An Arm And A Leg: A Wild Health Insurance Hustle

When a New York mates purchased a wellness security scheme from a telemarketer, they thought it covered everything they wanted: expert visits, tests, and medicine. But past came nan unexpected bills for thousands of dollars, forcing them to skip important aesculapian care. 

In their bid "Health Care Hustlers," Bloomberg reporters Zachary Mider and Zeke Faux revealed really this mates and thousands of different group signed up for wellness plans by unknowingly agreeing to activity clone "jobs." 

Mider and Faux subordinate "An Arm and a Leg" big Dan Weissmann to peel backmost nan astonishing layers of this story, from a TV-sitcom-writer-turned-investor who masterminded nan thought to nan ineligible grey area that allows these plans to proliferate.

Previously, Dan was a unit newsman for Marketplace and Chicago's WBEZ. His activity besides appears connected All Things Considered, Marketplace, nan BBC, 99 Percent Invisible, and Reveal, from nan Center for Investigative Reporting.

Transcript: A wild wellness security hustle

Note: "An Arm and a Leg" uses speech-recognition package to make transcripts, which whitethorn incorporate errors. Please usage nan transcript arsenic a instrumentality but cheque nan corresponding audio earlier quoting nan podcast.

Dan: Hey there—

This story's outline whitethorn sound familiar, but what's underneath — what we unravel here: It's a caller benignant of thing. And it's weird. 

And it could go huge.

So: A mates from New York, Sarah and Joe Strohmenger started caller businesses, truthful they needed to bargain their ain wellness security for nan first time..

And Sarah says nan New York authorities marketplace, pinch Obamacare plans, seemed a small risky: If they sewage a subsidy, and past their caller businesses did well, they mightiness person to salary that subsidy back.

Sarah Strohmenger: As caller business owners, we had not a hint of really overmuch we were gonna make successful nan year.

So we were tense about. How overmuch we were gonna person to backmost pay. 

Dan: Looking elsewhere seemed for illustration a cautious point to do. Google led them to a tract that offered quotes for security policies — conscionable participate your telephone number. They started getting calls from telemarketers, a batch of them, and yet they picked a scheme 1 of them offered. 

Sarah and Joe thought they were being reasonably careful. After all, Insurance is simply a regulated business. 

Sarah Strohmenger: We're reasoning it's monitored. We had nary hint that this was benignant of for illustration a free for all.

Dan: So arsenic you've astir apt already guessed: Pretty quickly, and very painfully, Sarah and Joe figured retired that they'd been hustled. 

But it took a brace of reporters from Bloomberg News to uncover nan quality of that hustle. 

Zach Mider: There's this benignant of caller breed of group offering wellness plans to nan nationalist that are not, um, not security companies astatine all, 

Dan: That's 1 of those Bloomberg reporters, Zach Mider. As Zach and his reporting partner Zeke Faux revealed, this telemarketer had — connected insubstantial — made Joe an worker of a institution he'd ne'er heard of until those reporters told him astir it.

And according to nan ineligible mentation underneath each of this, making Joe a definite benignant of worker allowed nan salesman to waste Joe an security scheme truthful skimpy that— arsenic Zach and Zeke's communicative says — it would "normally beryllium illegal."

Zach Mider says these kinds of plans presently run successful a ineligible grey area, pinch cipher regulating it — not states, not nan feds. 

Zach Mider: So it really is conscionable benignant of this weird ineligible vacuum where, you know, marketplace actors are free to benignant of jump successful and commencement trying to do this.

Dan: Which, Zach says, they look to beryllium doing, much and more. 

Zach Mider: It looks for illustration nan numbers are shooting up

Dan: In their Bloomberg story, Zach and Zeke mention hundreds of complaints to nan FTC from group who were sold these kinds of wellness plans.

They besides constitute astir gathering nan feline who seems to person invented these plans — a erstwhile TV sitcom writer who they opportunity really believes he's solving an important problem.

Their reporting — successful a bid called "Health Care Hustlers" — shows thing other too: 

How each hustle gets created by a concatenation of legally-distinct operators — immoderate of them genuinely operating wholly independently of each different — and how, by being conscionable 1 nexus successful a chain, each usability tin say:

"I was conscionable doing a wholly legit thing. It's not my responsibility if immoderate different feline is shady."

Basically: These stories are showing us, much intelligibly than I've ever seen, what we're up against erstwhile we return a telephone from personification who says they've sewage a awesome security scheme for us.

And it's a wholly chaotic ride. Here we go.

This is An Arm and a Leg, a show astir why wellness attraction costs truthful freaking much, and what we tin possibly do astir it. I'm Dan Weissmann. I'm a reporter, and I for illustration a challenge. So nan occupation we've chosen present is to return connected 1 of nan astir enraging, terrifying, depressing parts of American life — and bring you thing entertaining, empowering and useful.

To start, here's really bad things sewage for Sarah and Joe Strohmenger.

As they knew: They needed bully wellness insurance. They've sewage pre-existing conditions.

For instance, Joe takes medicine that Sarah says costs 1500 dollars a month. And he's sewage a benign encephalon tumor and has a expert monitoring it. 

Sarah Strohmenger: That expert was nan astir important expert because it's a expert you can't spend without wellness insurance.

Dan: Sarah says nan monitoring includes periodic bloodwork and MRIs.

So she says erstwhile they were picking this plan, they asked astir nan doctor, astir nan tests, astir nan medicine, each their providers.

She says nan income rep for this scheme told them, Yes. That is each covered.

Sarah Strohmenger: You know, it sounded great, covered everything that we needed.

Dan: Joe and Sarah paid astir 87 100 dollars upfront— a discount for a afloat year's coverage. 

But Sarah says erstwhile they tried really utilizing nan plan, things went south. She says their pharmacist told her Joe's medicine wasn't covered, and Joe's expert said his visits weren't covered either.

And she says bills arrived that she did not expect.

Sarah Strohmenger: We were getting humor activity bills backmost successful nan mail, for for illustration $4,000 astatine a popular astatine a time, 3000.

Dan: According to nan Bloomberg story, Joe called nan institution they'd bought nan argumentation from— and reached a feline who said upgrading their scheme would hole everything. They yet paid 20 1000 dollars for security that still didn't screen what they needed.

Sarah says she thinks they besides ended up connected nan hook for 10 to 15 1000 dollars successful aesculapian bills. 

Sarah Strohmenger: Within for illustration six months, we stopped going to doctors.

Dan: They couldn't spend to.

Sarah Strohmenger: We conscionable were like, if we extremity up successful nan hospital, we're fundamentally screwed, you know? So Joe stopped going to each of his doctor's appointments, he stopped taking his medication, and it was bad.

Dan: Meanwhile, Sarah says they besides complained to authorities regulators astir nan institution that sold them this policy.

The regulators wrote back, saying: We've ne'er licensed aliases approved this entity. So… sorry. Sarah was like, Wait, WHAT? 

Sarah Strohmenger: I lived successful a paradox that I didn't cognize existed for a year. My mind was blown. 

Dan: I'm telling you — it's REALLY weird. I've seen nan letter, that's what it says. And no: It's not for illustration there's immoderate different authorities agency Sarah was expected to constitute to. I checked.

Sarah says she and Joe took ineligible action against nan trading company, but they haven't recovered immoderate money. She says they paid disconnected each nan bills. And she says they signed up for a scheme connected New York's Obamacare marketplace, which has been covering what they need. 

But she ne'er understood what nan heck had happened — nan quality of nan hustle — until she sent her communicative arsenic a extremity to Bloomberg News, and Zach Mider sewage successful touch.

As it happened, he'd been digging into precisely this benignant of hustle. 

Which has, I person to say, conscionable an astonishing number of layers and twists. Starting here:

When Zach looked astatine Sarah and Joe's security cards, he noticed thing that they had missed.

The sanction of a GROUP astatine nan apical — for illustration arsenic if this was a group plan, for illustration you'd get from your job. 

And that was a cardinal to nan full arrangement. That group — Outreach Data Partners Limited Partnership — is not an security company.

As Zach puts it, their ineligible stance is: They haven't sold security to Sarah and Joe — aliases anybody else. That's not nan relationship.

Zach Mider: They're claiming they person an employer-employee narration pinch nan group who bargain wellness plans from them, and therefore, each of nan authorities security laws don't apply. 

Dan: Now, first: It's really existent that for astir group who get wellness benefits from their employer — for illustration two-thirds — authorities security laws don't apply. Lots of employers run plans regulated by nan national Department of Labor.

Which Zach says is really Outreach Data Partners group up nan scheme Sarah and Joe bought.

All of which was news to Sarah and Joe.

Zach Mider: They conscionable thought they were buying wellness insurance. 

Dan: And if they're workers here, what was nan JOB expected to be?

Zach Mider: Yeah, that's a awesome question. So, location is immoderate activity that is expected to beryllium done.

Dan: OK, strap in: Zach says to commencement with, successful theory, nan institution gives you a typical browser to usage connected your phone.

Zach Mider: The thought is if you want to spell do thing connected nan internet, you usage this typical browser and they're collecting information astir people's browsing habits which past they tin move astir and waste that accusation to advertisers.

Dan: So that's nan "job": By utilizing this browser, you're producing worth for nan company— you're moving for them. Joe and Sarah told Zach they ne'er sewage immoderate typical browser. And of people there's different point they mightiness person expected to get from a job, ANY job: A paycheck.

And here's really Zach says that absence gets explained.

Zach Mider: These information companies person been described to maine arsenic benignant of, they're startups, right?

Dan: And here's wherever nan afloat sanction of this institution comes into play: ?Outreach Data Partners Limited Partnership. On paper, Joe and Sarah aren't specified employees, they're … constricted partners— portion owners. But successful a institution that hasn't started making money yet. 

Zach Mider: Maybe they person a millionth stock of nan company. And truthful if nan institution starts making a batch of money, they will get a check. 

Dan: I don't deliberation Joe and Sarah are holding their activity for a cheque from Outreach Data Partners.

According to nan Bloomberg communicative nan institution doesn't person a public-facing website, and LinkedIn doesn't database immoderate employees. But nan communicative besides says that successful a authorities filing nan institution claims 4,800 workers.

Zach and Zeke checked retired nan company's headquarters: Box 371 astatine a UPS shop successful an Atlanta portion promenade — betwixt a barren cleaner and a Vietnamese restaurant. 

They recovered much than a twelve different companies utilizing nan aforesaid mailbox arsenic their reside — companies pinch names for illustration Consumer Data Partners. All told, their communicative says these companies declare much than 30,000 employees.

And erstwhile Zach and Zeke started calling group connected to those companies, they ended up talking pinch nan feline who seems to person invented what they telephone this fake-jobs healthcare setup.

A feline named Bill Bryan.

Zach Mider: Bill Bryan, was a beautiful successful sitcom writer successful nan eighties and nineties. He wrote for Night Court

Judge from Night Court: What's up Mac?

Mack from Night Court: A small lawsuit of disturbing nan portion astatine a Star Trek convention, sir.

Zach Mider: And Coach

Craig Nelson: I didn't suffer nan game. The squad mislaid nan game. I didn't.

Zach Mider: And he wrote for a bunch of others. And past he does immoderate existent property deals. He gets progressive successful immoderate different investments. He ends up being a reasonably able feline and looking for caller things to put in, and comes crossed nan thought of doing thing pinch wellness plans.

Dan: ?Zach says, nan thought was this: Obamacare had imposed standards connected a batch of wellness insurance. Minimum worldly that had to beryllium covered. Hospitalization. Mental wellness services. Prescription drugs. But covering each that worldly is expensive. It intends premiums tin beryllium high, moreover pinch subsidies. And deductibles tin beryllium super-high: Thousands of dollars.

So Bill Bryan thought… 

Zach Mider: possibly if location was a measurement of designing a merchandise that was legal. That covered little worldly than Obamacare, but still gave group what they wanted. You know? Um, it's a free country. Maybe group should beryllium capable to determine what benignant of healthcare they wanna bargain and not person to meet each these minimum standards that possibly they're not willing in.

Dan: So nan scheme that Sarah and Joe sewage sold, Zach says it does not meet those minimum standards. He says it covers for illustration 3 expert visits a year, a mates of laboratory services, and not a batch else.

Zach Mider: No sum for hospitalization, nary screen for emergency room visits. There is simply a medicine aliases location is simply a drugstore benefit, but it only covers generics. 

Dan: Zach says Bill Bryan really thinks: that's a merchandise personification mightiness for illustration to an Obamacare scheme pinch a precocious deductible. Under nan Affordable Care Act, you can't waste that merchandise arsenic insurance. Actually, if you person a batch of employees, you can't connection it to them either. 

But arsenic a health-insurance rule master astatine Georgetown told me: You could possibly connection it to OWNERS of your company.

So by making group for illustration Joe and Sarah LIMITED PARTNERS, possibly you could connection them this benignant of super-stripped-down wellness scheme legally.

Zach says: Bill Bryan thinks of this arsenic a measurement to hole a problem he sees pinch Obamacare: Full sum is excessively costly for immoderate people. 

Zach Mider: He's a very smart guy, and truthful complete nan years he's had to conflict a batch for this, and I deliberation that's only benignant of strengthened his condemnation that it would beryllium a corrective to nan Obamacare strategy to person thing that's much affordable and much accessible for group to get.

Dan:Of course, that's not what Joe and Sarah wanted - value wasn't their apical concern. They needed security that covered their providers, their treatments, their tests, their meds. That's what they thought they were paying for.

I asked Zach and Zeke, what does Bill Bryan opportunity astir nan benignant of point that happened to Joe and Sarah? 

Zach Mider: So it, it's really important to constituent retired present that for illustration Bill Bryan didn't waste nan scheme to Joe and Sarah. You know, he doesn't do nan telephone centers, right? These salespeople are each benignant of independent operators who are fundamentally conscionable trading this worldly for a commission. And so, he surely doesn't take sides anybody misleading a customer.

Dan: According to Bloomberg's story, Bryan said he had trim ties pinch nan agency that sold Joe and Sarah their scheme — years ago. 

And erstwhile he was told that nan agency had sold nan mates 1 of his plans overmuch much recently, Bryan said, "That is perfectly news to me. I conscionable don't person thing much to opportunity astir immoderate of these motherfuckers." 

Zeke Faux: When we were talking pinch Bryan, though…

Dan: That's Zach's reporting partner, Zeke Faux.

Zeke Faux: …he and his colleagues were beautiful evasive astir precisely really these plans are sold.

Dan: Zeke says nan measurement nan plans are sold — specifically, nan large committee rates for salespeople — was 1 of nan reasons he and Zach sewage willing successful this communicative successful nan first place.

Zeke Faux: Basically, nan percent of immoderate nan customer's paying that is going to nan salesman and nan various middlemen progressive is truthful precocious that it's benignant of difficult to ideate that nan customer could beryllium getting a bully deal. 

Dan: Even if nan scheme was cheap. Zach had pulled immoderate data, crunched immoderate numbers. The Bloomberg communicative says— astatine slightest successful immoderate cases— each those commissions and fees added up to 74 percent of what group for illustration Joe and Sarah paid for these plans.

Zach Mider: If a person's paying a dollar almost 74 cents is gonna spell to committee to different various middlemen and immoderate and only 26 cents is near for really going into nan excavation from which aesculapian attraction is paid retired of. 

Dan: 26 cents for aesculapian care. So, conscionable to compare. Obamacare requires security plans to walk astatine slightest 80 cents of each dollar connected aesculapian care.

Everything other — your income operation, each your admin costs — including nan group who contradict claims— and your CEO's pay, and your profits — has to travel retired of that remaining 20 cents. 

With Bill Bryan's plans, Zach's numbers show that ratio tin get almost flipped: 26 cents for aesculapian care. 74 cents for commissions, fees, everything else

Zeke says: They brought these issues up to Bill Bryan. 

Zeke Faux: And erstwhile we tried to inquire astir that, Bryan and his colleagues pleaded ignorance, arsenic if it was not really their business really nan salesmen sewage paid.

Dan: And this is simply a big, large taxable successful this story: There's nary SINGLE entity doing each of this. It's a concatenation of different players, and each 1 tin blasted nan others.

Bill Bryan blamed nan income outfit for what happened to Joe and Sarah. 

And that company? Their CEO told Zach and Zeke that Outreach Data Partners screwed up, denying claims for nan Strohmengers that should've been paid. And arsenic nan Bloomberg communicative reports: Bill Bryan dismissed that notion.

But location are much links successful this concatenation than that. For instance, Outreach Data Partners — nan institution that theoretically made Joe and Sarah constricted partners?

Bill Bryan does not tally it. He doesn't tally ANY of nan companies that employment 30,000 group from a mailbox successful an Atlanta portion mall.

Which isn't to opportunity that he has thing to do pinch them. That's next.

This section of An Arm and a Leg is produced successful business pinch KFF Health News. That's a nonprofit newsroom covering wellness issues successful America. Their journalists do astonishing work. We're honored to beryllium their colleagues.

So, Bill Bryan seems to beryllium nan mastermind down what Bloomberg calls these 30,000 fake-jobs, and nan wellness plans they offer.

But no, he doesn't tally nan information companies down those jobs. That would beryllium illegal. 

Zach Mider: The information companies themselves wouldn't beryllium allowed nether national labour rule to move a profit connected these wellness plans.

Dan: I mean, that sounds for illustration a bully law: Your leader isn't expected to make money by trading you a wellness plan. 

Zach Mider: So it's each very segregated. They're very observant to opportunity these information companies are abstracted from us. The information companies are employing these group and they are sponsoring these wellness plans. And Bill Bryan's domiciled is he runs a bid of vendors which provides services to nan information companies.

Dan: Services for illustration … moving a wellness plan! Which, for a normal company, is simply a normal arrangement.

Remember really we said: Lots of employer wellness plans — ones tied to normal jobs— are exempt from authorities security laws?

The measurement those plans are group up, nan employer usually hires a vendor — typically a large security company, for illustration Blue Cross aliases Aetna — to tally their wellness plan.

These information companies, alternatively of hiring Aetna to administer a wellness scheme — for their 30 1000 "limited partners" — they're hiring a institution that Bill Bryan happens to run.

Zach Mider: I deliberation he's done a beautiful bully occupation of keeping these things formally separate, right? So he's not formally successful control. He doesn't ain nan information companies, doesn't formally nonstop their activities.

Dan: But Zach says: Bill Bryan seems to person had a manus successful getting them group up. So they could connection wellness plans. That he could run.

Zach Mider: I deliberation it's adjacent to opportunity that this was his and his partner's idea, this full benignant of construct. But he's tried beautiful difficult to, arsenic a general matter, make it compliant pinch national labour law.

Zeke Faux: I consciousness for illustration we should telephone nan information companies and beryllium like, hey, I tin spot that you person a batch of complaints astir your wellness plan. It mightiness beryllium hurting recruiting. You know, would you for illustration to move to Aetna? Then we could find retired if, uh — really independent they are.

Dan: That's Zeke again, and yeah: He and Zach wrote successful their communicative that they recovered HUNDREDS of complaints to nan Federal Trade Commission, and nan Better Business Bureau, and Apple's App shop astir wellness plans tied to clone jobs.

A schematic that goes pinch their communicative shows dozens of quotes, like: This full point feels for illustration a large scam that I fell for.

And: I can't ideate I americium nan only personification who has been lied to and fundamentally stolen from.

And: Stay distant astatine each costs.

Which raises a large question: Is immoderate of this really legal? Isn't location personification regulating it?

Zach says Bill Bryan wants answers to those questions too. 

Seven years ago, a information institution nan Bloomberg communicative describes arsenic "allied pinch Bryan" went to nan Labor Department for clarification— and validation. Basically, they said:

Zach Mider: We want you to motion disconnected connected this and corroborate to everyone successful nan marketplace that this is legit. That these are existent employees, these constricted partner labor who are downloading nan web browser are existent employees, and that truthful we tin waste 'em, these wellness plans without immoderate problem. And nan Department of Labor erstwhile push came to shove said, no, these aren't employees. You're conscionable trying to waste insurance.

Dan: Bryan's friends went to tribunal to conflict back. 

Zach Mider: And they're still fighting complete it each these galore years later. That was 2018 erstwhile they were first trying to get this opinion. And um, now it's 2025 and it's still unresolved. 

Dan: ?Here's what's happened truthful far: A territory judge ruled against nan Labor Department, calling its sentiment "arbitrary and capricious." An appeals tribunal later agreed pinch that conclusion, but sent nan lawsuit backmost to nan territory tribunal to reconsider different details, including: what should hap next.

Zach Mider: So nan measurement it stands, it's really successful a benignant of unusual limbo, wherever nan Department of Labor really doesn't get to say, these are legit, aliases these are not while we hold for nan litigation to play out. But it does unfastened nan doorway for different group for illustration Bill Bryan to travel into nan marketplace and commencement trading this benignant of stuff. 

Dan: And it looks for illustration they have. The Bloomberg communicative has a chart, showing nan number of households enrolled successful "fake jobs" plans. After nan appeals tribunal ruled against nan labour department, nan numbers much than doubled.

And meanwhile, NOBODY is regulating these plans. They're not accepted security plans, truthful authorities security departments don't person jurisdiction. So pinch nan national lawsuit connected hold, group for illustration Sarah and Joe person nary 1 to move to.

In a missive to nan editor that Bloomberg published, Bill Bryan blames what happened to group for illustration Sarah and Joe connected nan Labor Department, for not validating his model.

"If nan section stepped up and played its due role," he wrote, "the fraud reported successful your communicative could person very good been prevented."

He added: "At a minimum, it would springiness victims someplace to activity recourse."

So: everybody's sewage personification other to blame. 

Which is 1 of nan themes that connects Bill Bryan's communicative pinch a wholly WILD communicative that Zeke traced to Florida. One that doesn't commencement retired sounding for illustration it has thing to do pinch wellness insurance.

In 2024, he writes, "if you were mediocre and online, definite ads were everyplace you looked."

These ads featured personage deepfakes — promising 6 1000 4 100 dollars, if you telephone a definite telephone number. 

Zeke Faux: I mean, it looks for illustration it's Taylor Swift, and she's saying…

Fake Taylor Swift: Remember those stimulus checks? Well, there's a caller point going viral. 

Zeke Faux: Or it's Dr. Phil and he's saying..

Fake Dr. Phil: They're giving retired $6,400 to anyone who makes nan call 

Zeke Faux: Or Andrew Tate saying…

Fake Andrew Tate: If you don't enactment now, you're fundamentally throwing distant $6,400. That's conscionable stupid.

Zeke Faux: And these ads didn't even, they mightiness concisely mention wellness security aliases possibly they don't opportunity wellness security astatine all.

Dan: But if you called that number, you'd extremity up talking pinch personification fresh to motion you up for wellness insurance. 

Sign you up truthful quickly that… you mightiness not person immoderate thought that's what had conscionable happened. 

Or, for that matter, that no, you would not beryllium getting 64 100 bucks to spend.

This communicative goes successful immoderate WILD directions, but here's really Zeke describes nan relationship pinch nan fake-jobs saga. 

Zeke Faux: successful reporting some of these stories, I deliberation what we learned is that location is benignant of a subculture of telephone halfway operators who person turned what seems for illustration a beautiful boring business trading wellness security into a get rich | speedy benignant of operation.

Dan: The telephone centers, nan telemarketers. That's nan connection— Bloomberg paired these stories nether nan heading "Health Care Hustlers."And those hustlers are ever looking for a caller angle. 

Which is to say: Zeke and Zach's stories reenforce a large Arm and a Leg rule: 

If nan net leads you to a telephone telephone pinch personification who says they've sewage a GREAT wellness security woody for you… beryllium very, very suspicious.

And a batch of group will beryllium looking for deals connected wellness insurance. 

During nan Biden Administration, Congress added more-generous subsidies to Obamacare plans, which made them much affordable. 

Unless Congress re-ups them soon— which seems unlikely— those other subsidies will expire this year. 

People will look for alternatives, and these telephone centers will connection them.

In a way, it's backmost to nan future: 

The first Trump Administration loosened definite rules, making it easier to waste short-term plans that didn't meet Obamacare standards. Zeke says he reported connected nan results backmost then.

Zeke Faux: I said pinch group who had bought these plans and past had aesculapian emergencies and been stuck pinch 50 aliases a 100 1000 dollar bills, truthful we'll beryllium — we're kinda watching to spot what caller products look aliases what these telephone centers commencement selling. 

Dan: And meanwhile, conscionable — look: Don't bargain security complete nan telephone from personification you've ne'er met. Don't fuss pinch google. Healthcare dot gov. That's fundamentally it. 

What you'll find there, I'm not saying you'll emotion it. It's astir apt gonna costs much than you want to pay, and deductibles will apt beryllium high. 

But moreover though subsidies for Obamacare plans aren't AS generous this year, they still exist. And these policies are regulated. Anything else… for illustration Sarah Strohmenger said, it's a free-for-all. And location are immoderate hustlers retired there. 

Meanwhile: nan Trump Administration and Congress person some group up changes to nan ACA marketplaces — administrative hassles that will make it harder to get, and keep, your coverage.

The clip to commencement readying for it is now. And we're gonna person immoderate thief for you, starting pinch adjacent week's First Aid Kit newsletter. 

My workfellow Claire Davenport has been digging into those changes, what they mean for each of us, and really we tin commencement preparing. 

You tin motion up connected our website astatine armandalegshow dot com, slash, first assistance kit.

By nan way: We conscionable launched a caller type of our website — pinch a marque caller feature: Starter Packs. 

Here's wherever we bring together our champion reporting connected questions you request answers to, like: How do I shop for wellness insurance? 

We'll person a nexus wherever you're listening, 

and we'll beryllium backmost pinch a caller section successful a fewer weeks.

Until then, return attraction of yourself.

This section of An Arm and a Leg was produced by Emily Pisacreta and me, Dan Weissmann — pinch thief from Lauren Gould—

And edited by Ellen Weiss.

Claire Davenport is our engagement producer. 

Adam Raymonda is our audio wizard.

Our euphony is by Dave Weiner and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bea Bosco is our consulting head of operations.

Lynne Johnson is our operations manager.

An Arm and a Leg is produced successful business pinch KFF Health News. That's a nationalist newsroom producing in-depth publicity astir wellness issues successful America — and a halfway programme astatine KFF: an independent root of wellness argumentation research, polling, and journalism.

Zach Dyer is elder audio shaper astatine KFF Health News. He's nan editorial liaison to this show.

An Arm and a Leg is Distributed by KUOW — Seattle's NPR station.

And acknowledgment to nan Institute for Nonprofit News for serving arsenic our fiscal sponsor.

They let america to judge tax-exempt donations. You tin study much astir INN astatine INN.org.

Finally, convey you to everybody who supports this show financially. You tin subordinate successful immoderate clip astatine Arm and a Leg show, dot com, slash: support.

Thanks! And acknowledgment for listening.