Posted by zipnull on July 16, 2001, at 22:31:38
I was told by a friend that worked in our (Fortune 200) inhuman resources group that they always check your medical history before offering employment. If you have any history of long-term illness (such as depression), they would not offer you a job. The only exception occurred when the hiring organization wanted a particular person and made a stink. HR would never admit that they withheld a job offer on medical grounds. There are a million reasons that they can use to buffalo the both the hiring organization and the poor sap that's looking to for a job. Later, I asked a casual acquaintance that was at the time a vp in another large firm, if this was true. He got defensive and claimed that it wasn't true. I kept pressing and finally he started explaining how young, healthy, unmarried individuals lowered their staggering insurance costs and therefore they needed to "weed out" the more expensive individuals when making hiring decisions. I just laughed and said I understood, but I was sick inside, because I'm one of those weeds.
I've felt insecure for several years, and so when I started seeing a p-doc, I never filed a medical insurance claim. I was hoping to keep my medical records clean. It's expensive ($180/session) so I keep my visits down to a minimum. However, I was going broke paying for the meds. One day my pharmacy assumed that I would use the co-pay plan and charged me $15 instead of $280. I didn't want to explain why I wanted to pay full price, and the difference in cost is amazing, so I just wrote a check for $15. For the past year I've been using the co-pay for my meds.
Well, now, my fears have come true and I was just "surplused". I'm out of here soon and I'm worried about finding a job. The country is flooded with overqualified people. As I search for a new position, will I get all the way through the selection process and then find out that they have 'mysteriously' changed their mind? Will I ever work again? Have I reached that age, when you must settle for being underpaid and underemployed? Why must I pay double, once for medical insurance coverage, and again because I'm afraid to use the medical insurance? Am I nuts, will HR departments look at my prescription history and withhold job offers? Isn't there some way to keep some of this stuff private?
-zipnull
poster:zipnull
thread:7527
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010706/msgs/7527.html