> let me tell you about health care coverage

I haven't had any coverage in 3 years. It's not the end of the world. People who lose their shit over weird tail risks are missing out on the competitive advantage. You can compensate for the expensive doctors and prescription meds with more exercise and cleaner diets.

I always looked at employer sponsored health care as a sort of trap. I never got involved in it. Every insurance premium I would have paid has gone to a retirement, investment or savings account instead. One big open runway is a lot more useful than a bunch of smaller ones with weird constraints. The idea of a health savings account amuses me.

> you're gonna have to try hard to get a Home Depot job

Things are definitely weird because the current unemployment rate isn't far off 50 year lows: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE

> son let me tell you about health care coverage at non-FAANG companies... it ain't great

Union job will get you good health insurance.

Software probably isn’t that, but if you need health insurance more than cash, be strategic.

If you’re getting screwed on the compensation and it’s important enough to you, think outside the box about the area you work in.

> you're gonna have to try hard to get a Home Depot job

Only the most desperate SWE/HN poster is looking for hourly jobs at Home Depot. I think this is bogus.

I've worked at plenty of non-FAANG companies. Only at those companies, in fact. The health care coverage was fine at most of them.

I’ve been in the industry a long time and benefits at FAANG are not great. Deductibles are high, subsidy pretty average, overall package weak. Earlier in my career I paid nothing for insurance, had a lot of fringe benefits, and I was genuinely grateful for the perks. I’ve looked at ACA alternatives compared to my FAANG benefits and it wasn’t a huge difference frankly - better on the margin but nothing to write home about, at least in my local market.

The fact people have to find a job not for money but for health insurance is about as dystopian as I can imagine. Toil just to not get sick and go broke, not because you need the money. What a sad world we built for ourselves.