The Workaround

People with rare metabolic disorders need medical foods to keep from going hungry, but costs and regulations mean some go without or have to find a workaround. Music used in this episode: Fingernail Grit , Time Waste , The Dirty , Chrome Muffler , Pulsars and Back Stairs by Podington Bear. Read the story: Medical foods are vital for a rare disease. Why doesn’t insurance cover them?

Nearly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant in the U.S. Many will never get one but some doctors have found an innovative solution. Music used in this episode: Massive , Chrome Muffler , Back Stairs , Refraction , The Dirty , Golden Hour , Pure Swell and Encounter by Podington Bear. Read the story: How A Deadly Virus Saved Organ Transplant Patients' Lives

Our prison population has been rapidly aging for years, and the additional care these elderly inmates require is expensive. But some prisons have created a surprising way to work around these costs. Music used in this episode: Massive , Chrome Muffler , Back Stairs , Gears Spinning , and Encounter by Podington Bear.

Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved medication used to treat opioid addiction, but it can be hard to get. That leaves some people suffering from addiction with a choice: keep using, or get buprenorphine on the black market. Music used in this episode: Massive , Am-Trans , Tarnish , The Dirty , Chrome Muffler , and Refraction by Podington Bear. Read the story: There's An Illegal Market For An Opioid Addiction Medication. Is That Such A Bad Thing?

Children with severe mental illnesses encounter many barriers to treatment. But some parents have discovered a workaround of last resort: they can trade custody for treatment. Music used in this episode: Am-Trans , Submerging Blue-Black , The Dirty , Chrome Muffler , and Back Stairs by Podington Bear; plus Cicle DR Valga by Blue Dot Sessions. Read the stories: Out Of Options, Parents Of Children With Mental Illness Trade Custody For Treatment, When Insurers Deny Mental Health Coverage, Families

For many people, life goes on after a diabetes diagnosis. But for others, the high price of insulin has forced them to devise dangerous and sometimes deadly workarounds to make ends meet. On this episode: the lengths to which some diabetics go to survive, and why insulin is so expensive. Music used in this episode: Massive , Tarnish , The Dirty , Chrome Muffler , and Pulsars by Podington Bear; plus Tralaga by Blue Dot Sessions Read the story: With Insulin Prices Soaring, Some Diabetics Turn to

These are stories of the difficult and sometimes shocking things people do to work around the American healthcare system.