Director, Artists' Health Insurance Resource Center
From NYFA Quarterly - The Long Run: A Performer's Life
Winter 2005 issue

In 1999, Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors’ Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 802 formed the Entertainment Industry Health Insurance Coalition with a group of other industry guilds, social service agencies, producers, and theater owners. Coordinated by the Actors’ Fund of America, the coalition advocates for legislation to assist uninsured entertainment industry workers and other performing artists. This September, a four-year advocacy campaign mounted by the coalition paid off when Governor George Pataki signed a bill that will use New York State money to subsidize extended COBRA health insurance benefits for low-income entertainment industry professionals and performing artists during periods of unemployment. (COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows employees facing termination or reduced work hours to continue group health plan coverage for a limited time as a self-payer.)

Edith Meeks: Can you describe how the new COBRA subsidy works and the impact it will have on the performing arts community?

James Brown: Under the COBRA Health Insurance Continuation Program, New York State will pay 50% of the monthly COBRA premium costs for up to one year of an individual (and spouse and dependents) who works in the entertainment industry, who is receiving COBRA from an entertainment industry union or employer, and whose household income is below 208% net of the Federal Poverty Level. For an individual, this annual net income is $19,365; for a two-person household, $25,979; for a family of three, $32,594; for a family of four, $39,208; etc.

Currently, more than 70% of individuals in entertainment industry unions do not elect to use COBRA, the majority because of the cost. As a result, they go through periods (sometimes lengthy ones) when they are uninsured. The new law will allow low-income industry members not only to stay insured, but to maintain continuity of care by keeping the same network of providers.

It should be pointed out that this is a demonstration project, and if it proves successful (i.e., increases the number of insured in the entertainment industry), it can be expanded to other areas of health-insured employment that are episodic or seasonal—types of work that artists are often engaged in to supplement their incomes.

EM: Do you have to be a union performer to be eligible under the new COBRA subsidy law? To what extent, if any, are unaffiliated artists covered or affected by the subsidy?

JB: No, a person does not have to be a union performer. Nor does she or he have to be a performer at all. The law includes anyone working in the “entertainment industry.” That would include a wide range of non-performance jobs as well, such as video editor, set designer, etc. The COBRA plan, however, must be offered by an entertainment industry employer, i.e., an employer whose main purpose is entertainment or the performing arts.

EM: What other resources are available to assist artists who cannot benefit from the COBRA subsidy? How does AHIRC assist with the persistent gaps in health coverage for unaffiliated artists working in all disciplines?

JB: While the COBRA subsidy is directed toward the entertainment industry, the Health Insurance Resource Center is directed toward all artists and craftspeople, and in fact is used as well by thousands of self-employed and freelance workers not working in the arts and crafts at all. These resources include: phone assistance in finding health insurance anywhere in the country; in-person counseling in New York and Los Angeles; workshops and seminars on specific health insurance topics such as Medical Debt, Options for People over 65, Finding Health Insurance for a Small Business; and the massive database of health insurance and healthcare access information at www.ahirc.org that both helps people find affordable insurance plans and helps the uninsured find care based on income. It includes comparisons and links to rates for private health insurance plans; association plans; self-employed persons plans; and government-subsidized, income-based insurance such as Healthy NY and Family Health Plus. For the uninsured, there is information on sliding-scale clinics, charity care in hospitals, and pharmacy assistance programs for low-income people. These resources are open to all artists.

In addition, the Actors’ Fund offers financial assistance for the payment of premiums and medical bills to both union and non-union members of the entertainment community, and runs the Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic for uninsured members of that community.

EM: Where do we go from here? What is the next step from an advocacy perspective, and how can artists participate in that effort?

JB: Most people who have been involved with the issue of the uninsured for a while are in agreement that universal health care with a single payer is the only viable solution to this ever-worsening problem. But the political will and people’s insistence on a comprehensive overhaul of the health system simply isn’t there yet.

The Actors’ Fund is currently looking at two specific health insurance issues that affect a large number of people in the arts community and elsewhere: the high rate of uninsured among people 19 to 29 years old and the unfair billing practices by hospitals, doctors, labs, and rehabilitation centers to which the uninsured are subjected. Both issues, like the high cost of COBRA, can have legislative remedies, and we’ll be exploring those remedies in the coming year.

Artists can participate by voting for expanded access to health care in every election, asking their local arts councils and associations to hold workshops on getting and keeping health insurance (The Actors’ Fund can assist in this), and joining in grassroots movements (just type “universal health care” into Google to find a local group) that are working to bring quality, affordable health insurance to every person in the US.

A regular column in NYFA Quarterly, The Long Run is made possible by the NYFA Source funding consortium. Major support for NYFA Source has been provided by The Ford Foundation and Cordelia Corporation. Additional support has been provided by Basil H. Alkazzi; Artist Legacy; Lily Auchincloss Foundation; The Cowles Charitable Trust; The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts; The Robert and Helen Gould Foundation; Independence Community Foundation; The Liman Foundation; Virginia Manheimer; The Joan Mitchell Foundation, Inc.; New England Foundation for the Arts; a gift in honor of Eva J. Pape; Pew Fellowships in the Arts; The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc.; The Judith Rothschild Foundation; The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation; and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

The information contained in the above article is current as of its 2005 publication date.
Please be advised that this information may be out of date.