunk the myths he once sold. His story is a modern Christmas Carol.

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