Thread by @danweissmann

Can't help it, I've gotta crow about the new @armandalegshow: How to avoid the crappiest health insurance.
Useful? Yes. Also super-fun, starting with @mit_kab taking us for wild ride about a scam that uses Google. Very effectively.
armandalegshow.com/episode/avoid-…

If you google "ACA enroll" the first results will be scam sites. They'll look convincing. You fill in your phone number, then get a zillion calls from folks trying to sell you junk insurance.
Georgetown researcher @DaniaPal did it and took good notes.
chirblog.org/misleading-mar…

"The people you're talking to have a script that's written to make you feel comfortable. And every question has what seems like the right answer—if you don't know that it's the wrong answer,"
@DaniaPal, describing the salesfolks peddling crap insurance.
armandalegshow.com/episode/avoid-…

It's easy to fall for these scams, even for those of us who think of ourselves as pretty sophisticated. Just ask journalist @OliverAshKleine

https://twitter.com/OliverAshKleine/status/1339001508281643013

... or ask other folks who got roped into buying super-crap insurance.
Like the Peace Corps veteran AND the Harvard Law student profiled in this @propublica story.
Both of them got snookered, and it cost them plenty.
propublica.org/article/junk-i…

But wait, there's more! We've also got top insurance nerds like @LouiseNorris, Georgetown's @SabrinaCorlette, and Karen Pollitz from @KFF teaching us how to find—and read—the fine print.
armandalegshow.com/episode/avoid-…

Bonus fine print: Insurance companies are supposed to report how often they deny claims, to the feds. The data is hard to find, and requires serious programming chops to parse.
Karen Pollitz @KFF gets the job done. The results aren't pretty. AND...
kff.org/private-insura…

"Anthem, for the last couple of years, is pretty much leading the nation in denied claims. So if Anthem's the cheapest plan, it's like: Just know that you may have to go rounds with them, and may not get your claim paid." Karen Pollitz, @KFF
Receipts:
files.kff.org/attachment/201…

But you know what? Not all the news is bad. Obamacare plans are a huge bargain right now. Here's a subsidy calculator from @KFF.
kff.org/interactive/su…

Hey, maybe you'd like information like this... written down somewhere? So you don't have to listen to a podcast and take notes? We've got you.
firstaidkit.substack.com

Because it's open-enrollment for health insurance right now, we're starting with a series on how to approach that process.
Yep. A series. Because this s*** is complicated.
firstaidkit.substack.com/p/how-to-choos…

If this sounds like the kind of thing you'd like to support... yes, please!

And right now, the #NewsMatch campaign from @INN will match every dollar you give us.
armandalegshow.com/support/