Hacker News Reader

bryan11on Why is life expectancy in the US lower than in other rich countries?

You could segment them in three sets: well insured, people with catastrophic health plans, and uninsured. Many employers are switching to high deductible health plans and that deductible may be thousands of dollars, i.e. catastrophic plans.

When going to a doctor for a simple diagnosis or bloodwork can easily cost $400 to $1000, many put off doctor visits unless it's an emergency. It can easily become a choice between a doctor visit or a car repair. Preventative checkups are gone and insurance is only something one uses with an emergency room visit or major health issue.

bryan11on Ask HN: How much of pay cut would you take for a more fulfilling job?

What parts to you find fulfilling? One approach would be to assign a value to aspects of a job you find fulfilling. This could include things like a short commute, casual dress, flex hours, remote work, low politics, good/smart coworkers, and challenging projects. For some challenging projects may be worth a lot, for others remote work to be with family could have the highest value.

bryan11on Eerie emptiness of ERs worries doctors: where are the heart attacks and strokes?

Were people going to the doctor and ER less before covid? As employers move to offer only high deductible health insurance, the cost to see a doctor is increasing quickly. When a single doctor visit can cost from $150 to $1500 depending on what they talk about and you're paying that entire amount, one tends to put of seeing a doctor unless it's a true emergency.

bryan11on Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

In primary school I read anything and everything but my favorite was science fiction. After finishing school, I didn't read as much and noticed something: my creativity seemed less and I wasn't coming up with many big 'next step' ideas. After starting to read regularly again, it came back.

bryan11on Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

Stories like this are scary. My employer based health insurance has an $18,000 deductible before it starts to cover 70% of approved, in-network bills. One visit to ER could easily cost me $20,000. A simple doctor visit can range from $150 to $1000. The effect is that any doctor visit is viewed as a last resort option.

bryan11on Insect Apocalypse German Bug Watchers Sound Alarm

While I don't use any pesticides, farms and cities use high amounts of pesticides. Farms apply pesticides by crop-dusting and with tractors. Cities drive trucks up and down every street fogging the entire city with mosquito pesticides.

If enough people complained to the cities about the harmful effects of spraying, they may stop. Convincing agriculture to use less pesticides would be much harder and likely involve powerful lobbies at the state and federal level.

bryan11on Minnesota Will Pay Residents to Grow Bee-Friendly Lawns

In the past, large wildflowers and flowering bushes in my front yard would draw many butterflies and bees. The city started spaying all neighborhoods for mosquitoes every few weeks. You don't see butterflies or bees around any more. The bee hives in a nearby city were killed by mosquito spraying.

bryan11on One In Five Employees Is Highly Engaged and at Risk of Burnout (2018)

Burnout in IT can be like boiling a frog. One can get involved in larger and larger projects, then architecture, and then find themselves part of an on-call group that tries to keep production systems running. Pretty soon one is working excessive hours monitoring systems, driving projects, and also responding to production issues 24x7.

If it happens gradually enough, working twelve hours a day and being called repeatedly during evenings and weekends can feel normal. The high cost on one's health, social life, and family life can be extreme and quite dangerous.

bryan11on AT&T lays off thousands after getting billions in tax breaks, regulatory favors

Isn't this a recurring theme for the last few decades? A telco takes federal money with the promise of laying fiber, providing broadband, and creating jobs. Next, they don't do any of that and ask for more money a year later.

bryan11on Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

This is a key point. With physical controls, you learn their location and use them without looking. This leads to better focus on driving. With a touch screen, you're distracted every time you need to use it.

bryan11on Ask HN: What's HN community opinion on 5G health issues?

Thank you. It's nice to see references to real studies as opposed to the social logic saying 'It's the same as anti-vaxers, so there's no basis to that!'

bryan11on Urban trees 'live fast, die young' compared to those in rural forests

Frequently, the first step when building in the US is to rip down any existing trees and completely clear the property

bryan11on High-Deductible Health Policies Linked to Delayed Diagnosis and Treatment

Switching from a co-pay based insurance to an HDHP + HSA was a big change. My deductible is quite high, so all normal, non-catastrophic medical costs are paid for without insurance.

A doctor visit starts at $139 and may be from $300 to $500 depending on the diagnosis. One cannot determine the cost in advance. Any lab work is extra. Is it worth $1000 every year to have a doctor do standard blood tests?

Like anything that suddenly becomes very expensive, it makes one look at things differently and question whether they are necessary. Some people put off doctor visits longer until things seem unbearable. Some research online and try to self medicate with over the counter things.

bryan11on Americans Are Delaying Health Care Until Tax Refunds Arrive

As employers switch to High Deductible Health Plans where insurance doesn't kick in until one has spent a deductible of several thousand dollars, many people are delaying health care in general. A doctor's visit that once cost a co-pay of $30 is now frequently a cash price from $130 to $400, plus more for lab work. With higher costs and much of them unknown in advance, many skip getting things checked until it seems absolutely necessary.

bryan11on Electrical jolts to brain restored memory of elderly to that of 20-year-old

Harrison Bergeron coming soon?

bryan11on Americans Are Going Bankrupt from Getting Sick

Not only can they charge what they want, it's also almost impossible to compare prices or find out what something costs in advance. With no competition, medical providers may charge what they wish.

bryan11on Ask HN: How do you organize your small parts, hardware, and tools?

For my personal workshop, Harbor Freight storage containers can be good for small parts. For larger parts or where you have too many of each, large mouth plastic jars from peanut butter and pickles work well.

bryan11on Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

Agreed, Zenni has worked well for several years for me

bryan11on California’s Monarch Butterfly Population Hits Record Low

I planted butterfly bushes and milkweed to attract more butterflies in our area. After my city started spraying city-wide for mosquitoes, the butterflies and bees vanished.

bryan11on The Insect Apocalypse Is Here

In the midwest 20 years ago, we'd regularly see butterflies, bees, and many other insects. After I planted butterfly bushes there more came with dozens of butterflies and bees on them each day. Every year, though, the numbers decreased. I don't used any chemicals in my property.

A few years ago, the city started spraying everywhere for mosquitoes. The day after spraying, people frequently find a couple dead birds in their yard. One neighbor's bee hives were killed as well.

Lately, seeing one single butterfly a year is a rare event.

bryan11on Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

What other device hacking subcultures exist for medical devices?

bryan11on Alarming study shows massive insect loss

I've noticed the same thing when driving

bryan11on John Hancock will include fitness tracking in all life insurance policies

Many employers already require fitness goals and activities as part of the health insurance plans they offer. If you don't wish to participate, your premiums are much higher.

bryan11on To Fix Back Pain, You Might Have To Change The Way You Sit

Switching to a standing desk greatly decreased how my upper back, neck, and shoulders would be tense. Keeping my back straight and not rolling my shoulders forward turned out to be an important part of that.

bryan11on First drug to prevent chronic migraines approved by EU

Interesting. Perhaps this explains why people on ketosis with very low sugar report fewer migraines.

bryan11on BYTE Magazine

Agreed, Jerry Pournelle’’s Chaos Manor was always great.

bryan11on Why restaurants became so loud

I carry high fidelity ear plugs that cut noise levels by about 15 decibels. These can be good for some restaurants, churches, and stores where noise levels are high but you still wish to hear people around you. Flesh-colored foam ear plugs can block 30+ decibels and are great for places with extreme volumes.

bryan11on Ask HN: Which job perqs mean the most to you?

(1) True remote (2) True 40 hr week with flex hours -- Those two allow the best options for a work / life balance

bryan11on Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (June 2018)

I love automation, SQL, and data workflows but wear many hats including team lead, solution architect, DBA, DevOps engineer, and business liaison. Lots of experience from system administration to developer makes me strong in full stack analysis and performance tuning. I enjoy helping people solve problems and build solutions!

  Location: Des Moines, Iowa
  Remote: Yes (worked fully remote with global teams the last six years)
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: MySQL, SQL Server, SQL, Bash, Python, Perl, Linux; many DBA/DevOps/automation as well
  Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanwelch/
  Email: bryan42@gmail.com