Blog #8

"Health Care for a Changing Work Force"

In today's world, many Americans don't have jobs in the traditional sense. In fact, around 42 million people in the US work as an independent contractor, freelancer, etc. A major problem with this is that these 42 million people are outcasts from the traditional system of benefits, such as health care, that provide economic security to Americans.

Someone who has recognized this major problem early and has acted on it was Sara Horowitz, the founder of the Freelancers Union. In the early 1990s, she recognized that the number of people turning to independent work was on the rise and that there was no institution to represent these people in a meaningful way. Horowitz had the idea to create an organization to bring freelancers together so they could wield their power in the marketplace and in the political arena. She saw that she could attract a large membership if she could figure out how to provide health insurance at lower cost.

Health insurance companies don’t have much love for freelancers. They prefer to serve large groups because it’s easier to deal with one corporate benefits manager than a multitude of individuals. Horowitz got the idea of grouping freelancers in New York State so they could purchase their health insurance together and get the premium insurance at lower cost. Today, the Freelancers Insurance Company, which is wholly owned by the Freelancers Union, has revenues of roughly $100 million and covers 25,000 independent workers and their family members in New York State.

We as a nation need to take this idea and expand on it so we could cover the entire population with premium health insurance at a reasonable cost.