18 Comments
Have the health insurance benefits offered by an employer ever caused you to accept a job or stay at a job that you otherwise would have preferred to leave?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
© 2023 T1D Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
Yes. A small company that cannot offer insurance is no longer appealing. Here it’s very difficult if not impossible to live without health insurance.
It didn’t impact my job decisions but I did stay in a marriage too long bc of insurance benefits!!
I was ok with a place that even allowed part-timers to have health benefits (since my primary career as a musician is freelance and self-employed) but when they dropped that benefit I split and went on my husband’s insurance.
I really wish our system in the US were less driven by health insurance companies. Their rules and regulations make health care more difficult to access and they add additional cost to the whole affair.
Yes ! My husband is in a job specifically because the insurance is amazing. We cannot live without it.
I did my whole career in a company and business in which I had absolutely no interest. My wife and I chose to live in a very rural area, close to our families, where there was very little employment. I took a state job that had health insurance. There was little, to no opportunity to practice my chosen profession, without starving or going without health insurance. As others have mentioned, our country lags behind most of the world with our system of health insurance. If I didn’t have to worry about where I could get health insurance, I’m sure that my life would have gone in a different direction. Having said that, I did my career, got my promotions, and performed well; and my family had health insurance.
I answered YES. Although insurance was not the only reason I stayed, it was the deciding factor.
I marked yes, but it was years ago and I did it because I was a single mom and did it for my child’s coverage. As a single parent I made sure my child always had coverage.
In the ’90s, I was ready to be self-employed and run my own business. I called many health insurance providers to seek their coverage, and they all turned me down. The only way I could get health insurance was to work for a company that provided benefits. I’ve been doing so ever since.
Original job offer was part-time without benefits. Had to explain that I couldn’t accept because I wouldn’t be able to afford my diabetes supplies without insurance. Luckily they wanted me enough to offer me full time with benefits.
Our son is on Tricare, retired, and a supplement.
My spouse has continued to work past retirement age in an extremely stressful, hospital environmental services position because of the health insurance offered. We both need that level of coverage because of chronic health conditions. I’ve been self-employed as a visual artist for the past 40+ years and have barely scraped by on my own.
Our politicians seem to live in this theoretical, Panglossian, best of all possible worlds.
Sure wish the rest of us lived and worked there. 🖤
I definitely took the job I’ve been at for the past 15 years specifically because I could be covered by health insurance. I also needed a job! Just, you know, to live in America. As I’ve aged, and many Diabetic Complications have exhibited themselves, (heart, kidney, eyes, feet) I’ve joked with my boss that “You can never fire me, cuz it would be like murder!” (luckily she laughs along with me) but in a way, I’m serious. Without my health insurance, there is no way I could continue to see my plethora of specialists, nor could I afford all of the prescription medications I am on. So, I actually might die. I’ve been Type 1 for 53 years. I’m old, and I’m worn out, and a lot of things are going wrong. I wish sometimes that I could afford to go on disability, but I cannot financially even consider that. (sigh) So I’m stuck in my job forever. I’ll probably die at my desk. haha.
I answered “somewhat” for my spouse. I am on disability benefits due to seizures, but he feels the golden handcuffs of his employer’s health benefits for my health care costs and capabilities.
I was diagnosed after I retired! However I raised 2 T1d’s and had excellent health insurance so thinking back to that time, yes, good health benefits would absolutely be important in my decision.
I stayed at a job without getting a pay increase for 15 years because they had good health insurance. When I was young, I was led to believe that no one would hire a type 1 because it cost the company too much money. I don’t believe it’s true, but I did at the time. My general anxiety may have also contributed to that fear.
A part time worker (never by choice) for over a decade, am periodically offered “tertiary” [sic. a Latin word I am confident means reeking GARBAGE] insurance. I can no longer afford A-N-Y medication/supplies or any medical care in any manner without it period. Without it, I would be dead within months with 1,000% certainty. Knowing this, I would gleefully prefer to leave with zero hesitation(s) of any kind.
I stayed at a job mainly because I needed something full-time with benefits for both myself and my kids. The management was not accommodating and I wanted to leave, but full-time work was not readily available and my spouse was in school. So, I felt I had to stay.