Sorry, Robert, I just saw this! One question---have you kept up COBRA coverage while you are laid off? If you have, and have never had any kind of interruption in coverage, when you are hired at a new job, they cannot use your medical history against you, or refuse to cover pre-existing conditions or impose waiting periods. Your COBRA plan will issue you a "COCC" or certificate of creditable coverage that has words to that effect for you to give your new employer's insurance.

I have had Leukemia and a transplant. I kept up my COBRA plan while I was recuperating for months (and unable to work) from my old employer. Cost a fortune, but because I'd never had a lapse in coverage, my new employer had to cover me from the moment my new insurance kicked in (and I kept up COBRA until that day), with no pre-existing condition exclusions. And when you are applying for jobs and interviewing, nobody needs to know your disease profile, you are just another job applicant who's been laid off looking for work. The fact that you have big drug expenses every month shouldn't even come up as an issue.

I, too, hope with "healthcare reorganization" someday we won't even have to worry about this stuff anyway, but I'm not holding my breath! In the meantime, you shouldn't have problems getting insurance at a new job as long as you have had COBRA from a previous employer. Good luck with the job hunting!

Pam