This morning, I tweeted a link to a Diary from the Daily Kos ( http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/25/735194/-R.I.P.-Jay-Bennett ) about the death of Jay Bennett, known for his collaborations with Wilco and the subsequent lawsuit he was filing.
Here's an interesting quote from the diary: "However, with this morning's news, we now know what drove Bennett to sue a former friend and bandmate: the threat of overwhelming medical bills. Like many artists and countless others who do not pursue traditional forms of employment, Bennett lacked health insurance. At the time of his death, Bennett was suffering from severe pain, and though he desperately needed hip replacement surgery, he was concerned that seeking help would send him spiraling into crippling debt. Despite the claims of health care industry apologists, many people like Bennett are beyond assistance. Struggling to secure a steady source of income early on, musicians are often forced to choose between their vocation and health insurance when they're young, and by the time they get old, they typically find themselves ineligible to receive coverage under any plan whatsoever. Stories like this underline the desperate need for health reform that, at the very least, includes a public option. The United States needs artists and innovators who work outside the confines of the corporate safety net, and we should not be forcing them to choose between their health and the art that enriches all of our lives." Pause for thought, and when a videoblogger I know tweeted that s/he didn't have health insurance, I thought about how many people I know on this list, including myself, who don't have coverage at the moment. I don't want to get into political discussion about healthcare, but I was wondering if anyone out there knows if there's a way under the current system for people like us to bundle together and get lower rates on health insurance, or if there's any truly good, truly economical policy that freelancers/artists can buy? There's plenty of other places to discuss policy, but I just wanted to throw this out there in case there was a way a bunch of vloggers got together to get covered. Cheers, Jeffrey -- Jeffrey Taylor 912 Cole St, #349 San Francisco, CA 94117 USA Mobile: +14157281264 Fax: +33177722734 http://twitter.com/jeffreytaylor http://organicconversations.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
