91–100 of 259 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're doing here, 5,000-10,000 people will live to see the end of 2014. You should be proud of what you've done, but we should also all be grateful to have this opportunity." Hospitals don't let uninsured people die and insuring people doesn't magically save their lives.
People have to be inside hospitals for hospitals to help them. If you don't have insurance you're less likely to go in the first place.
I've been working on healthcare.gov for the last few months alongside a bunch of other Google, Facebook, and Y Combinator alums. I'll always remember what Mikey told us in December, after the site was back up, could handle a non-trivial amount of traffic, and people who wanted health insurance could finally get it: "1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're d…
I've been working on healthcare.gov for the last few months alongside a bunch of other Google, Facebook, and Y Combinator alums. I'll always remember what Mikey told us in December, after the site was back up, could handle a non-trivial amount of traffic, and people who wanted health insurance could finally get it: "1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're d…
This probably a significant exaggeration. It is based on a 2009 study[1] which examined correlation, not causation. It did not control for many factors that may be relevant (e.g. smoking). The study expressed this in much more careful words: "Lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44,789 deaths..." (This number was then divided into 45M uninsured in 2009 to get 1 in 1000). Politifact did not rate this claim due to lack of information[2], but they previously rated "Half-true" a number half as big[3]. The latter essay cites work that did control for relevant indicators and found: "the risk of subsequent mortality is no different for uninsured respondents than for those covered by employer-sponsored group insurance."
I'm not sure where to place blame:
- On the authors of the correlation study, who should never have studied this question without looking at extensive control variables or without more specifically studying causation?
- On Alan Grayson and similar folks, who are smart enough to understand the difference but are happy to assert causation?
- On Abbott, who implies causation, pointedly rejecting caveats ("it's not an exaggeration") in order to motivate developers?
I don't want to blame brandonb, particularly. I very much support his recruiting effort. In fact, I would say that the government probably has a disproportionate number of people who can resist unwarranted self-justifications. But I don't think a statistic like this should be left unchallenged on HN.
---
[1] http://www.pnhp.org/excessdeaths/health-insurance-and-mortal...
[2] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/sep/06/...
[3] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/aug/...
>> "It is also a story of an Obama Administration obsessed with health care reform policy but above the nitty-gritty of implementing it. No one in the White House meetings leading up to the launch had any idea whether the technology worked." I used to be this guy. The guy with the lofty ideas, but who thought the implementation was "beneath me". The guy who would sit around, waxing poetic about various features, user…
You're not wrong, but anyone who actually has an office in the physical whitehouse, or anyone within, say, 5 layers of the President, actually shouldn't be concerned with the implementation of the technology. They should be focused on getting money and resources to the people who do the tech and running interference for them to help prevent them from being sabotaged by political opponents. In between their other mill…
Can you suggest some effective mechanisms by which "political opponents" have been able to "sabotage" their efforts? Do these people get depressed when they hear an eeeevil Republican saying what they're doing is wrong, or even evil?
I've been working on healthcare.gov for the last few months alongside a bunch of other Google, Facebook, and Y Combinator alums. I'll always remember what Mikey told us in December, after the site was back up, could handle a non-trivial amount of traffic, and people who wanted health insurance could finally get it: "1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're d…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're not wrong, but anyone who actually has an office in the physical whitehouse, or anyone within, say, 5 layers of the President, actually shouldn't be concerned with the implementation of the technology. They should be focused on getting money and resources to the people who do the tech and running interference for them to help prevent them from being sabotaged by political opponents. In between their other mill…
> That said, obviously they should have brought in the campaign website team... That's called cronyism, and, for the most part, it's either against the law, or will get you destroyed in the media. One of the biggest challenges in government is that, for those of us in startup-land, the process goes something like: "I need to hire someone, I'll call my friend who I know does good work". You can't really do that in the…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hospitals don't turn away uninsured at the ER. However, due to lack of regular care, by the time you show up at the ER it might be too late.
I have high blood pressure. Thanks to insurance, I was able to spend a few months with my doctor, experimenting with medications until we found the combination that brought it down to manageable levels. Meds cost me $15 a month or so. Blood pressure medication will almost certainly add many years to my life - decades, maybe. Without insurance, I couldn't have afforded the half-dozen trips to the doctor or the meds. A…
(I'm assuming that your doctor charges $250 or less per visit. Six visits would cost $1,500. I'm assuming those visits were spread over at least a number of months, so you could see whether each medication was effective. I'll also assume your health insurance is at least $400/month, though that number is likely higher if you're over 30 or female. This means your six visits cost roughly four months worth of insurance premiums.)