As sad as this is, it also isn't much of a surprise if you've been paying any attention. 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.
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 a private insurance but, very much like in the US, the premiums depend on age and existing preconditions. I cannot tell if this would be cheaper than in the US, but I doubt that it could be much cheaper. Also, I think it would be similar in most other EU countries.
Of course you could move to a country with significantly lower living standards to save on medical cost, but then you would increase your likelihood of medical issues and not really gain any real advantage.
The web will miss Molly E. Holzschlag.
Now, I could not find her on LinkedIn; she must have deleted her profile. She was reaching out to people when her illness progressed (I think it was LinkedIn). I remember feeling sad watching her videos, talking about how the treatment was tiring her.
It was always an excitement in the early days of the web when you are in a discussion forum and Molly was around too, answering to the list question. Looking up old emails, she owned https://www.molly.com but this seems to be something else now.
https://web.archive.org/web/20151211202252/http://www.molly....
https://web.archive.org/web/20151204202343/http://www.molly....
https://web.archive.org/web/20150711215305/http://www.molly....
https://web.archive.org/web/20160202163909/http://www.molly....
Its weird- she suddenly popped into my head the other day having not thought about her for years, and I was wondering how she was doing.
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.
Such a mesmerising human being!
Well, 20 years later and actively coding for a living, count me as having been inspired - Thank you Molly!!
May she rest in peace.
Mark Denny
