Less than 36 hours before his wife was scheduled to undergo major surgery, New York Times personal finance columnist Ron Lieber got an unwelcome letter from his family’s insurance plan: It was denying prior authorization for the procedure.
With no time to lodge an appeal, Lieber and his wife decided to proceed and bet on her doctors’ ability to reverse the decision post-surgery. They succeeded, but the experience troubled Lieber. Why had no one warned them sooner? He set out to find answers to help people avoid scrambling to deal with a last-minute denial.
In this episode of An Arm and a Leg, Lieber shares with host Dan Weissmann takeaways from his New York Times series about how doctors and other health care clinicians can do a better job of keeping patients informed.
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Transcript: NYT’s Ron Lieber: ‘These people are not going to win.’
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Dan: Hey there. Let’s meet somebody.
Ron Lieber: I’m Ron Lieber. I write the “Your Money” column for the New York Times. I write all sorts of books, and I live in Brooklyn, New York.
Dan: Ron’s specialty is beating the system: How to not pay more than you really need to. His most recent book — about paying for college — we’ve practically worn out our copy around my house.
Now, it’s possible Ron’s not the most prominent journalist in his household. A major Hollywood movie a few years ago had Zoe Kazan starring as Ron’s wife, Jodi Kantor.
Zoe Kazan as Jodi Kantor: Hi. We’re from the New York Times. I believe you used to work for Harvey Weinstein.
Dan: She was one of the reporters who exposed the movie producer Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual assault, and helped kick start the Me Too movement. I mean, that’s hard to beat.
In 2024, Jodi was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she got scheduled for surgery at Memorial S …