Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
11–20 of 37 posts
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#12European here; I've clicked the link and read the introductory text but I am still not fully informed, so here I ask. Why is Jonathan's health insurance not covering the treatment? Is it because of the terminality? Or because of the way the US health insurance system works? I have very little experience with American insurance systems, but it seems that the public is asked to fund the costs of a family which was let…
I think criticizing the US Healthcare system is perfectly reasonable. But it sounds as though you think that not donating to this individual will have some indirect effect on improving things for other people in the future.
No, if you have the funds to both campaign for a systemic solution and help the individuals that are currently in trouble because of the systemic problem, then you are of course free to do so.
Suggesting that one is more important of our time, energy and money than the other is, however, a valid opinion [1].
[1]: It is valid if my assumptions about the insurance not covering Jonathan and other such cases were true; that may not be so.
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#13European here; I've clicked the link and read the introductory text but I am still not fully informed, so here I ask. Why is Jonathan's health insurance not covering the treatment? Is it because of the terminality? Or because of the way the US health insurance system works? I have very little experience with American insurance systems, but it seems that the public is asked to fund the costs of a family which was let…
Interesting take and I don't necessarily disagree. My guess is that most people who are donating don't have wider policy on their mind, only helping someone fill an individual need. Something analogous to a Red Cross/Crescent which does not want to influence policy directly, only to help individuals.
This is why, for many people, it's a big deal to be an atheist: if the main community for you is the church, you're not just foregoing religious and moral support, but also the material kind.
It's certainly an understandable reaction to point out that the problem is bigger than one person on giveitforward.org, and that the US health insurance system with insurers being given cheap excuses like coverage ending with your employment contract (rendering your health coverage useless whenever you have a severe disease) or allowing insurers to retroactively (sometimes by 10 or 20 years) invoke a preexisting-condition clause means that many more people have to beg the last months of subsistence off of their friends, family, and community. Or just sit in a corner and die, if they're not well-connected socially.
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#14European here; I've clicked the link and read the introductory text but I am still not fully informed, so here I ask. Why is Jonathan's health insurance not covering the treatment? Is it because of the terminality? Or because of the way the US health insurance system works? I have very little experience with American insurance systems, but it seems that the public is asked to fund the costs of a family which was let…
I have to agree. This keeps on happening: fundraisers for people in the US whose insurance is failing to cover their medical bills. Such fundraisers only work if there's a community (such as HN) to appeal to. If your path in life did not lead you into a community to fundraise from, you're just plain doomed. And I'm going to get very political for a moment here: There is a lot of enthusiasm on HN for "market forces",…
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to agree. This keeps on happening: fundraisers for people in the US whose insurance is failing to cover their medical bills. Such fundraisers only work if there's a community (such as HN) to appeal to. If your path in life did not lead you into a community to fundraise from, you're just plain doomed. And I'm going to get very political for a moment here: There is a lot of enthusiasm on HN for "market forces",…
It shouldn't make you cringe. This is actually (part of) the whole point of Free-Market/Libertarian/Randian/Austrian/Lassez-Faire economics, that people can elect to join social groups for exactly this kind of mutual support rather than being forced to participate in a single support network run by the government. (Note: I personally don't subscribe to this theory, but it is certainly defensible.)
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#16European here; I've clicked the link and read the introductory text but I am still not fully informed, so here I ask. Why is Jonathan's health insurance not covering the treatment? Is it because of the terminality? Or because of the way the US health insurance system works? I have very little experience with American insurance systems, but it seems that the public is asked to fund the costs of a family which was let…
In our case, we are very lucky. Both my Aunt and stepmother have good drug plans that refund their expenses. However, their treatments still cost thousands of dollars out of pocket. They're relatively lucky - they're both seniors who were well prepared and highly insured. Even luckier, they don't have dependents.
I can imagine many, many circumstances under which someone with a family, even in our relatively good health care environment simply could not afford many of the drugs they need. For example, in many cases, complete drug coverage is a premium offering through private insurers. I'm not sure how many healthy people in their mid-30s would really consider premium health insurance a huge priority, especially if they have families. Rather, the tendency could be to assume that their good health will hold and they won't need insurance.
In response to your valid criticism, I do agree with most of what you say. But, I would also argue that cancer is an asshole and, if I were in a situation where saving my life could bankrupt my family, I'd sure pray that my community put helping me out above making a political statement about the quality of prescription drug coverage in Canada!!
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
It shouldn't make you cringe. This is actually (part of) the whole point of Free-Market/Libertarian/Randian/Austrian/Lassez-Faire economics, that people can elect to join social groups for exactly this kind of mutual support rather than being forced to participate in a single support network run by the government. (Note: I personally don't subscribe to this theory, but it is certainly defensible.)
That just makes me cringe more, sorry. Even if you don't agree with these politics, you are very much describing them in their particular language and framing: a commitment to human dignity described as a use of force.
If you're the only X-believer in a community of Y-believers and you get cancer, well, it's not that the Y-believers want you to die, it's just that you're not part of their church and hence your fundraiser will get nowhere.
This is not a good system.
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#18European here; I've clicked the link and read the introductory text but I am still not fully informed, so here I ask. Why is Jonathan's health insurance not covering the treatment? Is it because of the terminality? Or because of the way the US health insurance system works? I have very little experience with American insurance systems, but it seems that the public is asked to fund the costs of a family which was let…
If you are lucky you have a good insurance plan and your employer provides disability insurance that covers your lost salary which recovering.
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting take and I don't necessarily disagree. My guess is that most people who are donating don't have wider policy on their mind, only helping someone fill an individual need. Something analogous to a Red Cross/Crescent which does not want to influence policy directly, only to help individuals.
I think the comparison to Red Cross/Red Crescent is not quite up to the point: my impression is that, for some things that Europeans see as a matter to be regulated (i.e., force health insurances to include "expensive" patients in their coverage, have the state provide subsidies) people in the US rely on local communities (churches, clubs) or their social network. Hence the notion of "paying it forward": by giving to…
If thousands of very public uninsured and preventable deaths have happened without a change this likely won't make the difference
Not that abstaining is reprehensible
Re: Tell HN: Jonathan Dale's Cancer Fundraiser isn't Doing Well & Time's Running Out
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting take and I don't necessarily disagree. My guess is that most people who are donating don't have wider policy on their mind, only helping someone fill an individual need. Something analogous to a Red Cross/Crescent which does not want to influence policy directly, only to help individuals.
I think the comparison to Red Cross/Red Crescent is not quite up to the point: my impression is that, for some things that Europeans see as a matter to be regulated (i.e., force health insurances to include "expensive" patients in their coverage, have the state provide subsidies) people in the US rely on local communities (churches, clubs) or their social network. Hence the notion of "paying it forward": by giving to…