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‘An Arm And A Leg’: Forget The Shakedown. To Get Paid, Hospitals Get Creative.


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An unexpected hospital bill can bust the family budget. More and more Americans have health plans that require them to pony up a high deductible before insurance kicks in. That leaves lots of people with bills they can’t pay. Turns out, that’s a crisis for hospitals too, and some are getting creative about collecting debt.

A few years ago, a table saw accident sent woodworker Jim Crannell to the emergency room with a bloody gash in his finger. The pain was bad, and afterward Crannell was bracing for a ghastly medical bill, too. But at discharge, he got an offer that promised to ease his financial suffering.

Listen to find out what happened next on Season 2, Episode 2 of “An Arm and a Leg: A Podcast About the Cost of Health Care.”

Season 2 is a co-production of Kaiser Health News and Public Road Productions.


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

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