Obamacare versus artists, writers, musicians, actors, et al.
Nancy Pelosi waxed rhapsodic in 2010 as she imagined the benefits of Obamacare: “Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance.”
Well, that was the economy we used to have. But as Obamacare begins to kick in, artists, photographers, writers, and other members of the “creative class” who have access to health insurance programs through numerous professional organizations will lose that coverage.
Up until now professional organizations have worked with insurance providers to craft reduced-rate plans for their members. But thanks to the fine print in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on January 1, 2014, many of these plans will fail to pass legal muster.
The College Art Association website posted a notice this month: “The New York Life Insurance Company recently informed CAA that it will no longer offer catastrophic healthcare coverage previously available to CAA members.” Why? Because it “is no longer an option” for “associations whose members reside in different states” to provide such coverage. These members will have to seek help from their home states’ newly formed Obamacare exchanges. Plans offered to Modern Language Association (MLA) members will suffer a similar fate.
Other insurance providers are reporting cancellations. The Entertainment Industry Group Insurance Trust (TEIGIT) website posts the following notice: “All individual and/or Sole Proprietor Health Insurance will terminate January 1, 2014. This includes plans acquired as Members of our Affiliated Associations & their groups.” Those affiliated associations include the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Graphic Arts Guild, NY Women in Film and Television, and many others.
David Rubin, plan administrator, explains the effect of the Obamacare rules: “In TEIGIT’s case this insurance is limited to sole proprietors (i.e., self-employed) who are members of affiliated guilds/associations/unions, and are working at least 20 hours a week (averaged out because performers often work intensely and then have slow periods) in the fields of art and entertainment.”
Twenty hours? This will affect huge numbers of freelance artists, musicians, disc jockeys, and so forth. This is not a matter of penalties, mandates, or a business’s ability to absorb the cost, but rather a change in definition. Freelancers are losing their collective purchasing power because they are now considered “individuals.”
No comments:
Post a Comment