Latest News

Call to Action to Include Self-Employed Individuals in AB X1 1

November 28, 2007
Artists United for Healthcare recently learned that language allowing self-employed individuals to buy into a state-wide purchasing pool for health care coverage was removed from the present version of AB X1 1 (Nunez/Perata), which is particularly distressing for California's artists. Under AB X1 1, all individuals who don't have health insurance will be required to purchase health insurance on the individual market, which is the most difficult and expensive way to obtain coverage. AB X1 1 is still a very strong bill for artists as it will provide tax credits to ensure that costs of coverage received (including all premiums, co-pays, and deductibles) would not exceed 6.5% of an individual’s income and expand public programs (such as Medi-Cal) to include childless individuals up to 250% of the FPL ($25,500 annual income) in addition to children and their parents up to 300% of the FPL ($51,624 annual income/family). While these new allowances are certainly great steps forward, the inclusion of self-employed individuals in the state-wide purchasing pool would be an even greater step forward as the pool would have the market power of an estimated 4 million people to negotiate with insurers and will thus be able to negotiate a better package of benefits. The inclusion of self-employed individuals is particularly meaningful for artists as artists are often self-employed or contract workers to allow them time to create their work.

In response, Artists United for Healthcare is joining with It's OUR Healthcare and other arts organizations to organize artists to tell our legislators to let self-employed individuals buy into the state wide purchasing pool. We are asking our members to call their local legislators to say that self-employed people need to be allowed to buy into the state purchasing pool. For suggestion on what to say as well as your local legislators numbers, click here.

In addition, Artists United for Healthcare is joining with It's OUR Healthcare to organize a lobby day in Sacramento on Wednesday, December 5th, when the Assembly will gather to vote on the AB X1 1. We will be organizing rides from San Francisco and Oakland; please RSVP and let us know if you need a ride or can take riders .