being sick in the US
I am contemplating a move to seattle, to work for amazon. however, at my age I have an important question: what happens if you get say cancer, working for amazon, and have to undergo chemo, surgery, etc? what kind of support do you get, do you lose your job if the treatment takes more than x days, etc I know nothing of the system in the US, which is why I ask
At Amazon if you are out sick for a week when you come back you will find somebody sitting at your desk
This was a funny comment, but I hope this is a simple, completely unfounded joke... because of how serious the question was, do you mind elaborating?
This is definitely a joke. S/he is making fun of amazons intense culture
Unfortunately, I am on the east coast of the US and we don't have Kaiser Permanente. However, your assessment is correct. Theresa is a max out of pocket (and $3000 sounds fair), and the plan will probably cover well into the high millions, perhaps unlimited? I would read the fine print on max coverage just to be sure.
The fine print is not available at the webpage provided by the recruiter... this is the webpage https://www.amazon.jobs/en/landing_pages/benefitsoverview-us ... it leaves many questions open, such as what about CT scans and expensive chemo? Does the insurance pay 60% of Only base salary and you keep receiving other things like the sign on bonus and RSUs, or is it something else? If it’s 60% of base salary only , I am pretty sure it’s impossible to live in Seattle with that amount, in a family
Whenever any insurance is calculated, it has always been on Base Salary for me.
Something which I haven't understood yet and need to at some point is: What happens to your visa status after you run out of long term disability? Are you allowed to claim long term disability on a work visa? You cannot have more than 90 (or 60, I forget) days of unemployment on a H1B visa. Unsure about other visa types.
Great question. Maybe this question should actually be: do you technically cease to be employed when you are undergoing treatment? I assume you would take unpaid leave while you receive the insurance benefits
Yep. The rephrasing makes sense. But, how long of an unpaid leave can you take?
Uh I would not count on any leniency at all from Amazon.
Most big companies have pretty clear rules, I am trying to find out what those are and if there’s not enough coverage offered, how to get enough coverage I guess
If you get cancer in the US you can keep your job as long as you can perform your job. You get some months off but not many, not sure how much. They are allowed to fire you if you can’t perform your job. With that you’ll lose your health insurance. There are a lot of rules that even Americans don’t know how to navigate, I can’t imagine being a foreigner.
The us is a cruel place, and Amazon is crueler. If you have a good life where you're at, I wouldn't come personally.
Amazon seems fine to me.
I know a lot of people that have Kasier, they tell me it's the insurance for healthly people. Meaning if your healthy it's cheap option. If not, not a really good place. As far as companies supporting chronic illiness really depends on the culture of the company and your direct manager. There is also the ADA law which allows for reasonable accommodation to help disabled people to keep working. My suggestion, stay clear of Amazon, they can be pretty cut throat if your worried about getting sick on the job.
Illnesses are not usually protected as disabilities under the ADA definition
Op, these are good questions but you’re probably asking in the wrong place. Most people here also don’t know much about this, you’re probably better off asking in a savvy forum on reddit than here. There are two distinct questions: one is how the healthcare system works with and without employer sponsored insurance. The second is how amazon treats employees with serious health issues.
The invisible hand of the market will determine your fate if/when you get sick. As god intended.
Supply side Jesus
It REALLY depends on how it plays out. If you get SUDDENLY sick, and know you're sick, you will get great support. You can go on short and long term leave, your insurance will continue, and it will cover everything. You will get great healthcare, and after your out of pocket maximum is exceeded insurance will pay for everything. The real risk is that you don't KNOW you're sick, or you get sick and try and cope and keep working but it impacts your work, and you're unproductive, and you end up getting terminated for under performing. In that case you lose your insurance around the same time you find out what the problem is and you're basically screwed. Another terrible combo punch is if your family member gets sick and you decide you need to stay home and care for them. You will exhaust your leave time and eventually lose your job and your insurance and be unable to pay the bills to care for your family You can pay COBRA to keep insurance going after you lose your job, but it's expensive, and you won't want to pay the high cost because you won't have an income and likely a bunch of copays and uncovered expenses at the same time. Amazon treats people pretty well in these cases but no employer will let you go on permanent leave to care for your family, and it's hard for an employer to know your performance suffered for health reasons if you yourself aren't fully aware of the impact it's having, which is actually surprisingly common--it's natural for most people to try and keep going if they aren't totally debilitated.
Americans really should learn to only be the right kind of sick that is acceptable to their employer.
Do you know if you still get signon and RSUs when you’re out sick ? Or just a % of base salary ?
There is typically sick leave days for moderate illnesses, but companies also have short term and long term disability insurance (some employers pay for you, others have you pay yourself). These insurances typically pay a % of your income while you are getting treatment. Women use short term disability to supplement maternity leave as well. In terms of medical costs, your company provided health insurance plan will cover up to a maximum. I believe Amazon has Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which is a good company. You will elect your coverage amount when you sign on with your company, and your elected coverage plan will be a cost out of your paycheck.
From what I understood one of the best plans they have is something called kaiser permanente, and looks like you have a maximum out of pocket of say 3000 a year - after that you don’t pay anymore and can continue treatment. Does that make sense? I thought it sounded a bit too good to be true
Is there a maximum to what is covered?