In November we joined the Freelancers Union for a health insurance plan (Empire Blue Shield). We were desperate to find a new plan when Hepcat’s COBRA ended. Now I’m curious about interesting developments over at FU. They’ve started their own insurance company called Freelancers Insurance Company. The new plan, which has slightly higher monthly rates, starts on January 1.
On Thursday, December 11, Sara Horowitz, Executive Director of Freelancers Union and CEO of
Freelancers Insurance Company, will be answering members’ questions
about FIC during an upcoming webinar. Sara will talk about how FIC will
work, why Freelancers Union started the insurance company, and what FIC
means for the future of the organization. You must register in advance
to participate, and to foster an environment where you can get your
questions answered, space for each webinar will be limited to 75
members. For info go here.
The following is an excerpt from a story in today’s New York Times:
By many measures, the Freelancers Union
has been a success — the Brooklyn-based organization has 92,000
members; it provides health, dental and disability coverage to
thousands of freelancers; and its founder, Sara Horowitz, won a
MacArthur “genius” fellowship.As part of her vision to
create a safety net for freelancers, Ms. Horowitz had long dreamed of
creating a health insurance company that tailored its offerings to
freelancers, be they Web designers, jazz musicians, graphic artists or
dancers.In mid-November, she proudly announced that the
Freelancers Union had set up a state-approved health insurer — the
Freelancers Insurance Company — that offered significantly lower
premiums and better coverage than freelancers could generally obtain on
the open market.Numerous health care experts and foundations,
including the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, helped establish the
new company, and Ms. Horowitz was perhaps expecting widespread applause
over its formation. Instead she faced a surprising amount of carping
and sniping.A month ago, Ms. Horowitz wrote to 19,000 members
who had obtained coverage through the union’s current plan with Empire
Blue Cross and Blue Shield, telling them that they had to choose from
the new company’s five health plans — or look elsewhere for coverage.
That move sparked considerable criticism, and even inspired a Web site,
upsetfu.blogspot.com.