Lots of people have insurance plans that only cover them with certain places —providers, certain hospitals.


But: in a COVID pandemic surge, who knows if you'd end up one of those places? And if you end up someplace else... then what?


That’s the question we got from a listener named Becky in Minnesota. She's got a Bronze plan — it only covers a limited "network" of providers— and she's got a $6,000+ deductible.


With officials talking about converting sports arenas into makeshift hospitals, Becky says: "If you call an ambulance, you may not even go to a hospital, right? Let alone a hospital that is quote-unquote in your network."


We put Becky's question to one of the country’s top health-insurance nerds: Sabrina Corlette, founder and co-director of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.


Not all the answers were comforting. But they weren't all grim either. And Becky turns out to have some good advice for us all.


And, per Sabrina Corlette's advice for anybody newly out of work — and suddenly without health insurance: Go apply for Medicaid.

As promised in the episode, here's a map showing which states have expanded Medicaid so that pretty much anybody who suddenly has very little income is eligible.


Please keep your questions and stories coming: https://armandalegshow.com/contact/

Or call (724) 276-6534 — that's (724) ARM N LEG

And as always, we'd love you to join us by supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/armandalegshow

Lots of people have insurance plans that only cover them with certain places —providers, certain hospitals. But: in a COVID pandemic surge, who knows if you'd end up one of those places? And if you end up someplace else... then what? That’s the question we got from a listener named Becky in Minnesota. She's got a Bronze plan — it only covers a limited "network" of providers— and she's got a $6,000+ deductible. With officials talking about converting sports arenas into makeshift hospitals, Becky says: "If you call an ambulance, you may not even go to a hospital, right? Let alone a hospital that is quote-unquote in your network." We put Becky's question to one of the country’s top health-insurance nerds: <a href="https://chir.georgetown.edu/faculty_sabrina_corlette/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sabrina Corlette</a>, founder and co-director of Georgetown University’s <a href="https://chir.georgetown.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Center on Health Insurance Reforms</a>. Not all the answers were comforting. But they weren't all grim either. And Becky turns out to have some good advice for us all. And, per Sabrina Corlette's advice for anybody newly out of work — and suddenly without health insurance:&nbsp;Go apply for Medicaid.As promised in the episode, here's <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a map showing which states have expanded Medicaid</a> so that pretty much anybody who suddenly has very little income is eligible. Please keep your questions and stories coming: <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://armandalegshow.com/contact/</a>Or call (724) 276-6534 — that's (724) ARM N LEGAnd as always, we'd love you to join us by supporting the show on Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/armandalegshow" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/armandalegshow</a>

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

Lots of people have insurance plans that only cover them with certain places —providers, certain hospitals.But: in a COVID pandemic surge, who knows if you'd end up one of those places? And if you end up someplace else... then what?

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