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.

An Arm and a Leg&nbsp;is a show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it. New episodes every three weeks.

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

This is An Arm and a Leg

In surveys, one in four Americans report having to skip their medications due to cost. We asked our listeners: what strategies have you used when you’ve been hit with pharmacy sticker shock? 

We heard from a ton of you – with stories, strategies and workarounds that surprised and encouraged us.

None of them will work for everybody. This is a set of patches and bandaids for a broken system. But if there’s one that’ll work for you, we want to help you find it. So we’re bringing you the most-complete, best-organized set of patches we can.  

In this episode — the first of two episodes — a dad named Bob tells us how he learned some hard-earned lessons. 

When Bob’s teenage daughter Mary was diagnosed with epilepsy, it took her doctors years of trial and error to find the right treatment. It finally worked, Mary's seizures stopped — and then, when Bob's insurance changed, the price tag for Mary's meds went through the roof.

What Bob did next represents one possible journey through the dizzying (and often exasperating) maze of potential workarounds for getting your medicine at a price you can afford. 

We’ve started compiling lessons from Bob’s story and others in our First Aid Kitnewsletter. 

Our first installment features a price comparison spreadsheet… inspired by Bob (who we’d like to nominate for Dad of the Year). 

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.

In surveys, one in four Americans report having to skip their medications due to cost. We asked our listeners: what strategies have you used when you&rsquo;ve been hit with pharmacy sticker shock?&nbsp;
We heard from a ton of you &ndash; with stories, strategies and workarounds that surprised and encouraged us.
None of them will work for everybody. This is a set of patches and bandaids for a broken system. But if there&rsquo;s one that&rsquo;ll work for you, we want to help you find it. So we&rsquo;re bringing you the most-complete, best-organized set of patches we can.&nbsp;&nbsp;
In this episode &mdash; the first of two episodes &mdash; a dad named Bob tells us how he learned some hard-earned lessons.&nbsp;
When Bob&rsquo;s teenage daughter Mary was diagnosed with epilepsy, it took her doctors years of trial and error to find the right treatment. It finally worked, Mary's seizures stopped &mdash; and then, when Bob's insurance changed, the price tag for Mary's meds went through the roof.
What Bob did next represents one possible journey through the dizzying (and often exasperating) maze of potential workarounds for getting your medicine at a price you can afford.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve started compiling lessons from Bob&rsquo;s story and others in our <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/firstaidkit">First Aid Kit </a>newsletter.&nbsp;
Our first installment features a&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bHwwgFDx8k97QvK0uVXHTcKf2H6TwLc3sYgtWkRcKgA/edit?usp=sharing">price comparison spreadsheet</a>&hellip; inspired by Bob (who we&rsquo;d like to nominate for Dad of the Year).&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_REDACTED_of-S13_Ep09_Drugs-Part-1-.pdf">Here&rsquo;s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
Of course we&rsquo;d love for you to <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/">support this show</a>.

The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part One

What do the KGB and the former CEO of Cincinnati Children's Hospital have in common?

At different times, they’ve each looked to a guy named Eugene Litvak for help. He only said yes to Cincinnati — but he saved that hospital more than a hundred million dollars a year.

For the last few decades, Litvak – a Soviet émigré with a PhD in math – has been on a mission: save U.S. hospitals from financial ruin, and improve the lives of doctors, nurses, and patients.

He says he has just the formula to do it, lots of prominent experts agree, and he’s documented impressive results so far: Financial savings, fewer hospital-related deaths, lower staff turnover, and shorter wait times.

But Litvak and his allies are still struggling to convince more hospital CEOs to try his method.  

We talk with Litvak about his wild life story and how he found the fix that he says could revolutionize American hospitals. And we speak with experts to determine why more hospitals don’t try it. 

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.

What do the KGB and the former CEO of Cincinnati Children's Hospital have in common?
At different times, they&rsquo;ve each looked to a guy named Eugene Litvak for help. He only said yes to Cincinnati &mdash; but he saved that hospital more than a hundred million dollars a year.
For the last few decades, Litvak &ndash; a Soviet &eacute;migr&eacute; with a PhD in math &ndash; has been on a mission: save U.S. hospitals from financial ruin, and improve the lives of doctors, nurses, and patients.
He says he has just the formula to do it, lots of prominent experts agree, and he&rsquo;s documented impressive results so far: Financial savings, fewer hospital-related deaths, lower staff turnover, and shorter wait times.
But Litvak and his allies are still struggling to convince more hospital CEOs to try his method.&nbsp;&nbsp;
We talk with Litvak about his wild life story and how he found the fix that he says could revolutionize American hospitals. And we speak with experts to determine why more hospitals don&rsquo;t try it.&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S13-Ep08_Eugene-Litvak-May-19.pdf">Here&rsquo;s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
Of course we&rsquo;d love for you to <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/">support this show</a>.

Could this mathematician’s formula fix US hospitals?

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 episode, Julie helps us see that picture, by telling us two stories:

The first concerns a teeny part of the health care system — an obscure federal agency, one of many that the Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to.

The other is anything but obscure: Possible cuts to Medicaid —which Julie thinks Republicans will actually find very difficult to make.

Plus, reporting from Julie’s KFF Health News colleague Arthur Allen. And a cameo from one of Julie’s beloved corgis.

Check out Julie’s weekly health policy news podcast: What the Health? 

Read more from Arthur Allen on cuts to AHRQ in KFF Health News:

What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation’s Health Care Safer

Trump HHS Eliminates Office That Sets Poverty Levels Tied to Benefits for at Least 80 Million People

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.

With news blasting from Washington like a firehose, it feels impossible to take it all in &mdash; to stay on top of all the changes the Trump administration has been trying to make.&nbsp;
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.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
In this episode, Julie helps us see that picture, by telling us two stories:
The first concerns a teeny part of the health care system &mdash; an obscure federal agency, one of many that the Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to.
The other is anything but obscure: Possible cuts to Medicaid &mdash;which Julie thinks Republicans will actually find very difficult to make.
Plus, reporting from Julie&rsquo;s KFF Health News colleague Arthur Allen. And a cameo from one of Julie&rsquo;s beloved corgis.
Check out Julie&rsquo;s weekly health policy news podcast: <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/tag/what-the-health/">What the Health?</a>&nbsp;
Read more from Arthur Allen on cuts to AHRQ in KFF Health News:
<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/patient-safety-health-agency-dissolved-doge-federal-workforce-cuts-ahrq/">What&rsquo;s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation&rsquo;s Health Care Safer</a>
<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/aspe-hhs-federal-poverty-guidelines-level-team-fired-medicaid-snap-wic/">Trump HHS Eliminates Office That Sets Poverty Levels Tied to Benefits for at Least 80 Million People</a>
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S13_Ep07_WTF-With-Julie-Rovner-Google-Docs.pdf">Here&rsquo;s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
Of course we&rsquo;d love for you to <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/">support this show</a>.

This is An Arm and a Leg

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