3 ms·

Here in the U.S., the idea of taking even a few weeks off between jobs as a way to refresh oneself is a real luxury because of the way health insurance is tied

by jawns 2mo ago

Here in the U.S., the idea of taking even a few weeks off between jobs as a way to refresh oneself is a real luxury because of the way health insurance is tied to employment. I have wanted to do this each time I've left a job, but a lapse in health insurance would have been too risky for my family, and COBRA is too expensive to be anything other than an option of last resort. So, the most time I've had between jobs over the past 25 years has been a couple of days. If health care were not so tightly tied to one's employer, I could see people saving up and taking a few months off every 3-5 years as they change jobs. For me, a summer off with my kids would be a tremendous joy. But I don't think I'd be able to afford it until I retire, and by then my kids will be all grown up.

antonymoose 2mo ago
Leaving a job is a “life event” so couldn’t you then go out and get a simple marketplace plan? Last I checked it was only a few hundred dollars per month for a single individual?
- mym1990 2mo ago
  It is astronomically higher for a family, as they said they have. The better way would probably be to go on a spouses plan and swap back and forth that way, but that also is a luxury that most underestimate.
- duskdozer 2mo ago
  They mention having kids, so presumably it's more expensive. And on top of that, if you have nontrivial medical needs, the cheap marketplace plans often don't cover a lot of medications or treatments, or will make you redo things like step therapy before covering them. Or they'll have high deductibles which will leave you on the hook for most/all expenses if you're not on the plan for long enough to fill up the deductible.
  - KptMarchewa 2mo ago
    While I understand the idea of american private health insurance, I don't get how do you have to pay for kids. Do you have to pay for primary school too?
    - duskdozer 2mo ago
      You pay for private health insurance for everyone covered. Usually this is either just for yourself, for yourself and a spouse, or for yourself and a spouse and children. Each costs more than the last. Public schools are generally paid for via property taxes at a pretty local level.
- beej71 2mo ago
  I was able to do this a while back in my late 40s. Took 7 months off or so, and insurance was $42/month (bronze). I had enough savings for the gap if I needed it, and it was just me, unlike the OP. Ended up getting a job sooner than expected and had to pay back the subsidy in full at the end of the year. :) So be ready for that. But at least at the time, it was good for cash flow.
aintnoprophet 2mo ago
I have a hard time seeing the ability to change jobs every 3-5 years effectively. Last year I got laid off and it took me >6 months to find a new job. Yes, that time off was amazing (like a vacation) but in IT the market is hard right now at best.
- KptMarchewa 2mo ago
  It's easier to find a new job when you already have one.
ryanschneider 2mo ago
The trick I learned from a kind manager is to make your last day something early in the month and your first day on the new job the last week of the same month. In short if your time off doesn’t actually cross a month boundary your old insurance will still be in effect. Just make sure when doing so you don’t work at the sort of place that’ll let you go as soon as you put in your notice.
- derf_ 2mo ago
  You also have 60 days from when your coverage ends to elect to enroll in COBRA, and for many plans coverage is retroactive to when your original coverage ended (although you have to pay premiums retroactively, too). That gives you close to 3 months between intentional job changes where there is health insurance available if you need it, but you do not have to pay for it if you do not need it.
nocoolnametom 2mo ago
For many years I often wondered why wealthy American capitalists (except for the ones in insurance, obviously) didn't actively promote socialized medicine that would free their companies from having to provide health insurance to their employees: it'd be better for their bottom line, wouldn't it? Healthier workforce, lower expenses per headcount, etc. I figured it must just be a generational thing from those who grew up during the Red Scare to distrust anything "socialized." It's been in recent years, though, that I have come to see that it's still _very_ much in their interest to have employees who already have a job to feel _scared_ to leave it. I don't think this is an organized operation, there's no annual meeting of US company HR departments who scheme about it, I doubt it's something actively thought about by many people very often, but all the same the loss of corporate-provided insurance would do _so much_ to loosen the fears that keep people working for jobs that it would no doubt have a _large_ effect on the economy and every company. The biggest effect would be that it'd be extremely simple to leave a low-paying job to seek a higher wage if you have just enough saved up to cover rent and living expenses for the interim. As such, it finally makes sense to me why so many of the wealthy choose not to lobby for socialized medicine or even to actively fund lobbying against it even if they're not involved in the insanely-powerful for-profit health industry themselves or to lobby in other countries to weaken/dismantle/destroy their existing systems (yes, I know that with an aging population costs of care are getting higher everywhere, but a lot of the funding issues with UK NHS and Canada Medicare are also political in origin): it weakens labor and wages more than they ever have to spend on insurance.

by jawns 2mo ago

antonymoose 2mo ago

Leaving a job is a “life event” so couldn’t you then go out and get a simple marketplace plan? Last I checked it was only a few hundred dollars per month for a single individual?

mym1990 2mo ago
It is astronomically higher for a family, as they said they have. The better way would probably be to go on a spouses plan and swap back and forth that way, but that also is a luxury that most underestimate.
duskdozer 2mo ago
They mention having kids, so presumably it's more expensive. And on top of that, if you have nontrivial medical needs, the cheap marketplace plans often don't cover a lot of medications or treatments, or will make you redo things like step therapy before covering them. Or they'll have high deductibles which will leave you on the hook for most/all expenses if you're not on the plan for long enough to fill up the deductible.
- KptMarchewa 2mo ago
  While I understand the idea of american private health insurance, I don't get how do you have to pay for kids. Do you have to pay for primary school too?
  - duskdozer 2mo ago
    You pay for private health insurance for everyone covered. Usually this is either just for yourself, for yourself and a spouse, or for yourself and a spouse and children. Each costs more than the last. Public schools are generally paid for via property taxes at a pretty local level.
beej71 2mo ago
I was able to do this a while back in my late 40s. Took 7 months off or so, and insurance was $42/month (bronze). I had enough savings for the gap if I needed it, and it was just me, unlike the OP. Ended up getting a job sooner than expected and had to pay back the subsidy in full at the end of the year. :) So be ready for that. But at least at the time, it was good for cash flow.

aintnoprophet 2mo ago

I have a hard time seeing the ability to change jobs every 3-5 years effectively. Last year I got laid off and it took me >6 months to find a new job. Yes, that time off was amazing (like a vacation) but in IT the market is hard right now at best.

KptMarchewa 2mo ago
It's easier to find a new job when you already have one.

ryanschneider 2mo ago

The trick I learned from a kind manager is to make your last day something early in the month and your first day on the new job the last week of the same month. In short if your time off doesn’t actually cross a month boundary your old insurance will still be in effect. Just make sure when doing so you don’t work at the sort of place that’ll let you go as soon as you put in your notice.

derf_ 2mo ago
You also have 60 days from when your coverage ends to elect to enroll in COBRA, and for many plans coverage is retroactive to when your original coverage ended (although you have to pay premiums retroactively, too). That gives you close to 3 months between intentional job changes where there is health insurance available if you need it, but you do not have to pay for it if you do not need it.

nocoolnametom 2mo ago

For many years I often wondered why wealthy American capitalists (except for the ones in insurance, obviously) didn't actively promote socialized medicine that would free their companies from having to provide health insurance to their employees: it'd be better for their bottom line, wouldn't it? Healthier workforce, lower expenses per headcount, etc. I figured it must just be a generational thing from those who grew up during the Red Scare to distrust anything "socialized." It's been in recent years, though, that I have come to see that it's still _very_ much in their interest to have employees who already have a job to feel _scared_ to leave it. I don't think this is an organized operation, there's no annual meeting of US company HR departments who scheme about it, I doubt it's something actively thought about by many people very often, but all the same the loss of corporate-provided insurance would do _so much_ to loosen the fears that keep people working for jobs that it would no doubt have a _large_ effect on the economy and every company. The biggest effect would be that it'd be extremely simple to leave a low-paying job to seek a higher wage if you have just enough saved up to cover rent and living expenses for the interim. As such, it finally makes sense to me why so many of the wealthy choose not to lobby for socialized medicine or even to actively fund lobbying against it even if they're not involved in the insanely-powerful for-profit health industry themselves or to lobby in other countries to weaken/dismantle/destroy their existing systems (yes, I know that with an aging population costs of care are getting higher everywhere, but a lot of the funding issues with UK NHS and Canada Medicare are also political in origin): it weakens labor and wages more than they ever have to spend on insurance.