My husband was diagnosed with UC 10 years ago. He had his first surgery on May 1, 2007. He had complications. He had an infection on his incision and had to be opened up and kept open. He was on a wound vac for 6 weeks. About a week after surgery he had an abcess by his liver and had to go back in to the hospital. It breaks my heart to watch all these yukky things happen when he's trying so hard to get better. His work was great at first. Now they keep giving him a hard time and are trying to get him to quit(we think). They said he was gone too long and he now has to make a cobra payment. With his second surgery coming up (July 10), I think that's hitting below the belt. They have already jeopardized our coverage. Shame on them! My husband has enough to worry about and this is just depressing him. Is there anything that anyone knows we can do?

You should look at FMLA (Family Leave Medical Act), a Federal Program. He should be protected by this. Please Google it and start researching.

Sue

FMLA is the only real legal recourse, but the applicability of it is determined by the size of the company. I'm not sure how big your husband's company is. And it will only guarantee they can't let him go for 12 weeks.

Why are they saying he has to make a COBRA payment? Have they let him go? I don't know the laws surrounding COBRA but I thought that was a benefit you could apply for in between jobs, outside of the health coverage your company pays for.

They have not let him go so far. They won't, they would rather him quit. I don't get it(cobra payment)thing either. I do need to research the legalities. Like I was saying I think they are trying to play games. It's really sad. He has come so far and has a little ways to go yet, he doesn't need this. I'm praying and keeping the faith.

Jeans

"COBRA contains provisions giving certain former employees, retirees, spouses and dependent children the right to temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates."
COBRA should not be used if he still works there; they are trying to screw you. He might qualify for some short term disability or something but not for COBRA unless he has quit or has been let go on "good terms."
Do some investigating and take things in to your own hands.

My brother was seriously ill for over a year (well longer, actually, but so ill he was in and out of hospital for over a year) and his employers tried hard to bully him out of his job. This is in Norway where employee rights are far stronger than in the US, but still, I sympathise. My brother had numerous meetings with the company lawyer who tried all kinds of dirty tricks to psych him into quitting. He didn't, and now they've finally backed down and he's working as usual. He had to be very, very resilient. I'm so sorry your husband's employer is pushing him around like this. I hope you can both find the strength to keep on fighting and not be bullied into the ground. There's a very good chance your husband will be almost 100 % "normal" when his surgeries are completed. My employers were wonderful to me (they also saw me when I was at my very worst after step 1, so they had the whole jaw-drop "OMG" experience) and consequently I feel duty-bound to stick with them in the future and show them the same loyalty they showed me. Why can't more employers learn this lesson?
Keep fighting!

Jeans,

The protection your husband has in his job is by FMLA like everyone says. That allows you 12 weeks off and your job is protected (given you've been at the company long enough, it's a large enough company, etc). As far as the COBRA, the only thing I can think of is that maybe your benefit plan states that if you exceed your FMLA allottment, you are taken off benefits and have to pay for them yourself. It doesn't mean you have lost benefits, COBRA just means you now pay the whole amount for them.

I would ask the Company why they're offering COBRA and I would look into Short Term Disability, some companies offer it, some don't. Your husband may have that as part of his benefits package.

The best thing to do is to call the HR dept. at the company and ask them for their help. Tell them his situation, make sure you are providing them documentation from the physician on a regular basis and have filled out the FMLA forms and find out about the security of his job and the benefit part.

Unfortunately, the employer does not have to keep him on if he exceeds his 12 weeks FMLA and to some employers, it is a hardship on them to have a position open and/or keep paying that person's benefits depending on the size of the company and its financial position.

You could also ask HR if there are personal leaves of absence that the company offers to ill employees. This would be a company policy and many companies don't offer them, but it might help to ask.

Good luck. I've been there and had to rush back to work for fear of being replaced if I went past the 12 weeks. I hope they can sympathize with your husband and give him some more time.

typical I went through this I got a raise before I got sick a month later I got sick was gone about 6 months was trying to go back and they keep saying take more time off I said no so they laid me off and since it was a small company nothing I could do about it..

Hi Jeans,

As Allison said, unfortunately the company does not have to keep him on. My husband was out on short-term disability and then went to long-term disability. He was protected by FMLA for 12 weeks but that's it. They kept him past that (quite a while actually) but then gave him a date to return and said if he couldn't come back by then they'd have to let him go as it was a hardship to the company. We wrote a letter (a suggestion for you) explaining why they should keep him on, as we thought he would be returning but after the date they gave (although only a month or so) and asked them to extend the return date. Gave tons of reasons why it would be in THEIR best interest (wouldn't have to hire someone new, train, etc. and how he had such a special skill-set) and they agreed! Unfortunately he wasn't able to return by that date, but it bought us a few more months of health care before having to pay for Cobra. (I would do as the others said re: contacting the HR Dept. as to why they are having you pay for Cobra while he's still employed... They may have a policy.) The company did then 'let my husband go' and we were shocked but we consulted with an employment attorney and found out it was 100% legal. It's unfortunate but it's legal. Thankfully he had a disability policy with them so wound up getting good income (so we could pay the $1000/month Cobra payments!) Anyway, just wanted to let you know what I know. If they haven't let him go yet, consider yourself lucky, but look into why they're making you pay for the Cobra. Best of luck!

That is awful. I can empathize with your husband's situation - after an obstruction surgery a few days after my step 2, I had the big incision left open and the wound vac...it stinks.
I did not qualify for FMLA at my job, but I did get short-term disability from the company. After that surgery, I think I returned to work about 14 weeks later. I was lucky that the company was so good to me, though.
I would definitely write a letter, as one of the earlier posts had suggested; it certainly couldn't hurt. I understand the company's position of course, but I think if some of them had to go what we went through, they'd be singing a different tune.
I hope they will keep your husband's position for when he returns!