Kristin Thomson & Jean Cook, Future of Music Coalition
Originally published October 15, 2013
Here is an excerpt:
This most recent survey confirms what many arts service organizations have known anecdotally for years: the US-based artist community is less likely to be insured than the general population, with cost and affordability as the prevailing factors.
Even more troubling is the finding that those respondents who spend more time or derive
more income from being an artist are less likely to be insured.
- The more workweek hours spent on art, the less likely respondents are to have health insurance.
- The greater percentage of personal income derived from art, the less likely respondents are to have health insurance.
The findings underscore the conditions experienced by artists; as self-employed or freelance workers with variable incomes, many are simultaneously not eligible for employer-based coverage and have difficulty affording individual health insurance purchased on the open market.
This was an important moment to take a snapshot of artists’ access to health insurance. In 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), which instituted a number of new protections, tax credits and safety nets for citizens. But, because of this law, health insurance is no longer an option; most Americans will need to secure coverage by 2014.
The entire survey can be accessed here.
Thanks to Deborah Derrickson Kossmann for this survey.
