A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

http://linuxlock.blogspot.it/2012/08/this-is-where-we-are.html

by FiloSottile • 14 years ago

433 127 14 years ago

linuxlock.blogspot.it

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

Indiegogo campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/helios (RE-EDIT: IndieGoGo takes 9% fee but PayPal is known for account freezing, the choice is up to you)

BHSPitMonkey2• 14 years ago

Note that your donation goes 9% further if you just donate directly rather than through IndieGoGo.

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

Even better if they avoided PayPal, for the number of reasons we all know (and because they can't afford an account suspension)

P.S. thanks, editing the comment

msie• 14 years ago

Phew! If I had read the comments here before the article I would have donated through IndieGoGo instead of PayPal.

tzs• 14 years ago

SSI disability payments should not count against Medicare income limits.

The United States fucking sucks sometimes.

_delirium3• 14 years ago

It's a mess that's up to the discretion of each state. This page has information on how SSI and Medicaid interact: http://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/medicaid.htm

In 32 states, being on SSI disability payment generally qualifies you for Medicaid without a further application, unless you also have additional income. States then vary in how much additional income, and in some you can still "buy in" to Medicaid even above the threshold, by paying some of the premium out of your additional income.

In other states the criteria for SSI disability and Medicaid are different, and may interact badly, with someone on SSI considered "not poor enough" for Medicaid. This is particularly likely in states with extremely low Medicaid thresholds where even someone at the poverty line wouldn't qualify. Here is a summary of the overall effect of all those variations: http://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/state_1619_b_threshold_am...

The upcoming PPACA Medicaid expansion may sort out some of it, for states that don't opt out, but we'll see.

doktrin2• 14 years ago

I simply cannot comprehend our [as a nation] almost religious stance vis a vis public healthcare. Hearing stories like this literally upsets me, because it is totally unnecessary. We are better than this.

batgaijin• 14 years ago

You think our health care is bad?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/US/hunger-children-america-slow...

5% of our 300 million population is starving/malnourished children.

crag2• 14 years ago

It's Medicaid he needs. Not Medicare (though Medicare would allow him to deal with this too). There's a huge difference.

callmesocialist• 14 years ago

I still question the lack of healthcare in a developed nation.

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

Yeah, in a nation like USA (or actually anywhere, but let's be realistic) no one should die because they can't afford a standard treatment. I am from Italy and the first times I couldn't believe it.

Peaker• 14 years ago

According to the movie "Sicko", the doctors working in the Health Maintenance Organizations are being told: "You are not preventing care, you are preventing payment" as they are encouraged to deny as many requests as they can.

wisty2• 14 years ago

The danger is that people will over-use the public system. Governments can solve this by offering a really bad customer experience (Soviet architecture, putting an experienced nurse at the front desk rather than a cute 20-year-old girl, bad food, less choices, and so on). People often prefer private hospitals, even when public hospitals offer superior treatment. This takes the load off the public system, allowing it to serve the people who need it.

gambiting2• 14 years ago

Say whatever you like about EU, but I can't think of any country here that would not help this man, or let him die simply because he can't afford surgery. In the worst possible case he would still have the surgery done straight away ,but he would have to pay afterwards,not before - he might end up in debt because of that,but better than being dead for sure.

Anyway, donated some money, really wish he gets all the help he needs.

mtrn• 14 years ago

* Germany: In 2005, Germany spent 10.7% of GDP on health care, or US$3,628 per capita. Germany has Europe's oldest universal health care insurance system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck's Social legislation, which included the Health Insurance Bill of 1883, Accident Insurance Bill of 1884, and Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1889.

* US: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States spent more on health care per capita ($7,146), and more on health care as percentage of its GDP (15.2%), than any other nation in 2008. The United States had the fourth highest level of government health care spending per capita ($3,426).

Source:

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Germany

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_the_United_States

gambiting2• 14 years ago

Yet I am sure that this man would never ever be in a situation like this, had it happened in Germany. I know how it's like in EU - if an operation is life-saving they always do it first,then ask for the money, not the other way around, as it seems to be in the US.

technotony• 14 years ago

These are old numbers... America is forecast to spend 17 or 18% of GDP on healthcare this year...

csense• 14 years ago

> Germany has Europe's oldest universal health care insurance system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck...

I wasn't aware that a government-sponsored healthcare system this old existed in the world, because it's always seemed to me that such programs are fundamentally unsustainable.

So what I want to know is, how do they keep it sustainable? For example, if there's no longer a market where demand responds to price signals, how do they determine how much procedures cost? What keeps providers from increasing prices 5% every year, regardless of cost increases, until they're essentially looting taxpayers' money on a massive scale? If the government sets prices, how do you avoid damaging shortages or surpluses when it gets the pricing wrong? How about moral hazard -- the problem of people who waste healthcare resources by going to the doctor for every little sniffle, scrape and twinge since it's free? What keeps people in other countries who don't pay into the system from getting a burning desire to move to Germany when they find out they have something really expensive to treat like cancer or AIDS?

unreal37• 14 years ago

That's TOTAL expenditure (public and private). It's misleading to include private insurance and self payments unless you're talking about the total cost of healthcare.[1]

The German government covers 77% of its citizens health care costs. The US government covers 48%.

In countries like Germany, I am sure that 77% number is evenly distributed across the population. I.e. All citizens are mostly covered by government insurance. In the US, I am sure the number is disproportional to the elderly and on government assistance, such that people between 20-60 are not covered by any government insurance. So it's a bit more lop-sided than the Wikipedia chart says.

[1] http://www.oecd.org/health/healthpoliciesanddata/oecdhealthd...

rytis• 14 years ago

And what exactly the money have been used for? In this case I suspect quantity != quality.

DanBC4• 14 years ago

I really hope paypal don't freeze the account for 180 days while they investigate.

eric_bullington• 14 years ago

I just donated $50. And as much as I agree with the sentiments on this page about my country's lacking health care system (and have always voted with this in mind), I hope we can come together to focus on the problem at hand, which is raising money for a fellow dev in his time of greatest need. I assume the Indiegogo account cannot be suspended as easily as Paypal, so I made the donation through Indiegogo despite the slightly higher service fee.

EDIT: Here's the link for the Indiegogo campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/helios

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

I think that developers as we are, we could just offer our apps or services for IndieGoGo perks! Also, I already see the Reddit cross-post, but I am sure everyone here can think to a still not touched community (even niche) or mailing-list.

mparlane2• 14 years ago

I matched your donation! :) I hope he gets the surgery before it's too late. It didn't help that I was listening to a depressing song while I read the article.

mr337• 14 years ago

Just matched that donation. Really screwed up country I live in. :S

doktrin2• 14 years ago

Donated $20. I am currently saving cash as I am planning to take leave of absence from work to concentrate on my studies for a semester.

I made the payment through paypal, I sincerely hope it isn't "suspended" due to a rapid influx of cash.

stanmancan• 14 years ago

Just donated $25 myself. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy to see online communities come together to help save lives.

zitterbewegung• 14 years ago

I just donated $10. Every little bit helps.

bdreadz• 14 years ago

just did 10 as well. Every bit counts. Keep going people.

rokhayakebe• 14 years ago

I donated $10, but you know what I was deeply upset. The author is doing something great but 1) he should link to the Indiegogo page because I have no idea who he is, and could have easily thought he is a scammer if it weren't for the fact that he is on the front page of HN, and 2) for God's sake tell us how much he needs (this one goes to IGG page). It's not five grand, it's more. Tell us the number so we can do whatever we can, each one of us, to help a brother in need.

I apologize to the author, but I hope my comment helps you raise way more money for such great causes next time.

shirro• 14 years ago

It isn't like a health safety net even has to be all that expensive. A good mixed system looks after the poorest people and everyone else is encouraged (with tax penalties etc) to have private health insurance. In a wealthy country hardly anyone should be poor or unemployed anyway so the costs aren't that great. The US is a triumph of ideology over common sense.

marquis• 14 years ago

I just donated via Paypal given the comments about the 9% vs Paypal fees. However it got me thinking from reading the indiegogo site:

"The cost just to book the OR for Ken's surgery is $50,000, and that doesn't include the surgery itself, nor any post-op medical expenses."

What is the total cost of expenses, or is that unknown? Knowing how much is needed would possibly help raise more funds.

noahc• 14 years ago

In general American health care is a giant black box. Depending on the deal your insurance company has cut is how much stuff costs. Most doctors offices cant tell you how much anything costs, which is why i opt out of all tests.

tzaman• 14 years ago

Of all the crap we throw money at, I see absolutely no reason not to help this man out. Donated.

carbocation• 14 years ago

He needs to get himself admitted to a major academic medical center, possibly via the ED.

sidcool3• 14 years ago

Ok, I trust Hacker News and I am donating whatever I am capable of.

sidcool3• 14 years ago

My donations went to "DragonWing Software", I hope that's correct.

mparlane2• 14 years ago

Thomas A. Knight has put up a page that tells Ken's story and he's volunteered to host the fund raising page for this effort.

I believe it's Thomas' company.

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

Correct. It is Knight's company, and he is managing the fund raising.

sidcool3• 14 years ago

Cool, happy to know it's gone to the right person.

taknight3• 14 years ago

Yes. DragonWing Software is my software contracting company. I also publish my books under DragonWing Publishing.

Thanks!

chadr• 14 years ago

Newer blog post about the surgery:

http://linuxlock.blogspot.it/2012/08/it-started-with-hopeles...

rplnt2• 14 years ago

I'm sorry to be so ignorant when it comes to linux core (perhaps?) developers, but the entire blog post didn't mention his name nor his wife signed it with hers so I could at least assume who he is.

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

Ken Starks. From the post on http://thomasaknight.com/

jorahmormont• 14 years ago

$ cd kernel ; git log | egrep -i starks $

Nothing there.

It would help if they told us what his contribution actually was.

ixacto3• 14 years ago

I would gladly pay 5% more income tax to be on par with Canada as far as rates go, if the USA got single-payer healthcare.

streptomycin3• 14 years ago

It'd cost quite a bit more than that. 5% of the income tax is only like $50 billion dollars, which is dwarfed by our current Medicare/Medicaid spending to cover a fraction of the population. Maybe something like doubling everyone's taxes could do it?

ixacto3• 14 years ago

That is if we kept spending at current levels. Canada spends much less on healthcare than the united states. Canadian life expectancy is also higher, which leads me to believe that their gasp socialist healthcare system is actually more efficient.

sseveran4• 14 years ago

Well I have great news for you. Right on the 1040 form there is a spot where you can elect to pay more. I suggest that you do next year. Or just send the treasury a check.

slurgfest3• 14 years ago

That won't enact single-payer healthcare or even increase the standard of healthcare by an epsilon. So your answer misses the point in addition to being unconstructively snarky.

tylerc230• 14 years ago

+$50

mbreese• 14 years ago

As an update: http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2012/08/it-started-with-hopele...

While he still needs money, they did find a doctor to perform the surgery. But don't let that stop you from donating, if you're able.

He also answered a question that I had: he's a veteran, so he should qualify for VA medical assistance. According to his post above, the VA system moves too slow to stop his rapidly spreading cancer.

crag2• 14 years ago

About the VA. What he would receive (this includes medical care) depends on his level of service. Was he in combat? Was in injured while on active duty? And many other factors.

All this takes time for the VA to consider. And worse still, there's a HUGE backlog of claims right now (for obvious reasons).

Just pointing this out in case anyone declines to help out cause you're hoping the VA will come through. I mean, they will, it will take time though. And he doesn't have time.

sliverstorm• 14 years ago

What he would receive depends on his level of service. Was he in combat? Was in injured?

Tangent, that's good to hear. I've known more than a few individuals who pushed paper in the service for two years and actively avoided a tour, and seemed to be reaping all the same benefits as the ones who saw combat.

FiloSottile7• 14 years ago

Finding a pro-bono doctor was in the plans from the start, if I get it right. And the doctor should have never been in the $50,000 total. cit: "The cost just to book the OR for Ken's surgery is $50,000, and that doesn't include the surgery itself, nor any post-op medical expenses."

raverbashing• 14 years ago

Wow $50,000?!

This is an advice: I think with this kind of money they can fly somewhere else and do the operation and pay all costs associated with money to spare.

I think they can even try that in Canada

packetslave• 14 years ago

IIRC, even if a doctor is willing to donate their time, there are still large expenses for any major surgery (cost of the room, consumables, multiple nurses, anesthesiologist's time, etc.)

barking• 14 years ago

America does seem to be a country where it's devil take the hindmost but people who live here in Europe find plenty to complain about in our systems too.

keithpeter• 14 years ago

Donated £13.06 according to paypal.

In the UK, the National Health Service certainly has inefficiencies, delays and issues. However, care is free at the point of need.

I suppose there are different ways of rationing a resource for which there is theoretically an infinite need. I prefer the way we do it in the UK.

gozman• 14 years ago

Set aside the debates on healthcare, the awful reality of this man have to raise funds to keep him alive, or any other political rhetoric.

Most of us, even the most starving bootstrapper of the bunch, has enough change in his/her pocket to make an impact on a real human life.

Let's not brag about what we donated, or how much, or if we donated at all. But please everyone, let's reach out for someone who needs us like every good human should.

taknight3• 14 years ago

Blown away.

I'm simply blown away, as day after day the outpouring of support for Ken grows. When I put my blog post together, my hope was to help a good friend with a new monitor, and the rest was kindof a pipe dream.

Now, 8 days and almost $40,000 later, I'm at a loss for words.

Thank you to everyone who has donated, commented, passed it on, or done anything else to help us out. Both Ken and I are speechless.

Thank you.

glesica2• 14 years ago

Donated $50. I realize we're trying not to rant about the healthcare system too much, so all I will say is that this is exactly why the system is a problem. What's the point of all our technology and "progress" if we still don't provide reasonable care to all?

sseveran4• 14 years ago

How do you define reasonable?

jfb2• 14 years ago

How about surgery to deal with a metastasizing cancer that is highly efficacious? That seems very reasonable to me.

runawaybottle• 14 years ago

Not having to resort to donations for life saving surgery?

glesica2• 14 years ago

The other two comments (at this moment) summed it up pretty well. The treatment has a high rate of success (80%) and is in no way "experimental". If something has become a part of the standard medical "toolbox", providing it to everyone is reasonable. There is simply no excuse for our current system, especially when other countries provide care and spend less to do it.

sharms• 14 years ago

Hackernews has been very kind to me through the years, glad I can send a few dollars to return the favor

bunsenhoneydew• 14 years ago

I just donated through paypal. Hopefully the account will hold up ok.

Geeks with heart. You're a lovely bunch HN peeps...

Wishing Diane and Ken all the best.

jfb2• 14 years ago

$50. Nobody should be in this situation. The US system is appalling.

bstar77• 14 years ago

I'm happy to see these kickstarter clones popping up for medical causes. I'm much more apt to donate when I can better see where my money is going (and hope I don't get scammed in the process).

bjm1• 14 years ago

donated $100, hope he gets better.

raheemm• 14 years ago

Just donated $35.

hhimanshu• 14 years ago

I donated $10, I wish him better health and good luck

johnrob• 14 years ago

I donated $30 (thought I'd add more social proof while I'm here).

masmullin• 14 years ago

Donated. Get well Ken.

eculver• 14 years ago

Donated $40.

Two days ago, there was a post on HN announcing Watsi, essentially a Kickstarter for healthcare (Sorry if I'm discrediting it's overall value in any way, it's a great idea: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4424081). Most of us in the Western world aren't the target audience for Watsi, but this seems appropriate. Can we not make this happen and see a cohesive case to be made for those asking questions about cause and background?

bobdvb• 14 years ago

Don't know the man, a little sad that we have to support the screwed up US medical system, but I've given money because I have it and he doesn't.

roma1n• 14 years ago

Donated. Now what about fixing your health care system, Uncle Sam?

antihero3• 14 years ago

Holy fuck is your healthcare system stupid.

iamanet• 14 years ago

Donated $50. Get well Ken.

taknight3• 14 years ago

We have closed donations coming directly through PayPal. Thank you to everyone who has been so generous. The IndieGoGo campaign will remain open for another day or so, but we can't keep taking donations when we've now clearly met our goal.

The $50,000 we collected in 10 days will more than cover all of Ken's medical expenses as he continues through his difficult cancer treatment. Thank you to everyone who helped out, you are all wonderful people. :)

Thomas

tytso• 14 years ago

The title of the article is not accurate. He is not a Linux developer; for those who don't know who he is, Ken is the founder of the Helios project, which is a non-profit which refurbishes old computers and distributes them to children whose families can't afford computers.

So for someone who has paid things forward, he certainly deserves help. See the following article from his hometown newspaper in Austin, Texas for more about the good works that he has done:

http://www.statesman.com/news/helios-projects-ken-starks-hel...

Update: Thomas Knight reports that they have raised the necessary $50,000. It looks like the Indiegogo campaign is still open, and there's a note than any excess that isn't needed for his medical expenses (if all goes well the $50k should be enough) will go to Reglue, his non-profit which helps children to get access to computers.

simcop2387• 14 years ago

You are all lovely people. <3

two1eight• 14 years ago

donated $40. Get well soon.

agumonkey• 14 years ago

Quote from indiegogo:

    8/25 - Update 4: Thank you!

    I can't thank you enough. Not only have we found Ken a surgeon, but the surgeon has agreed to 
    do the surgery for a fraction of the original cost. We have raised $47,600 total now, enough 
    to cover the surgery, any and all pre and post op medical expenses, all medication Ken will 
    need for the foreseeable future, and there might even be some left over to go to Reglue.


    I can't stress enough how thankful I am to everyone who has helped. The outpouring of support 
    is amazing. You are all wonderful people. :)


    Thank you.

A Linux dev who helped thousands needs help to fight cancer

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