New York State enacts a law to make affordable healthcare available to freelancers

Based on a health insurance model pioneered by Freelancers Union, New York State has enacted a law that will create a demonstration program to provide independent workers – a third of the country’s workforce – with the same quality of health care traditionally offered by employer insurance plans.

Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of Freelancers Union, said, “This is an historic breakthrough for temps, part-time workers, freelancers and the self-employed. It is now state law to make affordable healthcare available to freelancers. We are proud to say that our own Freelancers Insurance Company (FIC), created last year and authorized by the Superintendent of Insurance, is the model for this vital safety net. Our model, the only one of its kind in the nation, is a way to reach the new workforce and get them the coverage they need.”

On Thursday, September 17, Governor David A Paterson signed into law A.7949 / S. 4602-A, a bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senators Neil Breslin and Tom Duane. The new law will allow the Insurance Department to approve a demonstration program on organization insurance. An insurer will be able to issue group health insurance policies to eligible organizations to cover temporary, part-time, freelance or self-employed individuals who are not currently covered.

Ms. Horowitz added, “I commend Speaker Silver, Senators Breslin and Duane and Governor Paterson. They share our vision and they put a tremendous amount of effort into the passage of this historic law. This is a model that should be used at the national level, and New York is leading the way. We hope other states will recognize that independent workers are becoming a dominant force in the 21^st century economy.”

The new law will enable members of organizations like Freelancers Union to select plans that are custom designed based on their needs, as opposed to buying whatever plans happen to be commercially available and may be subject to cancellation based on the insurer’s financial reasoning.

“In essence,” Ms. Horowitz said, “the Insurance Department is recognizing FIC as if it were a large employer offering insurance to a workers’ group.”

Just as important, the coverage will be “portable,” enabling workers to keep their benefits as they move from project to project and job to job. As the program expands, different plans can be customized to meet workers’ differing health care needs, such as mental health benefits or pediatric medicine. Freelancers Insurance Company offers five health insurance plans based on members’ needs that have been approved by the Insurance Department.

The independent workforce, defined as freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, contract workers, contingent employees and the self-employed, is currently comprised of more than 30 million workers across the nation.