First Aid Kit is a newsletter meant to help you fight a brutal enemy — the American health care system. Because if we’re going to change this system, we have to survive it in the meantime.
And I think I can help with that. My name is Dan Weissmann* —I make a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can maybe do about it. (It’s called An Arm and A Leg. If you like this, you’ll probably like that too.)
Having made the podcast for three years, I’ve learned a lot about the absolute hell we’re up against here. And I’ve found some ways to fight back.
Now it’s time to put all that knowledge in one place, starting here, with First Aid Kit, a newsletter that comes out every month. If I ever write a book, this is the first draft, serialized.
Yep, a first draft—so I want your feedback. Comments are open.
You may not personally need all this information right now. I hope you’re safe and healthy, and have great health insurance (and everything else you need).
But you probably know someone who could use this stuff: Someone who is starting their first job. Or someone who got a surprise monster bill. Or maybe someone who is spending a lot of time on the phone with health insurance.
So, I hope you’ll share this around and subscribe.
Don’t forget to comment. You can also write to me directly, using this form on the Arm and a Leg website. I read all of it.
Finally: This resource is free but not cheap. If you like what we’re doing, I hope you’ll donate to support the project.
We’ll never charge for subscriptions, but making this newsletter and An Arm and a Leg is my actual full-time job. And this newsletter is free but not cheap.
I also pay a crew of amazing people, whose work makes this stuff better than I possibly could do on my own. Your donations make it possible.
No matter what, thanks so much for reading. I’m glad to have you along. Till next time,
… take care of yourself.
Dan Weissmann
* I’m a reporter, and I like a challenge, so the job I’ve chosen is to take one of the most enraging, terrifying, depressing parts of American life and create a show— and now a newsletter— that’s entertaining, empowering, and useful.
