# Investor’s Business Daily idiot journalist think Stephen Hawking is American **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993 "2009-08-10T23:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/1 "2009-08-10T23:05:23Z")
> [@](#): > > **How House Bill Runs Over Grandma** > > The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) basically figures out who deserves treatment by using a cost-utility analysis based on the “quality adjusted life year.” > > One year in perfect health gets you one point. Deductions are taken for blindness, for being in a wheelchair and so on. > > The more points you have, the more your life is considered worth saving, and the likelier you are to get care. > > **People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.** [How House Bill Runs Over Grandma](http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=333933006516877) - good thing we have journalists to be idiots. Then we don’t have to do it ourselves. Three hurrahs for the Fourth Estate. Now more stupid than the three others. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/2 "2009-08-10T23:14:56Z")
Well… He _does_ speak with an American accent. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/3 "2009-08-10T23:21:04Z")
Funny. Judging from his accent I thought he was from Robonia, a land I didn’t make up. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/4 "2009-08-10T23:52:28Z")
I had no idea he was British. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/5 "2009-08-11T01:04:45Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I had no idea he was British. It is one thing to not know if he is British, it is another to write an article implying he “wouldn’t stand a chance” if he was British without checking first! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/6 "2009-08-11T01:06:39Z")
What’s so funny about this isn’t so much that they thought he was American. What’s funny is their use of a lifelong citizen and resident of of Great Britain as an example of someone who wouldn’t have survived in Great Britain. It sort of puts a dent in their argument. Oh, and makes them look incredibly stupid. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/7 "2009-08-11T16:33:09Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Funny. Judging from his accent I thought he was from Robonia, a land I didn’t make up. Well, Hawking is a member of Al Gore’s Vice Presidential Action Rangers, so I’m not surprised the reporter thought he was American. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/8 "2009-08-11T16:44:53Z")
One might also ask how Stephen Hawking would have done if he had been American. He developed Lou Gehrig’s disease after getting his BA, and while working on his doctorate at Cambridge. Do doctoral students at prestigious American universities have health insurance that would have covered treatment of his disease? ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/9 "2009-08-11T17:39:32Z")
They’ve finally changed it - it looks like they just yanked that paragraph. And in the correction they say that it “implied” that Hawking didn’t live in the UK. 😕 > [@davidm](#): > > What’s so funny about this isn’t so much that they thought he was American. What’s funny is their use of a lifelong citizen and resident of of Great Britain as an example of someone who wouldn’t have survived in Great Britain. It sort of puts a dent in their argument. > Oh, and makes them look incredibly stupid. Also the part where the average lifespan after being diagnosed with ALS is maybe ten years or so. And Dr. Hawking was diagnosed forty some years ago. So, yeah. I think ‘stupid’ is a teeny bit mild in this case. Seriously - the man is probably the most well-known living scientist in the world, how the hell do you make a mistake like that? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/10 "2009-08-11T18:35:47Z")
You make that mistake by being an ill-informed idiot who can’t fact check, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/11 "2009-08-11T18:40:48Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Do doctoral students at prestigious American universities have health insurance that would have covered treatment of his disease? Probably yes. Almost all major American universities require students to have health insurance that covers just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/12 "2009-08-11T19:31:15Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Probably yes. Almost all major American universities require students to have health insurance that covers just about anything. I’ve checked up on this, though: for the usual grad student health insurance, you’d be looking at the following from [here](http://www.gradinsurance.com/college-student-health-insurance/benefits.php): > [@](#): > > Policy Maximum > > ``` > * $1 Million Lifetime > * $100,000 per illness/injury > > ``` > > Plan Deductible > This is the annual amount a customer pays before benefits are paid. > > ``` > * Individual: $250, $500, $1,000, $2,500 > * This is a calendar year deductible > > ``` > > Coinsurance > (also referred to as Rate Payment) > This is the percentage of covered medical expenses Assurant Health pays after the deductible is met. > > ``` > * 80% of the next $10,000 in covered expenses > * Assurant Health pays 100% thereafter to $100,000 > > ``` > > Prescription Drugs > > ``` > * Only inpatient prescriptions are covered. Cost is subject to deductible and coinsurance. There is no copayment and no prescription card is issued. > > ``` > > Office Visits > > ``` > * Subject to deductible and coinsurance > > ``` There’s a few more things, but that’s the gist of it. At the highest deductible, this would come at a cost of $770.00/year. At the lowest, $3,170.00. Also, preexisting conditions are not covered for the first 12 months. I wouldn’t take this insurance if I had the choice, not with my medical conditions. I have kidney stones that, over the last three years, have averaged out on the low side to 1.5 surgeries/year (if these two most recent stones don’t pass, the average will go to 2). I also take metformin for my diabetes. Yeah, these are pretty high health bills, but nothing compared to someone with ALS. So, let’s see what I would have paid were I a grad student for the last three years. I’d had kidney stones before, though I had never needed surgery for them. I’ll err on the side of niceness on the insurance company (not usually to be relied upon) and suppose they would have covered the first year’s worth of surgeries. On the EXTREMELY conservative side, this surgery costs $12,000 every time. In my experience, the cost is a bit closer to $15,000 or as high as $17,000. But hey, maybe you got a deal. Maybe you have a really nice surgeon. Since they stop charging you the 80% after the first $10,000, the point is pleasantly moot. If I have the lowest deductible – probably the cheapest way to go about this, all things considered – I will have paid $9510 in premiums and $750 in deductibles as well as $2000 per surgery. For six surgeries, that’s $22,260 not including followups, office visits, or prescription medication. Also, I’d better never get another one, since the insurance company won’t pay for them anymore. If the student is lucky, he has a good fellowship (and we can probably assume Stephen Hawking would have had fellowships, grants, scholarships, all that) that will pay at least some of the premiums, but affording school would be hard at that point. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/13 "2009-08-11T19:51:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I had no idea he was British. Me neither. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/14 "2009-08-11T20:00:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I had no idea he was British. Just out of curiosity, did you know he is at Cambridge? I thought it was widely know that he holds the same seat Isaac Newton once did (the [Lucasian Professor of Mathematics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasian_Professor_of_Mathematics)) but maybe I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/15 "2009-08-11T20:07:52Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Just out of curiosity, did you know he is at Cambridge? But, but… Cambridge is in Massachusetts! All those ivory tower types end up in one Cambridge or another, it’s not so easy to keep them straight. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/16 "2009-08-11T20:09:57Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Just out of curiosity, did you know he is at Cambridge? > > I thought it was widely know that he holds the same seat Isaac Newton once did (the [Lucasian Professor of Mathematics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasian_Professor_of_Mathematics)) but maybe I was mistaken. Also something of which I was unaware. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/17 "2009-08-11T20:41:28Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Probably yes. Almost all major American universities require students to have health insurance that covers just about anything. Nope. I didn’t check for neurological disorders, but the insurance that graduate students at my US graduate school had to take the year after I left (I did receive the brochure) included only one kind of obgyn treatment: voluntary abortions. So, it didn’t quite cover “about anything,” no. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/18 "2009-08-12T03:01:33Z")
Someone over at IBD has noted the error. The sentence \*\*Rune \*\*bolded is now gone. The editorial is preceeded by this note: > [@](#): > > Editor’s Note: This version corrects the original editorial which implied that physicist Stephen Hawking, a professor at the University of Cambridge, did not live in the UK. I’d like to repeat that last clause — “did not live in the UK.” Does using the past tense imply that Dr. Hawking is no longer living? I used to read IBD when I was trying to make millions in the stock market. Their investing information was quite good and well researched. Their editorials have always been this laughable. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/19 "2009-08-12T05:29:38Z")
The editor, of course, failed to note that the example of Hawking flies in the face of the point they were using him to try to make. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993/20 "2009-08-12T06:00:12Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Just out of curiosity, did you know he is at Cambridge? > > I thought it was widely know that he holds the same seat Isaac Newton once did (the [Lucasian Professor of Mathematics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasian_Professor_of_Mathematics)) but maybe I was mistaken. I thought Data had that chair. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/investor-s-business-daily-idiot-journalist-think-stephen-hawking-is-american/505993.md?page=2)