We thought we had adulted properly
Caitlin and Corey Gaffer got a surprise letter from their insurance company — saying they were being dumped for non-payment. Except, as far as they knew, they were paid up.
As it turned out, they’d made a couple of small mistakes, which they were eager to fix. But their insurer was definitely not interested. Caitlin and Corey spent fruitless weeks on the phone.
And then, Caitlin’s pregnancy — more than six months along — ran into complications.
They scrambled for months to get covered, while racking up about $30,000 in hospital bills.
There’s a happy ending. Two, in fact.
First, their baby was born healthy (and insured) in January. She’s in the episode too, and she’s adorable.
Maggie, Corey, and Caitlin Gaffer, with Luna the dog. (Photo by Lauren Cutshall.)
Second: In March their old insurer offered an apology — and offered to reinstate them. (This was the day after a reporter called to ask the insurer for their side of the story.)
… but the whole journey was harrowing, and opens up questions about what kinds of safeguards consumers have — or should have — against getting dropped.
Welcome to Season Two!
This story — like a lot of this season — came straight from my inbox. A few days after the show launched, I got an email with the subject line “Pregnant woman and her husband in Minnesota need help.”
We’ve got new friends!
We’ve got co-producers for Season Two, Kaiser Health News. Three things to know:
First: Kaiser Health News is not affiliated with the giant health care provider Kaiser Permanente. They share an ancestor — which is a fun story I’ve written all about here.
Second: They ARE a great non-profit newsroom covering health care in America, an editorially independent project of the Kaiser Family Foundation. (There’s that name again. And again, here’s the story.)
Third: Their editor-in-chief is one of the people who inspired this show.
YEP. The whole story is worth reading. I am so pleased and proud to be working with these folks.
Catch you next time. Till then, how about…
- Following us on Twitter or Facebook?
- Becoming a Patron?
- Sharing a story?
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
More episodes from An Arm and a Leg
Want to write a killer letter to insurance? Meet Jeannine.
Health care insiders get stupid medical bills too. One of them taught us how to write an insurance appeal—like the one that saved her son $14,000. You can read that letter—and her notes to …
Mini-episode: One guy skirts a medical-bill trap, and shares the secret.
When Adam Woodrum's insurance denied a claim for an ER bill, he sent his story to NPR... because he happened to KNOW how to deal with it. And he …
Why picking the right insurance is so hard (bonus/encore)
How hard is it to pick the best health insurance? ECONOMISTS find it hard. Including one who has studied the question, "How hard can it be to pick a decent insurance plan?"
Lots of people …
Programming note: We're working on some cool new stuff.
... and it's gonna take us a little while to get it ready for you— maybe a couple months. Meanwhile, we'll have little updates for you here and there.
... and it's a great time to sign up …
Who's been trying to cash in on COVID vaccinations? (And how did racism help them out?)
With COVID vaccinations ramping up, it's time to check in: Who's been trying to make a buck? And who's been doing their best to serve the folks who …
Revisiting insulin, as relevant (and expensive) as ever
We're re-releasing and updating a story we first reported in 2019, about how insulin got to be so horribly expensive—the scientists who discovered it …
How you can listen to this podcast
You can listen to episodes right here on the website, or if you prefer, in a podcast app. Listening in an app makes it easier to keep track of what you’ve already heard, listen without using your data plan and many other conveniences.