EvrClrx311
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2012
- Messages
- 648
DW and I are 30 and we have two daughters. The youngest is 11 months old and was born with a congenital heart defect, a really serious one. She has spent 115 days in the hospital and undergone half a dozen major operations in the first year of her life. I'd estimate our insurance has spent above the $1,000,000 mark to date on her coverage... luckily we have REALLY good insurance and our out of pocket expenses and co-pays have been in the neighborhood of only $2,500 so far. There is no lifetime cap on our coverage.
Our daughter has gotten through the toughest part and has been at home for 3 months straight with just bi-weekly check-ups. Had her first word last weekend ("Mama" ) and is catching up quickly on all of the gross motor skills she fell behind on while sitting in a hospital bed for 3 straight months. She has one more open heart surgery to go at the age of 3, and should be out of the woods (crossing our fingers) and like any other child from that point on - other than the scars on her chest.
I have been getting job offers, really good ones, from other companies and although I like where I'm at now... I think at some point I'm going to need to move jobs to advance in my career. I've been with my current company since college, and I think I've gotten about as high as I can go here.
I know that back in 2010 a law was passed preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing health conditions:
I think the smart thing is to stay put where I am now at least until our daughter gets past this next surgery, but I wanted to probe the audience here to make sure I'm not missing anything. My family and daughter(s) are the most important thing in my life so I would never do anything to jeopardize their safety/security. If it takes staying with the same company, I'll gladly stay.
Has anyone else gone through anything similar and can you give some advice/tips. What kinds of questions do I need to ask these companies, or more specifically their insurance companies if I start to entertain other job offers. Am I playing with fire even considering a career move? How do the new Obama laws effect things? Is this act that was passed in 2010 rock solid... and is my interpretation that another company would have to cover my daughter correct?
Finding a company with equal quality of insurance coverage is another question entirely.
I know this topic might not fit entirely with this board as it is about jobs and insurance instead of FIRE, but I thought I'd ask because you guys probably all have extremely valuable advice after spending a career working and dealing with insurance and job changes.
Anyone who is interested in a montage of my daughters story... please feel free to search "Isla's Story" on youtube and you'll find a video titled "What it Means To Be Loved - Isla's Story" as the top link (posted it here a few months ago... so some may have seen it already).
Our daughter has gotten through the toughest part and has been at home for 3 months straight with just bi-weekly check-ups. Had her first word last weekend ("Mama" ) and is catching up quickly on all of the gross motor skills she fell behind on while sitting in a hospital bed for 3 straight months. She has one more open heart surgery to go at the age of 3, and should be out of the woods (crossing our fingers) and like any other child from that point on - other than the scars on her chest.
I have been getting job offers, really good ones, from other companies and although I like where I'm at now... I think at some point I'm going to need to move jobs to advance in my career. I've been with my current company since college, and I think I've gotten about as high as I can go here.
I know that back in 2010 a law was passed preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing health conditions:
...but I also know that not all health insurance is the same. I also know that companies aren't going to go out of their way to check on these things for you, they will lead you to believe that they've got you covered just to get you to sign on the dotted line and start working for them.One of the hallmarks of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law in March 2010 is the elimination of pre-existing condition requirements imposed by health plans.
Effective September 2010, children (below age 19) with pre-existing conditions may not be denied access to their parents' health plan and insurance companies will no longer be allowed to insure a child, but exclude treatments for that child's pre-existing condition
I think the smart thing is to stay put where I am now at least until our daughter gets past this next surgery, but I wanted to probe the audience here to make sure I'm not missing anything. My family and daughter(s) are the most important thing in my life so I would never do anything to jeopardize their safety/security. If it takes staying with the same company, I'll gladly stay.
Has anyone else gone through anything similar and can you give some advice/tips. What kinds of questions do I need to ask these companies, or more specifically their insurance companies if I start to entertain other job offers. Am I playing with fire even considering a career move? How do the new Obama laws effect things? Is this act that was passed in 2010 rock solid... and is my interpretation that another company would have to cover my daughter correct?
Finding a company with equal quality of insurance coverage is another question entirely.
I know this topic might not fit entirely with this board as it is about jobs and insurance instead of FIRE, but I thought I'd ask because you guys probably all have extremely valuable advice after spending a career working and dealing with insurance and job changes.
Anyone who is interested in a montage of my daughters story... please feel free to search "Isla's Story" on youtube and you'll find a video titled "What it Means To Be Loved - Isla's Story" as the top link (posted it here a few months ago... so some may have seen it already).
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