Do you have health insurance?*
No?
I bet your boss does.
Like a swiftly turning planet, like a wheel within a wheel, you think:
Healthcare is a right, not a luxury. But there's a reason it has been set up this way and who knows why healthcare is tied to employment? I'm not a historian. It goes all the way back to the time before there were unions and before that even and the simplest answer is that people don't care enough about other people even if they are sitting there possibly suffering right in front of them. If we did care about each other, we'd all have health insurance. But we don't, so we don't. Do we?
Breathe.
If you are a freelancer, the government considers you to be "self employed." Which means you're on your own. You have to pay your own taxes and beyond that you have all the rights of a migrant worker. No one owes you anything, including healthcare. Of course, migrant workers are totally worse off than professional Teaching Artists, what are you babbling about? Anyway, there's no point in arguing about degrees of suffering when you're suffering and if you keep muttering about this they'll find it unpleasant and then they won't ask you back.
So hush.
What to do? What to do?
Ok. You're smart. You're working. Go to the Freelancers Union website and get a cheap insurance plan because you can't walk around all uninsured and anxious.
Ah. Sweet security.
How could you have ever walked around without this? You risked bankruptcy and death. How immature of you. So it costs like $400/month. How many workshops is that? Yikes. Need more work. Now, when you're in your next planning meeting try to focus on the art. Don't think about what will happen if you don't get enough work this month to pay that new insurance bill. Set those outcomes. Smile. Nod. Suggest clever activities. Rent! The printer just broke, student loans etc...Don't think about it. Stay positive. Negative people get sick. You heard it on Oprah. If you do get sick, you will go to work anyway. If you take a sick day, you won't get paid. Then you can't pay your health insurance. What is the actual definition of irony? And always remember, this is your choice. You chose a life in art and you have to pay for it. The flexibility of the part-time gig or the freelancing life comes with a price. Potentially, it could be your actual life but look what you get in return...art. Congratulations and don't get sick, don't get sick, don't get sick .....because your friends will have to throw a party to pay your bills and they won't feel much like dancing.
If you get tired of worrying contact the Freelancers Union or the Actors Fund.
They can help.
The Actors Fund is a not-for-profit human services organization that serves all professionals – and not just actors! - in film, theater, television, music, opera, and dance.
Their Health Insurance Resource Center (HIRC) connects artists to health insurance and affordable health care.
Find more about the program and get links here.
The Freelancers Union/Working Today offers low-cost health insurance plans for people like us. It's amazing and, if you can keep it all together, it's yours for the keeping. Just don't get sick or you won't be able to afford it.
Meta: Find Rufus here and below:
No?
I bet your boss does.
Like a swiftly turning planet, like a wheel within a wheel, you think:
Healthcare is a right, not a luxury. But there's a reason it has been set up this way and who knows why healthcare is tied to employment? I'm not a historian. It goes all the way back to the time before there were unions and before that even and the simplest answer is that people don't care enough about other people even if they are sitting there possibly suffering right in front of them. If we did care about each other, we'd all have health insurance. But we don't, so we don't. Do we?
Breathe.
If you are a freelancer, the government considers you to be "self employed." Which means you're on your own. You have to pay your own taxes and beyond that you have all the rights of a migrant worker. No one owes you anything, including healthcare. Of course, migrant workers are totally worse off than professional Teaching Artists, what are you babbling about? Anyway, there's no point in arguing about degrees of suffering when you're suffering and if you keep muttering about this they'll find it unpleasant and then they won't ask you back.
So hush.
What to do? What to do?
Ok. You're smart. You're working. Go to the Freelancers Union website and get a cheap insurance plan because you can't walk around all uninsured and anxious.
Ah. Sweet security.
How could you have ever walked around without this? You risked bankruptcy and death. How immature of you. So it costs like $400/month. How many workshops is that? Yikes. Need more work. Now, when you're in your next planning meeting try to focus on the art. Don't think about what will happen if you don't get enough work this month to pay that new insurance bill. Set those outcomes. Smile. Nod. Suggest clever activities. Rent! The printer just broke, student loans etc...Don't think about it. Stay positive. Negative people get sick. You heard it on Oprah. If you do get sick, you will go to work anyway. If you take a sick day, you won't get paid. Then you can't pay your health insurance. What is the actual definition of irony? And always remember, this is your choice. You chose a life in art and you have to pay for it. The flexibility of the part-time gig or the freelancing life comes with a price. Potentially, it could be your actual life but look what you get in return...art. Congratulations and don't get sick, don't get sick, don't get sick .....because your friends will have to throw a party to pay your bills and they won't feel much like dancing.
If you get tired of worrying contact the Freelancers Union or the Actors Fund.
They can help.
The Actors Fund is a not-for-profit human services organization that serves all professionals – and not just actors! - in film, theater, television, music, opera, and dance.
Their Health Insurance Resource Center (HIRC) connects artists to health insurance and affordable health care.
Find more about the program and get links here.
The Freelancers Union/Working Today offers low-cost health insurance plans for people like us. It's amazing and, if you can keep it all together, it's yours for the keeping. Just don't get sick or you won't be able to afford it.
Meta: Find Rufus here and below:
*According to this report on the National Arts Policy Database, artists are slightly, but not substantially, more likely to be uninsured than the general population...It is widely estimated that over 46 million Americans are uninsured. Individuals who are younger (19 to 32); self-employed; have lower incomes; are sicker; and those without dependents in the households are most likely to be uninsured.
1 comment:
But there's a reason it has been set up this way and who knows why healthcare is tied to employment?
Actually this practice became common during WWII as a response to gov't imposed wage controls. It was basically a backdoor way for employers to increase compensation when they weren't legally allowed to do it directly.
And now if I may be permitted a quick plug...
Another great option for health insurance for artists is Fractured Atlas. We're a national association of artists and we've been providing affordable health insurance options since 2001. You've got a link to us on the right side of the page. =)
Post a Comment