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A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

linuxlock.blogspot.it

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Re: A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

#21

Post by technotony »

mtrn wrote: post #12
gambiting wrote: post #6

Say whatever you like about EU, but I can't think of any country here that would not help this man, or let him die simply because he can't afford surgery. In the worst possible case he would still have the surgery done straight away ,but he would have to pay afterwards,not before - he might end up in debt because of that,but better than being dead for sure. Anyway, donated some money, really wish he gets all the help…

* Germany: In 2005, Germany spent 10.7% of GDP on health care, or US$3,628 per capita. Germany has Europe's oldest universal health care insurance system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck's Social legislation, which included the Health Insurance Bill of 1883, Accident Insurance Bill of 1884, and Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1889. * US: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Uni…

These are old numbers... America is forecast to spend 17 or 18% of GDP on healthcare this year...

Re: A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

#22

Post by msie »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #8
FiloSottile wrote: post #2

Indiegogo campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/helios (RE-EDIT: IndieGoGo takes 9% fee but PayPal is known for account freezing, the choice is up to you)

Note that your donation goes 9% further if you just donate directly rather than through IndieGoGo.

Phew! If I had read the comments here before the article I would have donated through IndieGoGo instead of PayPal.

Re: A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

#23

Post by mparlane »

eric_bullington wrote: post #11

I just donated $50. And as much as I agree with the sentiments on this page about my country's lacking health care system (and have always voted with this in mind), I hope we can come together to focus on the problem at hand, which is raising money for a fellow dev in his time of greatest need. I assume the Indiegogo account cannot be suspended as easily as Paypal, so I made the donation through Indiegogo despite the…

I matched your donation! :) I hope he gets the surgery before it's too late. It didn't help that I was listening to a depressing song while I read the article.

Re: A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

#26

Post by wisty »

FiloSottile wrote: post #5
callmesocialist wrote: post #4

I still question the lack of healthcare in a developed nation.

Yeah, in a nation like USA (or actually anywhere, but let's be realistic) no one should die because they can't afford a standard treatment. I am from Italy and the first times I couldn't believe it.

The danger is that people will over-use the public system. Governments can solve this by offering a really bad customer experience (Soviet architecture, putting an experienced nurse at the front desk rather than a cute 20-year-old girl, bad food, less choices, and so on). People often prefer private hospitals, even when public hospitals offer superior treatment. This takes the load off the public system, allowing it to serve the people who need it.

Re: A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

#27

Post by _delirium »

tzs wrote: post #3

SSI disability payments should not count against Medicare income limits. The United States fucking sucks sometimes.

It's a mess that's up to the discretion of each state. This page has information on how SSI and Medicaid interact: http://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/medicaid.htm

In 32 states, being on SSI disability payment generally qualifies you for Medicaid without a further application, unless you also have additional income. States then vary in how much additional income, and in some you can still "buy in" to Medicaid even above the threshold, by paying some of the premium out of your additional income.

In other states the criteria for SSI disability and Medicaid are different, and may interact badly, with someone on SSI considered "not poor enough" for Medicaid. This is particularly likely in states with extremely low Medicaid thresholds where even someone at the poverty line wouldn't qualify. Here is a summary of the overall effect of all those variations: http://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/state_1619_b_threshold_am...

The upcoming PPACA Medicaid expansion may sort out some of it, for states that don't opt out, but we'll see.

Re: A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

#29

Post by FiloSottile »

mparlane wrote: post #28
sidcool wrote: post #25

My donations went to "DragonWing Software", I hope that's correct.

Thomas A. Knight has put up a page that tells Ken's story and he's volunteered to host the fund raising page for this effort. I believe it's Thomas' company.

Correct. It is Knight's company, and he is managing the fund raising.
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