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“Bills, Bills, Bills” — the 1999 hit from mega-group Destiny’s Child — has gotten a remix of types from the New York City musical troupe Heck No Techno. The troupe’s present “Explanation of Benefits” charts the historical past of the U.S. well being care system, borrowing Beyoncé swagger and including new lyrics:
Can you pay my payments? Can you pay my medical payments? Can you pay my deducti-bills? So possibly I can get my drugs?
The musical revue, staged earlier this yr, begins with hospital prepayment plans from the 1920s, traces the origins of insurance coverage large Blue Cross and dances by a long time of well being coverage twists, together with a light-weight skewering of the Affordable Care Act.
The present’s creators used their experiences with the well being care market as inspiration.
“I just felt so angry about this topic,” mentioned lead songwriter Emily Lowinger. “I just remember being like, ‘We have to do this because, otherwise, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
The present wraps with sketches demonstrating methods sufferers can work to guard themselves from extreme fees, together with suggestions for confronting physicians.
Stephanie Regina, one of many group’s founders, spent years working in a small medical workplace.
“One of the doctors I used to work for came to see the show, and he loved it — and he said, ‘Ooh, that was rough,” Regina mentioned. “Because he knows, too, sometimes people have to look at him in a certain light in order to protect themselves.”
The storytellers from Heck No Techno have taken some enraging and miserable private moments and turned them into artwork and laughter. This season, the podcast is all about monetary self-defense, and artwork and laughter are good instruments to have in your arsenal.
Season three is a co-production of Kaiser Health News and Public Road Productions.
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