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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We wiped out almost $10K of my roommate’s medical bills

How we tackled nearly $10k out of $14.5k in medical bills.

How to (maybe) steer clear of facility fees

Our two best strategies for avoiding these increasingly common charges.

We’ve still got some protections against medical debt collectors

And they’re still worth knowing about, you know??

Finding encouragement

And not just in fighting medical bills.

How my roommate and I are tackling almost $14,500 in medical bills, Pt. 2

Reading your receipts.

The Big Picture

A medical-debt watchdog gets sidelined: Now what?

This federal agency kept bill collectors in line. It might be disappearing.

February 26, 2025

How my roommate and I are tackling almost $14,500 in medical bills

Part 1: Getting organized.

February 19, 2025

First Aid Kit is going weekly

Restocking the kit with more advice for navigating the evolving health care ~hellscape~ in 2025.

January 31, 2025

How to (maybe) get drugs for cheaper

What we’ve learned, and how you can help us learn more.

October 25, 2024

Fighting with insurance, part 2 — getting real

There’s no middle step between the “easy” way of fighting with insurance and going to war with them. But there’s a possible (partial) shortcut in the works.

November 10, 2023

How to shop for insurance, 2023 edition

Getting next year’s insurance: Some new (and updated) tips and tricks.

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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.

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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 →

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.

December 11, 2025

Some more things that didn’t suck in 2025

How state lawmakers took on new fights and won

See the Episode Archive

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