Is my advice too mercenary? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#121

Post by replygirl » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:43 PM UTC

nobody9999 wrote: post #87

replygirl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't had insurance for five years because the (major, national) providers who cover what I need aren't available on my state's marketplace (NY).

>I haven't had insurance for five years because the (major, national) providers who cover what I need aren't available on my state's marketplace (NY). As someone who purchases insurance from the NY marketplace, that hasn't been my experience. Initially, I had a plan from one of those (Anthem/BCBS), which provided pretty good coverage because they increased my premiums by more than 50%. Now I have a local (New York St…

> As someone who purchases insurance from the NY marketplace, that just isn't true.

So have I, and I stopped purchasing insurance because I cannot find the coverage I want. I need a specific variant of a certain operation which is only performed by a few surgeons in the country, and the one surgeon in New York who offers it only takes Aetna for that operation. Aetna reentered marketplaces starting 2022, but I'm moving and the operation has a year-plus waitlist, so I'm SOL. It has made a ton of sense for me to have no insurance because I'm fairly young and in fantastic health, making it cheaper to just pay out-of-pocket for primary care once or twice a year. Please don't call people liars.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#122

Post by retrac » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:43 PM UTC

sidewndr46 wrote: post #42

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #5

It truly is shocking that health insurance is tied to employment status. I really think this is a large part of the trend towards overt ruthlessness in the USA, no one has their back so they have no ones back, as people age and experience medical bankruptcy (or narrowly avoid it at great cost) they are realizing this ruthlessness in our system.

As an American who has worked closely with the Federal government, I'm significantly more afraid of the idea that the government would be responsible for my medical care.

It already is extensively involved (FDA, etc.)

Health insurance is one of the least concerning things for the government to get involved in with healthcare, really. Worst thing that happens is they don't insure you or the procedure, and you have to pay for it yourself somehow.

I would question the viability of government for handling many things, but collecting taxes and distributing funds is one of the things they usually are pretty good at. Some of the leanest health insurers in the US in terms of overhead are public enterprises, e.g. the VA and various state assistance programs.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#123

Post by spicyusername » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:44 PM UTC

> I think many people, especially those newer to the working world, underestimate just how ruthless and sociopathic our late-stage Capitalist working conditions really are.

That is really the issue in a nutshell.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#124

Post by ghaff » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:44 PM UTC

nopenopenopeno wrote: post #15

AYBABTME wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming this is by design to keep the US population "on their toes" and at work doing productive things. Otherwise why would it be tied to employment?

That’s right. Bosses love it so it’s not going to change until workers force it to.

Bosses absolutely do not love healthcare costs if that's what you're suggesting. But even legal mandates for larger firms aside, if you're trying to hire white collar workers while not having a decent healthcare plan, you're going to find it's a challenge.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#125

Post by uoaei » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:45 PM UTC

twblalock wrote: post #92

uoaei wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Innovation rate in a society is roughly proportional to the branching factor of the possible futures that that society engenders. One way to reduce the branching factor is to consume (or store) resources that others may use to innovate. "Taking up space" in society corresponds to collecting and storing resources beyond the share which makes you productive, such that an opportunity cost is incurred. Insofar as there i…

Seems like you've dug deep into the lexicon of grad-school postmodernism without saying anything that makes any sense.

I invite you to cite one postmodern philosopher who has used the phrase "branching factor". I am a systems theorist by training.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#126

Post by kbenson » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:45 PM UTC

rmason wrote: post #91

There was a time in America a generation or two ago when you could give your all to a company. Here in Michigan there were a number of small towns where a single employer would dominate. If the town needed something, like a baseball park the owner would simply write a check. If a loyal employee had a health crisis that insurance didn't cover the company owner would write a check. When there were tough economic times…

How is that any different than some fiefdom ruled over by some noble? The whole point of democracy and elective government is that you can't rely on a system like that to be consistently good, whether it's the Duke's son squandering all the wealth and not listening to the people or a shift in management at the company. Just because sometimes there were benevolent companies that decided to contribute to their communities doesn't mean relying on that is a stable or desired outcome.

Require employees be paid and treated fairly. Require companies pay their taxes. Tax employees on those fair wages. Use those taxes to pay for community needs. That's the goal. That's our responsibility as citizens of a democracy. Relinquishing these responsibilities to others because it seems easier is how we got where we are. Benevolent companies are just a precursor to abusive ones, so take away their ability to be abusive.

If you relinquish your power to another, you should expect to be unhappy when their goals conflict with your own. Don't relinquish your power.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#127

Post by tomjakubowski » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:46 PM UTC

shakezula wrote: post #59

le-mark wrote: post #7

I’ve seen too many layoffs where critical people were fired, and experienced the resulting train wrecks first hand, to have any sympathy for companies or management in this regard. Team mates yes, psychotic dystopian organizations? Hell no!

For real, I've seen companies fire some of their best and brightest, I'm talking top-tier academic talent in some cases, because they didn't think they were committing code frequently enough, only to wonder why their shit is on fire 6 months later and why the systems those same engineers maintained aren't able to produce new features as fast as before, messing up their delivery timelines, etc... Even funnier is when…

Wow. It's incredibly degrading to ask an employee to do an exit interview immediately after they were laid off. A company which does that deserves naming and shaming.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#128

Post by replygirl » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:46 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #50

replygirl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't had insurance for five years because the (major, national) providers who cover what I need aren't available on my state's marketplace (NY).

Is it available off-market? That's how I bought my insurance (in another state). My state has a marketplace too, but I found better plans directly through the insurer's website.

The insurer I was after was offering neither marketplace nor off-market individual plans until this year

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#129

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:46 PM UTC

Eh, as much as I would like to be able to say that the advice is too 'mercenary', it is not. It is by far the most rational piece I have read on the matter.

In my little corner of the world, a good chunk of the team quit over the past few weeks leaving a skeleton crew. I know for a fact that each and every one of those, who quit indicated very clearly why they quit ( money, benefits, limited chance of promotion ). To the best of my knowledge, nothing changed ( we didn't suddenly get a better working environment )..and, realistically, this is the best case scenario: nothing changes.

If anything,as employees we are not being mercenary enough. All the niceties employers enjoyed worked only one way..

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#130

Post by melony » Mon, Apr 11, 2022, 7:47 PM UTC

hobs wrote: post #97

rmason wrote: post #91

There was a time in America a generation or two ago when you could give your all to a company. Here in Michigan there were a number of small towns where a single employer would dominate. If the town needed something, like a baseball park the owner would simply write a check. If a loyal employee had a health crisis that insurance didn't cover the company owner would write a check. When there were tough economic times…

Extremely true and it happened all over, my dad worked for a place for 40 years and the last 10 the MBAs moved in, they were profitable, had profit sharing, and a great company. Today its a footnote in a merger, place is closing down.

What happened to "company towns bad"?