A reader writes:
I have lived and worked in the US and the UK. In the summer of 1999, I disappointed a work client by deciding against a planned move from the UK to the US. I had my visa in place, I had scoped out housing and childcare. In the end, I didn't think it was worth the trouble of moving my family, with a young son and a baby daughter, thousands of miles away from friends and relatives.
A few months later, my 4-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia.
Had I moved to Chicago, the three-year chemotherapy nightmare would have been accentuated by constant worries about insurance. My job was a good one; I would have been covered as long as I kept working. But the company was an IT startup, and in fact did downsize after a while. Like to bet your kid's health on staying in work? Staying in the UK I found other clients, cut my hours right back, and intermittently stopped working altogether, to care for my family. He got three years of world-class treatment, without any question of payment. Many years later, he continues to be very well, and I continue to believe that we dodged a bullet by staying in the UK.