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Molly Holzschlag has died

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Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#41

Post by weinzierl »

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.

In addition to that: Universal health care does not mandate a single provider. Where I live there are many health insurance companies to choose from, some are statuary others are private. All it means is that the statuary ones cannot deny you as long as you fulfill certain requirements ("Universal" health care is never really universal).

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#42

Post by jzb »

I used to follow Molly's blog and writing and really enjoyed her voice and learned a lot from her. I'm embarrassed to say that it's been a long time since I thought about her, and it's really heartbreaking she passed away so young and after so much struggle.

Our systems suck. Nobody should have to fight so hard to get the treatment they need. It's doubly sad when it's someone who has made significant contributions to the world and then is essentially forgotten. But that shouldn't happen to anybody.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#43

Post by jzb »

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…

"I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had."

Your insurance is employer provided? You risk that every day then. Lots of people in the past few years have woken up to find out that their job - and with it their employer provided insurance - has gone bye-bye.

Yeah, we have COBRA to continue it at exorbitant rates for some period of time. But health care should not be tied to employment.

I'd be OK with a universal health care system where employers can offer better but everybody has a baseline health care where nobody - absolutely nobody - has to struggle to get basic healthcare. (And that includes dental and vision, which is absolutely boggling that we've decided "oh, those body parts are not included.")

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#44

Post by dpkirchner »

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…

Politicians claim they're in favor of small business and then refuse to enact the simplest changes (as in, reducing the age of eligibility for Medicare) that would reduce business overhead.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#45

Post by gcanyon »

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…

> health care is expensive everywhere

That's simply not true: per capita spending on healthcare (regardless of how that spending happens) is dramatically higher in the U.S. than anywhere else on the planet. For example, Germany spends 60% Per Capita compared to the U.S. https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0006_health-care-oecd Spain spends just over 30% compared to the U.S.

And I've paid for/received healthcare in Portugal, Thailand, Nepal, and England. It's more cost effective (I started to say cheaper and better, but "better" is a loaded word) pretty much everywhere else.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#46

Post by adamredwoods »

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.

An easier first step would be to force all healthcare and hospitals to be non-profit, and never enter the stock market. Shareholders want profit, and an easy way to profit on healthcare is to deny benefits.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#47

Post by weinzierl »

gcanyon wrote: post #45
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…

> health care is expensive everywhere That's simply not true: per capita spending on healthcare (regardless of how that spending happens) is dramatically higher in the U.S. than anywhere else on the planet. For example, Germany spends 60% Per Capita compared to the U.S. https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0006_health-care-oecd Spain spends just over 30% compared to the U.S. And I've paid for/received healthcare in Por…

Out of interest: Did you receive public healthcare or did you take out a private insurance in those countries you mentioned? I'm especially curious if you were able to receive NHS health care as (I assume) a foreigner?

When you say cheaper do you mean (private) health insurance or directly paying for medical services, or both?

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#48

Post by neongodzilla »

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…

So millions of Americans don't have access to healthcare and die early because they can't afford it, but you don't want things to change because you're comfortable? Got it.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#49

Post by mongol »

weinzierl wrote: post #38
microtherion wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What if they are EU citizens?

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#50

Post by meigwilym »

One of the giants of the early Web 2.0 and standards movement. Like many others I learnt a lot from her writings on the practicalities and ideas of modern, accessible websites.

May she rest in peace.

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