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The idea for the podcast An Arm and a Leg came to host Dan Weissman in 2017 when he decided to quit his job. It broke his heart to leave that position. It was a terrifying decision, made more frightening because of health insurance.
Leaving that job meant Dan would have to acquire his own health insurance, likely from the Obamacare exchange. He knew that was going to be scary and confusing. To top it off, his wife runs her own business. This means that he provided the family health insurance until that point.
The An Arm and a Leg host discovered that there aren't any podcasts talking about this. Not to say that there aren't plenty of shows about health insurance in the US. But most of them focus on horror stories. Like when they billed a guy $100,000 after insurance. They may discuss the politics behind the issue. But no podcasts talk about the practicalities of getting and using health insurance. Sometimes a person can only go to specific doctors, even if they haven't helped them in the past. Motivated by a gap in insurance rhetoric, Dan decided to create that podcast.
In An Arm and a Leg, the reporter documents his journey through the complicated system of health insurance. But the podcast is not only about him and his family. Once Dan started to explore the topic more, he found out that everyone has a story to tell. Friends, family members, and neighbors came up to him with fascinating experiences.
There was the story of how the Renaissance Faire people made $2.5 million in medical bills go away. Another woman made crazy sacrifices for her family to have health insurance. In the process, she changed the course of history. Then there's a tale about how one drug got its price tag of $55,000 a month. That one involves a Connecticut housewife, a 1970s TV star, and a popcorn distributor.
The An Arm and a Leg podcast is not all gloom. It seeks to entertain while providing vital information. New episodes come out every three weeks.
Episodes