Captain Crunch needs your help

Getting disability insurance is strongly encouraged for contractors and others in the US (we have both short term and long term).

There are actually federal (and some state) programs to pay disability if a worker is disabled, but enrollment takes some time, and generally the support is at poverty level, not based on salary.

A serious complication for people who freelance, contract, etc. is that aside from Social Security Disability (SSI, generally for long-term disability), the programs are related to unemployment insurance, which is related to wage income. If you, for instance, are bootstrapping a company from savings and not paying yourself a salary, then get in an accident, even if your medical insurance covers 100% of medical costs, you're probably screwed on everything else.

can't towers be replaced by ground tethered blimps? seams cheaper and more versatile. minor to major sway could be adjusted for electronically by tracking position in relation to the next node and adjusting either orientation of blimp or of dishes.

We've all three been here long enough to know what the guidelines are trying to say. It drives me nuts that they won't update them. In the meantime: we're all on the same page on this, so this is probably a fake discussion.

> That's great that Germany gave you a free 60% chance of recovery!

sales tax of 19%, gas taxed at 100%, state taking away well over 50% (some countries in EU closer to 70%) of your salary, etc. - this is not free. It is paid by taxpayers, exactly as I said. Yes that's really great that for all these money I had 40% chances of dying vs 10% in the US for the cost of 300usd a month.

> If you couldn't afford the 90% chance in the US, your chance of recovery was probably 0%.

That's something I honestly don't know. If you are homeless - they won't treat you? Are you sure? How do you know?

> So, presenting it as 60% or 90% is a false comparison.

It is very true when you are diagnosed with stage 2 renal cancer. Let's not generalize. The cancers and many other diseases have the best chances to be treated in the US.

> What you fail to understand is that many people in the United States would like the same 60% chance funded by the taxpayer that you enjoy in Germany.

At the cost of others - like me - who are just middle class (~100k/year) having now 60% chances instead of 90%. Typical in socialism: let's make it worse for everyone and call equality. Because now chances off everyone are just 60%. How is that better?

>To quote some other numbers at you, Infant Mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) by the CIA 2013 estimate in the United States is 5.2, in Germany it's 3.48.

I can see that. You see that's my point. EU is great at being mediocre. USA has the lowest valleys and the highest peaks. It has the worst and the best. So then it comes down to "taste" really. Not that using "taste" in morality is fine, but it's about the world view really. Do you think that you should work hard, save, invest, have good education, pay for great health coverage? Or do you think that everybody should have the same chances no matter what they do in their lives? I don't think that EU model is that great after living here for a while. It's like living in a golden cage. You are slave of the state that decides for you and robs you from most of your money. In my personal view selling my freedom for safety isn't a solution. Some people like that and don't care. What I don't understand is why these people don't immigrate to Canada or Western Europe as many Europeans who believe in freedom do choose to live in the US. Put your foot where your mouth is!

> So, it's not like healthcare is uniformly better in the United States than other countries, and it absolutely is inaccessible to many of our citizens. Not something I'm proud of.

Is it? I mean that's something I truly don't know. A homeless person gets cancer. He/She goes to the hospital. They deny them entry? How does it look like "technically" ? I truly curious.

Was at the ER once for aniphalictic reaction. I remember labels next to beds informing that you don't need to reveal information about your healthcare insurance. Also labels stating that is you feel you are treated worse because of your healthcare insurance status then there is a free phone number to a government agency. It looked to me, like they would have to treat someone whether they have money or not. Am I missing something here?

100k a year is absolutely not middle class. Median household income is around $52k. You are upper class by any metric.