prostate cancer and switching jobs

You don't need to discuss your medical situation with them to get the job. It's your business not theirs. You would only need to tell them if you had a condition that would prevent you from fulfilling the requirements of the position.

fulltlt,
I have a heck of a story about this. My first piece of advice is to be 100% honest about everything that is asked about your ability to perform and on the insurance forms. Anything knowingly incorrect will not help you. But check this out:

When I was diagnosed while with my former employer of 16 years, I quit my job. The reasons I won't go much into other than to say that we were undergoing extreme changes at the company I was at and I had a very successful career and a leading engineer in telecommunications. But the new management was not very strong and were completely unsympathetic about my diagnosis. My ties to execs that were already gone were not popular either I don't believe. With the pressures of a new diagnosis and a strong reputation I decided to just leave and lose the stress that was mounting.

Immediately after I left the economy started its collapse and my desire to start consulting was not going to be a good plan. Instead, I was paying big bucks for COBRA and had to have surgery, radiation and hormonal therapies. And I did not know what would be next.

Enter my current employer. They knew about my diagnosis, they knew I have several months, probably years, ahead of treatment. But they were also aware of my positive reputation in the gaming industry designing many of these mega-resorts telecommunications systems and networks. They hired my about two months after surgery even when I told them that I still had to undergo radiation and that it would take a chunk of time per day to do so. The hearts of this group has a very loyal employee in myself and we have had some great success.

They hired me to start a Nevada operation of sales and service, a territory they strongly wanted to gain access to. i was given the green light to work out of my home office and take whatever time I needed to get passed treatment. As it turned out my oncology team was able to get in at 7:00am for radiation therapy, get home and walk 3 miles, and be at my desk by 9:00am. I didn't miss a day at work.

Things are going very well and in spite of a very difficult here in Las Vegas, we have grown to where I have a crew of 12 in full maintenance and service contracts with a P&L that looks great. I manage a great group that has been very supportive, and I am managed by a great group that did all of the enabling.

I switch off of my COBRA and did not have any issues with pre-existing conditions because I never had a lapse in coverage. I pretty much was treated by the time my new insurance kicked with exception to the HT therapy sessions. I have been with these guys now for 3 1/2 years.

As a person who has the authority to bring new guys in, I look for the honest answers. It does not affect my decisions on who to hire regardless of physical ailment. In fact my senior engineer/Ops manager had lost a leg in a motorcycle while I still worked with him at the old gig. He was the guy I wanted and just like myself, his ailment was not going to prevent me from getting him.

I hope you have similar success. Good luck in the process and if so, good luck in your new job.

Tony

Fulltlt,

In theory, and probably legally, what goes on insurance forms is not to be disclosed to the employer.

This would fall under the HIPPA regulations.

Now, if your situation interferes with doing your job, it depends on state law. Where I live, they do not have to state a reason to terminate you, but you can appeal if there is a violation of Federal laws. All this said for the US.

 

The company I am at now was going to try to switch from our current BCBSIL group plan to a group plan from Humana. We all had to fill out medical history forms for Humana. I wasn't real happy about that but had to do it anyway. As it turned out they found out Humana was going to be 40+% more than what we were paying so they decided to stay with BCBSIL at only 37% more than last years. My point is that insurance companies are asking about pre-existing conditions for group plans.