Are you happy with your health insurance? Great. I’m happy for you. Really.
But if you’re a freelancer–like most comic pros are–you probably aren’t so happy. (Unless you have a spouse with great health insurance.) Because you’re on your own, baby.
You can end up paying $1,100 a month for a basic, no-frills plan. I know because I’ve paid it. (And then paid thousands of dollars more when I found that our plan didn’t cover some basic tests and treatment.)
This isn’t a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a comics issue. Affordable health care would be a huge boost for struggling comic pros. Instead of working three jobs to support themselves, some comic creators might only have to work two and a half. Oh, sure, affordable health care would also benefit millions of other folks. But let’s get our priorities straight, people. It’s all about me.
Right on! As a freelance film critic I spent many years without insurance. Fortunately the university where I teach (as an adjunct) decided to let their part-timers participate in their health insurance program. This is about you and me and, frankly, all of us.
As a self employed Naturopathic physician in my very small office, I have to insure myself. Fortunately, in the state of Washington, you can’t be turned down due to a pre-existing condition, as I was born with one. That’s why I got health insurance and it did pay (a lot of $) when I needed it, but then didn’t want to keep the kind of plan I had, so I had to get another one, cheaper and much less coverage. I have a low cost clinc twice a month for people who don’t have insurance and its my busiest day, who knew? This country needs a single payer system, but until then, a public option is a neccessity.
Good for you, Dan. But you’re right. This is about all of us. The only way around this for most freelancers is working another job (that has health insurance) or marrying someone who has health insurance. It’s a crazy system.
Que, I’m in Washington state as well. We recently switched to Group Health and seem to have a much better plan and are saving almost $400 a month! My understanding, though, is that you can be turned down for pre-existing condition if you’ve let your previous insurance lapse. Fortunately, we didn’t. And we’ve got coverage.Not everyone’s so lucky, though.
I’d like to see a public option as well. But I’m not convinced that we’re going to get it this year.