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Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

richardlynch.blogspot.com

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Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#261

Post by crazypyro »

billyjobob wrote: post #181
sergiotapia wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither the time nor the place. Take it elsewhere.

Magical thinking is probably the single greatest threat to the longterm survival of the human race. I can think of no situation where it is not appropriate to criticise it. Furthermore, illness and death are exactly the times when human beings are most likely to abandon rationalism and cling to magic, so these are the very times when the fight is most important, and we shouldn't shy away from that just because it mak…

The only person you are trying to benefit when you are trying to convince the dying of atheism is yourself. We should let people live their final days believing whatever they want. Even as an atheist, its clear to me that the right thing to do is allow the dying to be happy and comfortable, however they want that. Furthermore, there are many, many threats to longterm survival, not just mysticism.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#263

Post by arethuza »

chrisseaton wrote: post #239
jwdunne wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from the UK. The NHS is shambles and is spread very, very thin. Doctors are pissed off. Patients are pissed off. The government seems to be too. However I would prefer the 3 hour A&E (ER) waiting times, being spoken to like shit if it isn't as serious as originally thought and epic waiting lists for outpatient services than having companies profit from my health and the massive vulnerability that puts me in (on t…

Your fiancée shouldn't have had to pay for a prescription if she's pregnant.

Looks like you need a form:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/941.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCatego...

Which sounds a bit bureaucratic but it does also mean you get free prescriptions for 12 months after the birth.

Of course, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there are no prescription charges...

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#264

Post by Daniel_Newby »

paul_f wrote: post #11
bestham wrote: post #9

It's so sad that the country where Richard lived, worked and paid taxes for about 30 years can't provide for him. I'm glad to be able to help. But what happens to those that don't reach the front page of HN? No one enduring the stress of a terminal cancer should have to stress about getting ends to meet during their last months alive. EVER

This is certainly terrible news. I cannot imagine being in that situation. My thoughts with him and his family. Just to answer the question above, the US provides SSDI insurance as part of the social security program to cover people with disabilities who cannot work. And many (most?) professionals also have additional long term disability insurance to cover the difference between SSDI and what their normal living exp…

SSDI is heavily means tested. Almost no one under the age of 55 is eligible. Almost no one with a university degree is covered. Making $750 in any calendar month disqualifies.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#265

Post by Daniel_Newby »

ElDiablo666 wrote: post #240
overgard wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I donated $100, and yeah, our healthcare system is a goddamn travesty. I don't get it. If you're fortunate to live long enough, the one thing that's guaranteed to eventually happen is you're going to get sick in a very expensive manner. It's not an "if" question, it's a "when" question. I don't think that should mean financial ruin. People against universal healthcare must think they're just immune to ever getting si…

People against universal healthcare are just good people who are confused and/or deluded. Their arguments will never really add up because it's only about corporations making profits and to that end people will need to be deluded and manipulated into believing that we shouldn't implement a proper system. Just remember this when you say you don't get it: it's just the political power of traitors speaking through human…

> People against universal healthcare are just good people who are confused and/or deluded.

The U.S. has universal healthcare. The Affordable Care Act guarantees everybody can sign up for new, better insurance, or keep their old insurance if they want. We know it's good because it was designed with extensive public collaboration and debate. Thank God the folks from Washington, D.C. are here to help.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#266

Post by cowls »

piyush_soni wrote: post #118
halfdan wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right.. That "national scam" is working great all over Europe. It's cool when you can pay your treatments, but cancer treatments are in the 6 figure range - enjoy paying that from you bank account.

The funny thing is, at least here in the US, even if you have medical insurance you are totally ripped off your pockets if you have something like cancer. Mostly, you just don't pay the price which was anyway artificially inflated by this scam I'm talking about. There was an article only a few days back about this guy who had his appendix treated: http://imgur.com/a/WIfeN He had to pay $11k out of the total $55k bill…

That image is insane. $7,500 for a couple of hours in a recovery room. Not sure how that can be justified, they're clearly just getting as much money out of people as possible. As the services are not exactly optional.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#267

Post by natrius »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #223
natrius wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't fear the rest of the world getting better than us at medicine. Money motivates most people. The best doctors will go where they can get the most money. That is here. If I had to pick between the UK's system, where price controls help pay for healthcare for those who can't afford it, and the Affordable Care Act, where wealthy people pay for healthcare for those who can't afford it, I'd choose the Affordable Ca…

"...the UK's system, where price controls help pay for healthcare for those who can't afford it..." I'm not sure how much you know about the UK system, but it doesn't use "price controls". Its funded by National Insurance Contributions [1], which are a form of payroll tax. The more you earn, the more you pay. People on low incomes pay nothing but still receive health care. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_In…

The vast majority of the UK's health expenses flow through the NHS. This gives NHS the power to demand prices that are lower than they would be if there were many competing insurers. That is effectively a price control. If you don't agree to accept the NHS's price, you're left with few, if any customers.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#268

Post by nedwin »

sp332 wrote: post #242
ElDiablo666 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People against universal healthcare are just good people who are confused and/or deluded. Their arguments will never really add up because it's only about corporations making profits and to that end people will need to be deluded and manipulated into believing that we shouldn't implement a proper system. Just remember this when you say you don't get it: it's just the political power of traitors speaking through human…

I'm against public healthcare in the USA because there's no way (in the current political climate) it won't be massively corrupt. Did you know the insurance companies were lobbying in favor of our new system? It's still about corporations making profits.

The lobbyists were lobbying to get the new system setup in a way that was favourable to them.

That doesn't mean the new system is inherently wrong.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#269

Post by specialist »

tripzilch wrote: post #227
overgard wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So.. your argument is that because insurance companies can profit, it's not so bad? "Well, your legacy might be financial ruin for your children, or an early death to avoid that, but since most people die before they realize they're severely ill, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm not arguing probabilities here, I'm arguing deductive reasoning. You are a decaying meatsack. So am I. At some point something very bad will happen to that dec…

But the problem is also that healthcare in the US is just absurdly expensive, insurance or not. Sure, many EU countries have universal health insurance, but if you look behind those, costs (paid by the insurance or not) are quite a bit lower than the US. They're still quite hefty and you do want to be insured for them, but why is healthcare in the US so expensive in the first place?

1/3rd of US healthcare costs is administrative. Single payer (Medicare for all) fixes that.

The lowest hanging fruit, biggest bang for the buck, best ROI, the most logical common sense way to control US healthcare costs is to switch to single payer with universal coverage.

Sure, do all the other kabuki, like quality of care, healthcare insurance exchanges, price transparency, generics, whatever. Because better is better. But know that you're weeding the flower beds while the house is burning down.

Re: Richard Lynch, an awesome PHP community guy and former colleague needs our help

#270

Post by specialist »

sp332 wrote: post #242
ElDiablo666 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People against universal healthcare are just good people who are confused and/or deluded. Their arguments will never really add up because it's only about corporations making profits and to that end people will need to be deluded and manipulated into believing that we shouldn't implement a proper system. Just remember this when you say you don't get it: it's just the political power of traitors speaking through human…

I'm against public healthcare in the USA because there's no way (in the current political climate) it won't be massively corrupt. Did you know the insurance companies were lobbying in favor of our new system? It's still about corporations making profits.

massively corrupt

The data, comparative experiences, and commons sense, disagrees with you.

Single payer is easier to audit. Because it's more simple.

Healthcare Fraud: Auditing and Detection Guide [2012] http://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Fraud-Auditing-Detection-Gu...

Healthcare Fraud: Auditing and Detection Guide [2007] http://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Fraud-Auditing-Detection-Gu...

And before you say "tort reform", single payer and universal coverage largely eliminates need for malpractice insurance. Again, because we have existence proofs (every country that has single payer) that discerning people can use to inform their opinions.

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