Molly Holzschlag has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#91

Post by flir » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 10:57 PM UTC

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 quite like this graph (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_hea...) on the expense of health care.

One of those things is not like the others.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#92

Post by microtherion » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 2:07 AM UTC

weinzierl wrote: post #53

mongol wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if they are EU citizens?

Doesn't matter. Even if you are a German citizen and by 55 you've never been in the health system you're out of luck.

It appears that if an immigrant was previously in a public health care system in their country of origin, they would qualify:

https://www.tk.de/firmenkunden/versicherung/tk-service-ausla...

https://www.krankenkassen.de/incoming/leben/nicht-erwerbstae...

That would cover most EU countries, though probably not the US (assuming that "private, but mandatory" does not qualify as "public").

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#93

Post by gcanyon » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 11:51 AM UTC

weinzierl wrote: post #47

gcanyon wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

I checked with my wife:

Nepal: she had some form of insurance. She doesn't know how much it cost, but presumably not much (she was volunteering for a non-profit) and her out-of-pocket costs were zero for a multi-day stay at a hospital.

UK: she doesn't remember having insurance, but thinks she must have (she was a student at the time). She used the NHS, again with no out-of-pocket expenses.

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#94

Post by weinzierl » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 12:07 PM UTC

gcanyon wrote: post #93

weinzierl wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I checked with my wife: Nepal: she had some form of insurance. She doesn't know how much it cost, but presumably not much (she was volunteering for a non-profit) and her out-of-pocket costs were zero for a multi-day stay at a hospital. UK: she doesn't remember having insurance, but thinks she must have (she was a student at the time). She used the NHS, again with no out-of-pocket expenses.

Thanks!

Re: Molly Holzschlag has died

#95

Post by mdenny453 » Thu, Sep 14, 2023, 4:59 PM UTC

In the 80s when I lived in Tucson, Molly and I would perform our songs together at the Drinking Gourd on 4th. I am beyond sad to hear this news. Long live Molly! Send us love from Paradise.

Mark Denny