Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Molly Holzschlag has died

tucsonsentinel.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 95 posts

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#31

Post by keithnz »

kevmo wrote: post #23
pohl wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got to fight tooth and nail to protect tax cuts for bajillionaires, yo. Who knows, any one of us might be one someday.

I always scoff at all of the endless "How will we pay for it???" crap. We'll pay for it by cutting out massive inefficiencies like the insurance system (which is basically a giant RICO scam), which would introduce an incredible burst of innovation and efficiency, as Americans got unshackled from jobs they were only in for insurance benefits & were able to take more creative risks and move into jobs more suited for th…

yeah, I find it odd, just add up the revenue of the health insurance industry, that's how much you americans are paying, then see how much profit and overheads they have, that's how much health care money is directly not going to actual health outcomes, and then work out if you can do a better system. Should be a case that overall, everyone pays less and you get better outcomes. But, I can't see it ever happening for you guys. Americans are weird, they seem ok when americans let americans die and suffer, but if anyone else trys it, they spend whatever they have to show the world not to mess with America.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#32

Post by weinzierl »

gcanyon wrote: post #16
thraxil wrote: post #12

I worked with Molly for years at the Web Standards Project. We all owe her more than most people realize when it comes to being able to use and build on the modern web. There aren't many single individuals out there who had a larger impact than her. She was also just a lovely and inspiring human and those of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with her are better for it. As sad as this is, it also isn't much o…

> She's been very sick for a long time and publicly struggling with enormous medical expenses (there have been various crowdfunding efforts over the years and she had to sell her `molly.com` domain to pay for treatment). My wife and I were both born in the U.S. and have lived here most of our lives; we love this place. The above is why we have zero intention to retire here.

I understand you, but health care is expensive everywhere. The difference between the US and many other countries is in the distribution of this cost.

So, for example, if a young person from the US or elsewhere comes to Germany to study they will get health care basically for free.

I think (and I might be wrong) if you move to Germany as retiree the public health care system would not be open to you. You could choose a private insurance but, very much like in the US, the premiums depend on age and existing preconditions. I cannot tell if this would be cheaper than in the US, but I doubt that it could be much cheaper. Also, I think it would be similar in most other EU countries.

Of course you could move to a country with significantly lower living standards to save on medical cost, but then you would increase your likelihood of medical issues and not really gain any real advantage.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#33

Post by stcroixx »

kevmo wrote: post #17
thraxil wrote: post #12

I worked with Molly for years at the Web Standards Project. We all owe her more than most people realize when it comes to being able to use and build on the modern web. There aren't many single individuals out there who had a larger impact than her. She was also just a lovely and inspiring human and those of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with her are better for it. As sad as this is, it also isn't much o…

F'ing incredible that the USA doesn't have universal healthcare yet. We lose so much efficiency, productivity, and creativity because of it. One of the primary reasons our average living standards keep going down.

Lots of people don't want universal health care for reasons that are not incredible. I've had employer provided insurance I'm happy with ever since I left my student insurance plan over 25 years ago and have few complaints about it. I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had. Kaiser in CA for example is the worst insurance I've had - would not want to return to anything like that where there is a single network of providers. That was my mistake though - I didn't have to choose Kaiser, I had other options.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#34

Post by hnbad »

keithnz wrote: post #31
kevmo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always scoff at all of the endless "How will we pay for it???" crap. We'll pay for it by cutting out massive inefficiencies like the insurance system (which is basically a giant RICO scam), which would introduce an incredible burst of innovation and efficiency, as Americans got unshackled from jobs they were only in for insurance benefits & were able to take more creative risks and move into jobs more suited for th…

yeah, I find it odd, just add up the revenue of the health insurance industry, that's how much you americans are paying, then see how much profit and overheads they have, that's how much health care money is directly not going to actual health outcomes, and then work out if you can do a better system. Should be a case that overall, everyone pays less and you get better outcomes. But, I can't see it ever happening for…

Literally. What is called "profit" in a private industry is what would be called "waste" in a public service. It's literally money that runs through the system and accumulates rather than being used. Ironically when politicians want to run a public service more "like a business", they will try to squeeze the budget to cut costs to in turn justify further cuts until the service fails to do what it was originally meant to do and has to be replaced by a for-profit industry that generates an even larger overhead at even more cost to society once you factor in the fees, subsidies and other factors.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#35

Post by OfSanguineFire »

stcroixx wrote: post #33
kevmo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

F'ing incredible that the USA doesn't have universal healthcare yet. We lose so much efficiency, productivity, and creativity because of it. One of the primary reasons our average living standards keep going down.

Lots of people don't want universal health care for reasons that are not incredible. I've had employer provided insurance I'm happy with ever since I left my student insurance plan over 25 years ago and have few complaints about it. I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had. Kaiser in CA for example is the worst insurance I've had - would not wa…

Universal health care doesn’t preclude the existence of private care. A number of countries have universal public health care, but if you want to pay extra, there is also private insurance and a private network of physicians and hospitals.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#36

Post by microtherion »

weinzierl wrote: post #32
gcanyon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> She's been very sick for a long time and publicly struggling with enormous medical expenses (there have been various crowdfunding efforts over the years and she had to sell her `molly.com` domain to pay for treatment). My wife and I were both born in the U.S. and have lived here most of our lives; we love this place. The above is why we have zero intention to retire here.

I understand you, but health care is expensive everywhere. The difference between the US and many other countries is in the distribution of this cost. So, for example, if a young person from the US or elsewhere comes to Germany to study they will get health care basically for free. I think (and I might be wrong) if you move to Germany as retiree the public health care system would not be open to you. You could choose…

I'm not German myself, but I'm pretty sure the public health care system is open to all legal residents, no matter what age they move there. But like most countries, there are significant hurdles to immigration, and they would be even higher for somebody in retirement age.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#37

Post by dragonwriter »

OfSanguineFire wrote: post #35
stcroixx wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people don't want universal health care for reasons that are not incredible. I've had employer provided insurance I'm happy with ever since I left my student insurance plan over 25 years ago and have few complaints about it. I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had. Kaiser in CA for example is the worst insurance I've had - would not wa…

Universal health care doesn’t preclude the existence of private care. A number of countries have universal public health care, but if you want to pay extra, there is also private insurance and a private network of physicians and hospitals.

A number of countries have universal healthcare largely acheived through private providers and insurers, e.g., through means-tested subsidies and coverage mandates.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#38

Post by weinzierl »

microtherion wrote: post #36
weinzierl wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand you, but health care is expensive everywhere. The difference between the US and many other countries is in the distribution of this cost. So, for example, if a young person from the US or elsewhere comes to Germany to study they will get health care basically for free. I think (and I might be wrong) if you move to Germany as retiree the public health care system would not be open to you. You could choose…

I'm not German myself, but I'm pretty sure the public health care system is open to all legal residents, no matter what age they move there. But like most countries, there are significant hurdles to immigration, and they would be even higher for somebody in retirement age.

I am indeed German and to the best of my knowledge our health care system is not open to all legal residents. I worded it carefully above, because it is complicated and there might be loopholes, but in general a person older than 55 that has never been in the German health system will not get in.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#40

Post by toomuchtodo »

isodev wrote: post #28
simulo wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that would be fitting, I thought the same.

This is so heartbreaking. How does one request the black bar? Just send them an email from the contact link?

Yes. You email hn at ycombinator dot com to request. Include thread link.
Post reply on HN