Here & Now opening for January 2, 2026

Announcer:
The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Shanon Schmidtknecht:
I just remember walking in and she had it written down on a piece of paper – ‘no longer covered by insurance.’

Marisa Wojcik:
What would you do?

Bil Schmidtknecht:
We always assumed that he kind of ran some life choices and said, “rent or this,” and thought he could do without it.

Marisa Wojcik:
If your medicine was suddenly not covered by insurance.

Kevin Voltz:
We need $13,000 before we can ship this. And I said, “$13,000?”

Marisa Wojcik:
If you had to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars up front.

Kevin Voltz:
Yes. That’s what this drug costs to be delivered without insurance.

Marisa Wojcik:
Before getting a lifesaving prescription.

Nilsa Cruz:
The patients really don’t understand what’s going on with their benefits.

Marisa Wojcik:
And it all seems too complicated to understand.

Ann Lewandowski:
You’re really in survival mode, and you’re just trying to figure out, like, do I go to work and make money or do I deal with this disease?

Mary Felzkowski:
We have the fifth highest health care costs in the nation, and our quality does not reflect that.

Larry Crowley:
These patients are confused. They’re overwhelmed, and they’re forced into impossible decisions about their health.

Marisa Wojcik:
Good evening. I’m Marisa Wojcik, series producer of “Here & Now.” Tonight on our program, we’re bringing you a series of stories about prescription medication becoming increasingly unaffordable. In “Rx Uncovered,” we’ll dive into the complex systems driving these trends and the stories of patients facing life or death choices. We look at how and why more health plans are not covering lifesaving medication, the real-life impacts this is having on Wisconsin patients, who’s trying to change it, and what you should know about your plan. It’s “Here & Now” for January 2nd.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.