I work in the high-tech industry, designing semiconductors. Last year at about this time, I left a fairly successful mid-sized company to work for a startup. A couple weeks after starting, I developed my first MS symptoms, and by summer my neurologist (an MS specialist) concluded that I have MS. He started me on Copaxone in June. What I discovered during this time is that startup health and insurance benefits are a lot worse than the benefits I had left behind. I now have a lot of out-of-pocket expenses ($3000 for MRIs!), my company-provided life insurance is for a much smaller value, and there is less disability and no long-term-care insurance. I also took a big pay cut when going to the startup, which as I understand things could come back to bite me if I were to go on disability, since I believe disability payments are based on salary history.
After the initial shock of the medical news wore off, I considered my career situation and concluded that given my health expenses and the uncertainty of my work future, startups don't make sense for me anymore. I'm now considering a job change to a large company. I currently have offers from two large companies, both with excellent benefits. But the new wrinkle is that my startup is in the midst of a personnel crisis of sorts, and the CEO is getting creative about trying to find ways to keep me. Creative enough that I'm thinking about it.
So my point in posting this is to get some input on important factors I should be considering in this large-vs-small company discussion. If the company you work for goes out of business, where does that leave your insurance coverage? What happens if you're on disability at the time? Am I overreacting to this uncertainty?
I have a couple books on insurance issues and chronic illnesses, so I'm doing my own research, but any tips and words of advice from the fine members of this forum would be appreciated.
FYI, my MS symptoms are currently very mild, consisting mostly of some occasional weakness in my left leg. But I'm deeply worried about progression, especially in cognitive skills, given the nature of my work. I went through cognitive screening last fall, and the only sub-par results were in short-term (working) memory. It wasn't bad enough for the neuropsychologist to conclude there was a problem, but I'm concerned.
/Scut
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