Critical Coverage
Mary Lou Benecke, forty-six, has a great career at Dow Corning, currently working as a Manager of State Government Affairs in its Midland, Michigan, office. Her fifteen years at the company have been marked by success, and thanks to her firm’s policies, she’s never had to sacrifice the needs of her son, Joel, at any point during her career. As an infant, Joel was diagnosed with lissencephaly, a brain malformation that causes mental retardation and poor muscle control. “He wasn’t supposed to live past age two. Today, at age twenty, he’s still about three to six months old, developmentally speaking,” says Mary Lou. “I couldn’t care for him like I do without my firm’s support.”
At Dow Corning, going the extra mile to cover health-care costs for employee kids with special needs is simply the right thing to do. The company offers a $400 reimbursement for in-home nurse visits and allows employees to take ten extra paid sick days to care for their kids or other family members. Mary Lou worked part-time until 2006, but she received full medical benefits from day one. What’s more, while most health insurance plans cover only restorative speech and occupational and physical therapy, Dow Corning’s plan also includes speech therapy for developmental delays, covering up to 90 percent for ninety sessions. Plus, coverage for special-needs children extends beyond the typical cutoff age of twenty-five; it lasts as long as parents need it.
It’s a perk that Mary Lou is well positioned to appreciate. “I used to write benefits manuals, and I know the limitations that health insurance companies impose on therapy hours,” she says. “There have been times when the physical therapist has wanted to interrupt Joel’s program so that they can show progress to the insurance company—and it’s great being able to tell them they don’t have to do that.”
The company’s flexible work schedules have also helped Mary Lou be a devoted mom. “When Joel is ill, I can choose to work from his hospital bedside, or I’ll work on weekends, when my husband can be with him,” she explains. “Without this flexibility, my professional choices would be more limited. I look at it as a win-win situation.”
