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Comment by liotier | Hacker News Reader

Nice - until you have kids and health problems... Then you appreciate how much Europe makes these a non-problem - at least financially.

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Is that really a problem for engineers earning >~60K a year?

If your health problems do not prevent you from working, it’s not a problem.. But keep in mind that even non-engineers and poor people have those benefits.

Until they experience a major medical event, survive and find shortly thereafter that they have been furloughed for "other reasons" because their insurance becomes too costly for the employer to afford.

Sounds like you need long-term disability insurance.

... unless you have a "pre-existing condition"

And that is what Uni Health Care addresses, supposedly. The caveat is, while insurance providers must cover PECs, it says nothing about how much they will charge. The systemic problems with for-profit/quasi-social healthcare were not fixed nor addressed(outside more welfare options), it just mandated more participants paying into the coffers.

And a new job to afford yet another payment? Where do I sign????

PS: not me... family, friends & acquaintances who had spent decade(s) with employers and after returning to work able bodied only to be subsequently let go for reasons other than their abilities to perform their duties.

$60k USD minus taxes, rent, insurance, and other fixed costs is not going to buy you much healthcare. The cheaper places to live in the US might not even have decent healthcare options. Not to mention significant time off will result in termination.

Absolutely. Most companies cut off the oxygen after a few months.

Expensive diagnoses like cancer or pregnancy are not good for the career.

It’s incredible that pregnancy is considered an “expensive diagnosis”.

It's increadible that cancer is considered an "expensive diagnosis".

Pregnancy is optional, like a luxury car.

Raising a child certainly costs a lot.

Of course, it being optional doesn’t stop people from hyperventilating about our reduced fertility rate.

People lament the falling fertility rate (esp. among a particular ethnic group), but they never want to do anything about the government policies and living costs and other social factors that are driving this reduced rate.

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