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While I agree with this sentiment overall, what pay differential can compensate for a more general stability? It would be great if someone could get a high-payi

While I agree with this sentiment overall, what pay differential can compensate for a more general stability? It would be great if someone could get a high-paying job and not worry about being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster, but that's not the case in the US. And by the same token, almost no amount of pay (within the tech spectrum) could convince me to live in the cities in Texas where right-wing extremists are rallying outside mosques with assault rifles.

kmicklas 9y ago
> It would be great if someone could get a high-paying job and not worry about being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster, but that's not the case in the US. I agree with this sentiment but if you have a high-paying tech job then you probably get insurance which won't bankrupt you in the case of a medical disaster. It's the ~90% of the rest of the population who has to worry.
- alphonsegaston 9y ago
  I mean...maybe? I know of few American companies that aren't going to find away to get rid of you if you're out of work for an extended period of time because of a serious illness or accident. Labor rights are pretty poorly enforced in the US, and when they are, it's often dependent on you being able to mount and survive a costly legal challenge. People tell themselves they'll be ok, but it seems more like a gamble/survivorship bias to me.
  - kmicklas 9y ago
    True, if you lose your job and can't get on disability you're pretty screwed.
- simlevesque 9y ago
  > get insurance which won't bankrupt you in the case of a medical disaster As I understand it (I live in Canada), you can subscribe to an insurance policy and they can refuse to give you the money for one reason or another.
linkregister 9y ago
> being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster For maybe most of the U.S. population, this is a risk, but most tech companies have health plans that cover this. > And by the same token, almost no amount of pay (within the tech spectrum) could convince me to live in the cities in Texas where right-wing extremists are rallying outside mosques with [semi-automatic] rifles. I don't think it's representative of most of Texas or the rest of the country. I get that you're using rhetoric, but there is also anti-Muslim violence in Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, etc.
coredog64 9y ago
> It would be great if someone could get a high-paying job and not worry about being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster Serious question. How does the following situation work in Canada? You make a bunch of money and so you buy a house and car appropriate for your salary. You then get cancer (or your arm falls off, or whatever) and you lose your job. Who makes that house and car payment for you?
- abawany 9y ago
  As I read it, the point being made is that healthcare costs are so out of whack in the US that they have to potential to bankrupt you manifold without insurance. If you have no savings, then certainly the question of who pays the mortgage is valid. However, healthcare is a good social net in Canada so when you get this arm-falling-off-cancer, you use your savings to pay for the house as long as you can and hope the healthcare safety net maximizes your life.
inputcoffee 9y ago
Not sure why you are getting down voted but I was thinking along the lines of the healthcare point. It is a Nassim Taleb type of point: you're basically making extra money writing healthcare puts, but when there is a crash, you get wiped out.
- someSven 9y ago
  If the Canadian system works like the German one than you can come back to the public system even when you are already ill. At least if you've been insured before for a while and you are not to old. If you are broke then it works even then. Sorry, if that might drive some people nuts now.
dang 9y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14540417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14540417 and marked it off-topic.

kmicklas 9y ago

> It would be great if someone could get a high-paying job and not worry about being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster, but that's not the case in the US. I agree with this sentiment but if you have a high-paying tech job then you probably get insurance which won't bankrupt you in the case of a medical disaster. It's the ~90% of the rest of the population who has to worry.

alphonsegaston 9y ago
I mean...maybe? I know of few American companies that aren't going to find away to get rid of you if you're out of work for an extended period of time because of a serious illness or accident. Labor rights are pretty poorly enforced in the US, and when they are, it's often dependent on you being able to mount and survive a costly legal challenge. People tell themselves they'll be ok, but it seems more like a gamble/survivorship bias to me.
- kmicklas 9y ago
  True, if you lose your job and can't get on disability you're pretty screwed.
simlevesque 9y ago
> get insurance which won't bankrupt you in the case of a medical disaster As I understand it (I live in Canada), you can subscribe to an insurance policy and they can refuse to give you the money for one reason or another.

linkregister 9y ago

> being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster For maybe most of the U.S. population, this is a risk, but most tech companies have health plans that cover this. > And by the same token, almost no amount of pay (within the tech spectrum) could convince me to live in the cities in Texas where right-wing extremists are rallying outside mosques with [semi-automatic] rifles. I don't think it's representative of most of Texas or the rest of the country. I get that you're using rhetoric, but there is also anti-Muslim violence in Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, etc.

coredog64 9y ago

> It would be great if someone could get a high-paying job and not worry about being bankrupted by an unforeseen medical disaster Serious question. How does the following situation work in Canada? You make a bunch of money and so you buy a house and car appropriate for your salary. You then get cancer (or your arm falls off, or whatever) and you lose your job. Who makes that house and car payment for you?

abawany 9y ago
As I read it, the point being made is that healthcare costs are so out of whack in the US that they have to potential to bankrupt you manifold without insurance. If you have no savings, then certainly the question of who pays the mortgage is valid. However, healthcare is a good social net in Canada so when you get this arm-falling-off-cancer, you use your savings to pay for the house as long as you can and hope the healthcare safety net maximizes your life.

inputcoffee 9y ago

Not sure why you are getting down voted but I was thinking along the lines of the healthcare point. It is a Nassim Taleb type of point: you're basically making extra money writing healthcare puts, but when there is a crash, you get wiped out.

someSven 9y ago
If the Canadian system works like the German one than you can come back to the public system even when you are already ill. At least if you've been insured before for a while and you are not to old. If you are broke then it works even then. Sorry, if that might drive some people nuts now.

dang 9y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14540417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14540417 and marked it off-topic.