First Aid Kit Archive • An Arm And a Leg

First Aid Kit

Our newsletter sums up and shares the practical lessons we’ve learned about surviving the health care system, financially.

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Medical debt news update, plus an announcement!

Our new website is here — with a new, useful feature.

The Big Picture

Why drugs cost so much — and can be hard to even find

Zooming out from our "Prescription Drug Playbook."

What’s cooking at An Arm and a Leg

We’re building something we hope you’ll like.

Navigating Insurance

A local clinic might have a line on affordable meds

Your mileage may vary, but here’s a roadmap.

An old school but worthy directory of prescription drug resources

Especially for need-based assistance programs.

Avoiding Ripoffs

A checklist and a new (to us) tip

Getting your meds for less, part two: order of operations

Avoiding Ripoffs

A tool for hunting down prescription discounts

Getting your meds for less, part one: going outside insurance.

A First Aid Kit reader organized a medical-debt clinic

And we got to go. Here's what we learned.

An Arm and a Leg’s Summer Reading List

Some of our favorite books about health care in America.

Avoiding Ripoffs

Medical-bill resources everyone should know about

Sourced from you, our readers!

More encouragement, via John Green

What I took away from his best-selling new book.

Looking for something?

For topic-specific deep dives and recommended reading, check out our Starter Packs or use the search bar below to explore our site.

More of our reporting

Starter Packs

Jumping off points: Our best episodes and our best answers to some big questions.

Explore our Starter Packs →

How to wipe out your medical bill with charity care

Our guide to an under-the-radar but essential resource for wiping out medical debt.

How do I shop for health insurance?

Picking a health insurance plan can be super confusing. Here's our best advice.

Help! I’m stuck with a gigantic medical bill.

Don't freak out. We've laid out tips to help you manage your medical bills.

The prescription drug playbook

The high cost of prescription meds in the US is a crisis: one in four adults say they’ve skipped taking a prescription in the past year because of cost.

Help! Insurance denied my claim.

Insurance denies lots of claims, and people give up. But the majority of people who appeal win. Here's the best of what we've published so far to help you.

See All Our Starter Packs

If you don't know where to start or are just getting to know us, we recommend you start here.

Podcast Episodes

Our show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it.

Explore the podcast →

‘Not workable’: How two Americans picked a plan this year — or didn’t

Featuring: An attorney with a kid who plays polo and a third-generation skateboard-shop owner.

February 26, 2026

The EpiPen and Food Allergies (from Drug Story)

How a lifesaving – and notoriously pricey – drug came to be. From journalist Thomas Goetz.

February 5, 2026

NYT’s Ron Lieber: ‘These people are not going to win’

When NYT columnist Ron Lieber's wife got an unexpected insurance denial 36 hours before surgery, he started asking: why does this happen? And how can we better arm ourselves in advance?

January 15, 2026

‘Sh**’s wild’: Scaling up, doubling down, and buckling in

We check in with Dollar For founder Jared Walker about how the organization massively scaled up their operations — as they (and the rest of us) navigate increasingly rocky terrain.

December 29, 2025

Our favorite project of 2025 levels up — and you can help

Behind-the-scenes on a volunteer project to help people get care and avoid debt.

See the Episode Archive

One of the most enraging, terrifying, depressing parts of American life made entertaining, empowering, and useful.