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An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare machines

Covering the American health care system means we tell some scary stories. This episode of "An Arm and a Leg" sounds like a real horror movie.

10 Apr 2024

California hospitals, advocates seek stable funding to retain behavioral health navigators

Health providers and addiction experts warn the funding structure is unstable for a California initiative that steers patients with substance use disorder into long-term treatment after they are discharged from emergency rooms, which has already led some critical employees to leave their jobs.

1 Mar 2024

An Arm and a Leg: Wait, is Insulin cheaper now?

Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture insulin made headlines last year when they voluntarily agreed to provide discount cards that lower the monthly cost of insulin for many people to $35.

28 Feb 2024

Stroke survivors exposed to sexual assault face greater recovery challenges

Stressors and traumatic events experienced over the course of a lifetime may negatively impact subsequent stroke recovery; specifically, stroke survivors exposed to sexual assault at any point in their life had poorer physical functioning and cognitive outcomes one year after a stroke, according to a preliminary study to be presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2024.

1 Feb 2024

American Heart Association launches initiative to close CPR knowledge gap, save lives

A new survey conducted by the American Heart Association, which is marking one hundred years of service saving lives, suggests that increased visibility of the need for CPR has had a positive impact on someone's willingness to respond if they are bystanders in a cardiac emergency.

31 Jan 2024

Study pinpoints ideal locations for public bleeding control kits in shopping centers

Where should bleeding control equipment be located to save as many lives as possible? Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden, in collaboration with US researchers, have found the answer to this through computer simulations of a bomb exploding in a shopping center.

19 Dec 2023

What to know about home care services

Most older Americans want to live at home as long as they can, but finding and affording the help they need often isn't easy.

4 Dec 2023

An Arm and a Leg: To get health insurance, this couple made a movie

Last fall, Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023.

30 Nov 2023

An Arm and a Leg: ‘Your Money or Your Life’: This doctor wrote the book on medical debt

In 2019, emergency medicine physician and historian Luke Messac was working as a medical resident.

9 Nov 2023

AI could revolutionize sudden cardiac death prediction and prevention

Predicting sudden cardiac death, and perhaps even addressing a person's risk to prevent future death, may be possible through artificial intelligence (AI) and could offer a new move toward prevention and global health strategies, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium 2023.

6 Nov 2023

An Arm and a Leg: How a surprise bill can hitch a ride to the hospital

How did three siblings who took identical ambulance rides (from the same car wreck to the same hospital) end up with three wildly different bills? The answer lies in the No Surprises Act.

16 Aug 2023

University of Michigan and Zingerman's launch pilot program to train employees in use of naloxone

In an effort to expand the use of lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medication, the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor’s Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are launching a restaurant-based pilot program in Michigan to train employees in the use and administration of naloxone.

7 Aug 2023

Wait, What’s a PBM?

Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are intermediary companies that negotiate the price of prescription drugs.

13 Jul 2023

Stigma can be the most difficult part of living with epilepsy

Stigma affects all aspects of epilepsy care, from diagnosis and treatment to nationwide legislation and budget allocations.

27 Apr 2023

A doctor’s love letter to ‘the people’s hospital’

Could a charity hospital founded by a crusading Dutch playwright, a group of Quakers, and a judge working undercover become a model for the U.S. health care system? In this episode of the podcast "An Arm and a Leg," host Dan Weissmann speaks with Dr. Ricardo Nuila to find out.

3 Apr 2023

She sued a hospital and lost — but felt she’d won

When a patient faces an outrageous medical bill, they have two choices: Pay the balance or fight.

16 Feb 2023

During in-flight emergencies, Sometimes airlines’ medical kits fall short

In March, a Frontier Airlines flight was headed from Phoenix to Las Vegas when a female passenger stopped breathing. The flight attendant yelled in the cabin for help.

6 Jan 2023

Mental health services for farmers in rural areas need urgent attention, say researchers

Mental health services in rural areas need urgent attention to ensure the needs of farmers are properly met, according to researchers.

9 Dec 2022

USC researchers work with Polaris Dawn to study new approach to X-ray imaging in outer space

Today's spaceflights typically last a few days to a few months, so onboard medical treatment is mostly limited to first aid. But researchers are increasingly exploring new terrain-;known as in-flight space medicine-;that will be critical for maintaining astronauts' health during longer missions, such as the 21-month roundtrip to Mars.

29 Nov 2022

‘An Arm and a Leg’: No money, no job, no health care? Not always.

If you don't have money and you don't have a job, what are your best options for getting health care?

11 Nov 2022