‘An Arm And A Leg’: Tips For Surviving COVID With Your Financial Health Intact

By Dan Weissmann May 26, 2020

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen.

About This Podcast

Health care — and how much it costs — is scary. But you’re not alone with this stuff, and knowledge is power. “An Arm and a Leg” is a podcast about these issues, and its second season is co-produced by KHN.

Visit armandalegshow.com

In early April, Katelyn was in a financial bind. At home and sick with COVID-19, she hadn’t been paid in weeks. And her bills were due.

“My landlord is kinda beating down my door right now,” she said in a voicemail to the podcast hotline: (724) 276-6534; that’s 724 ARM N LEG.

Weeks later, Katelyn got back in touch: She had made it through with her financial health intact, thanks to a combination of playing hardball with one company and knowing how to play nice with others.

Katelyn works in collections for a financial institution, so she knew how to ask for help. Even so, she didn’t find the process easy. She came out of the ordeal with hard-won tips for all of us, and a heck of a story.

Here are two other resources from the episode: our favorite TikTok mom shares tips for dealing with medical bills and collection agencies, and Hello Landlord. It’s a free online tool that automatically generates letters you can send to your landlord, asserting your legal rights. (Right now, those rights may include some federal protections against evictions.)

“SEASON-19” of “An Arm and a Leg” is a co-production of Kaiser Health News and Public Road Productions.

To keep in touch with “An Arm and a Leg,” subscribe to the newsletter. You can also follow the show on Facebook and Twitter. And if you’ve got stories to tell about the health care system, the producers would love to hear from you.

To hear all Kaiser Health News podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to “An Arm and a Leg” on iTunes, Pocket Casts, Google Play or Spotify.

Facebook
LinkedIn
X
Email
Print
Republish This Story

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Copy And Paste To Republish This Story

‘An Arm And A Leg’: Tips For Surviving COVID With Your Financial Health Intact

By Dan Weissmann May 26, 2020

Article HTML

<h1>‘An Arm And A Leg’: Tips For Surviving COVID With Your Financial Health Intact</h1>	<span class="byline">
		By <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/author/dan-weissmann/"><strong>Dan Weissmann</strong></a>	</span>

// Autosize iframe
				var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) {

var origin = document.createElement( 'a' );
					origin.href = e.origin;

// Verify message origin
					if ( 'embeds.kff.org' !== origin.host )
						return;

// Verify message is in a format we expect
					if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type )
						return;

switch ( e.data.msg_type ) {
						case 'poll_size:response':
							var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id );

if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width )
								iframe.width = '100%';
							if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height )
								iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height );

return;
						default:
							return;
					}
				}

if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) {
					window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false );
				} else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) {
					window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse );
				}
			}
			if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ }
			else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); }
			else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); }
		} )();
		</script>

<p><em>Can’t see the audio player? <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/how-katelyn-survived-covid-without-going-bankrupt-not-easy-she-has-tips/">Click here to listen.</a></em></p>

<aside class="related related-slab pull-right">
											<div class="slab default-slab ">
													<h3>
					<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/">
		About This Podcast			</a>
			</h3>
<div class="slab-container">	<div class="slab-content">
		
	<iframe 
 title="‘An Arm And A Leg’: Tips For Surviving COVID With Your Financial Health Intact" aria-label="Podcast title: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Tips For Surviving COVID With Your Financial Health Intact"
		id="wpcom-iframe-fd4400dc57e7f88088feceb32debdbcc"
		width="100%"
		height="188"
		src="https://embeds.kff.org/protected-iframe/fd4400dc57e7f88088feceb32debdbcc"
		scrolling=""
		frameborder="0"
		class="wpcom-protected-iframe"
		>
	</iframe>
	<script type="text/javascript">
		( function() {
			var func = function() {
				var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-fd4400dc57e7f88088feceb32debdbcc')
				if ( iframe ) {
					iframe.onload = function() {
						iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( {
							'msg_type': 'poll_size',
							'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-fd4400dc57e7f88088feceb32debdbcc'
						}, "https:\/\/embeds.kff.org" );
					}
				}

// Autosize iframe
				var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) {

var origin = document.createElement( 'a' );
					origin.href = e.origin;

// Verify message origin
					if ( 'embeds.kff.org' !== origin.host )
						return;

// Verify message is in a format we expect
					if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type )
						return;

switch ( e.data.msg_type ) {
						case 'poll_size:response':
							var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id );

if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width )
								iframe.width = '100%';
							if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height )
								iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height );

return;
						default:
							return;
					}
				}

<p><em>Can’t see the audio player? <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/how-katelyn-survived-covid-without-going-bankrupt-not-easy-she-has-tips/">Click here to listen.</a></em></p>

<p>In early April, Katelyn was in a financial bind. At home and sick with COVID-19, she hadn’t been paid in weeks. And her bills were due.</p>
<p>“My landlord is kinda beating down my door right now,” she said in a voicemail to the podcast hotline: (724) 276-6534; that’s 724 ARM N LEG.</p>
<p>Weeks later, Katelyn got back in touch: She had made it through with her financial health intact, thanks to a combination of playing hardball with one company and knowing how to play nice with others.</p>
<p>Katelyn works in collections for a financial institution, so she knew how to ask for help. Even so, she didn’t find the process easy. She came out of the ordeal with hard-won tips for all of us, and a heck of a story.</p>
<p>Here are two other resources from the episode: our favorite <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/medical-bill-tips-from-a-mom-who-knows-some-things/">TikTok mom</a> shares tips for dealing with medical bills and collection agencies, and <a href="https://hellolandlord.org/">Hello Landlord</a>. It’s a free online tool that automatically generates letters you can send to your landlord, asserting your legal rights. (Right now, those rights may include some federal protections against <a href="https://evictionlab.org/covid-policy-scorecard/">evictions</a>.)</p>

<p>“SEASON-19” of “An Arm and a Leg” is a co-production of Kaiser Health News and Public Road Productions.</p>
<p>To keep in touch with “An Arm and a Leg,” <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/newsletter/">subscribe to the newsletter</a>. You can also follow the show on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/armandalegshow/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/armandalegshow">Twitter</a>. And if you’ve got stories to tell about the health care system, the producers <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact-us/">would love to hear from you</a>.</p>
<p><em>To hear all Kaiser Health News podcasts, <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/tag/podcast/">click here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>And subscribe to “An Arm and a Leg” on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/an-arm-and-a-leg/id1438778444">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://play.pocketcasts.com/web/discover/podcast/6e9e33e0-b911-0136-7b93-27f978dac4db">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hcm1hbmRhbGVnc2hvdy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0Lw%3D%3D">Google Play</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3wBgLSbYPKT3gnd9KGjz5t?si=jEMzB2soS_ayOsYbK0cmnQ">Spotify</a>.</em></p>
<div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-text sd-sharing"><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-343992" class="share-facebook sd-button no-icon" href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/an-arm-and-a-leg-tips-for-surviving-covid-with-your-financial-health-intact/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-343992" class="share-linkedin sd-button no-icon" href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/an-arm-and-a-leg-tips-for-surviving-covid-with-your-financial-health-intact/?share=linkedin" target="_blank" title="Click to share on LinkedIn" ><span>LinkedIn</span></a></li><li class="share-x"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-x-343992" class="share-x sd-button no-icon" href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/an-arm-and-a-leg-tips-for-surviving-covid-with-your-financial-health-intact/?share=x" target="_blank" title="Click to share on X" ><span>X</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button no-icon" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20%E2%80%98An%20Arm%20And%20A%20Leg%E2%80%99%3A%20Tips%20For%20Surviving%20COVID%20With%20Your%20Financial%20Health%20Intact&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2FMzQzOTky&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="f15cf212be" data-email-share-track-url="https://californiahealthline.org/news/an-arm-and-a-leg-tips-for-surviving-covid-with-your-financial-health-intact/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button no-icon" href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/an-arm-and-a-leg-tips-for-surviving-covid-with-your-financial-health-intact/#print" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-republish">
				<a
					rel="nofollow"
					class="share-republish sd-button"
					title="Republish this story"
					href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/an-arm-and-a-leg-tips-for-surviving-covid-with-your-financial-health-intact/view/republish/" >
					<span>Republish This Story</span>
				</a>
			</li></ul></div></div></div>

We encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here’s what we ask:

You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our californiahealthline.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and “California Healthline” in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.

Have questions? Let us know.

From The California Health Care Foundation

Medi-Cal Medi-Cal Facts and Figures – 2024 Edition

Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, is the state’s health insurance program for Californians with low incomes, including children, people with disabilities, and seniors. Get the latest data on this program, which covers one in three Californians.

Health Policy Survey Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity in California — 2024 Edition

Disparities among historically marginalized groups in California occur across many demographic categories. This Almanac provides data that show how people of color face barriers in accessing health care, often receive suboptimal treatment, and are most likely to experience poor outcomes in the health care system.

Health Policy Survey The 2024 CHCF California Health Policy Survey

Conducted in fall 2023, this survey collected Californian adults’ opinions and experiences on various health care topics, including mental health, medical debt, racial equity, and more.

Related Topics