Artists' Health Insurance Resource Center: Equity-League Fund

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS LOSING EQUITY-LEAGUE HEALTH FUND ELIGIBILITY

THE ACTORS’ FUND OF AMERICA ADDRESSES ISSUES OF HEALTH INSURANCE AND HEALTH CARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PROFESSIONALS NATIONWIDE

The worsening crisis in this country that now sees more than 43 million people without health insurance is being felt acutely in the performing arts and the entertainment industry. The Actors’ Fund has responded to this situation with multiple strategies.

Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center

The Actors’ Fund’s Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center provides assistance in finding affordable health insurance and health care nationwide through The Actors’ Fund’s Internet website Access to Health Insurance/Resources for Care (www.ahirc.org). In addition to the website, entertainment professionals may receive telephone or in-person counseling at its offices in New York and Los Angeles to learn about ways to obtain appropriate health insurance and health care. The resource center also provides monthly health insurance workshops on both coasts for the uninsured and union members about to lose their insurance. Lastly, the Resource Center actively advocates for state legislation that promotes accessibility to health insurance for its constituents. To speak with a counselor or to obtain information on monthly workshops, please call the resource center at (212) 221-7300, ext. 265 or (323) 933-9244 ext. 32.

For the past five years, AHIRC has been the central resource for artists nationwide in finding affordable health insurance. The AHIRC site is not just about health insurance. It is also about finding access to affordable health care, assistance in paying medical bills, and advocacy in changing the health care system in the United States. Half the site is purely health insurance, and the other half deals with a wide range of critical health care delivery and advocacy issues.

In 2003, a West Coast division of the Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center opened at The Fund’s Los Angeles office and conducts workshops for the uninsured and underinsured, provides in-person and telephone counseling for individuals and families, facilitates enrollment in private and government-subsidized health plans, and organizes industry advocacy for expansion of access to health insurance and health care. For individuals who find themselves temporarily uninsured, the Resource Center Manager directs them to income-based care through clinics and local health programs. Health insurance seminars are held on a regular basis, both at Fund offices and at entertainment industry union offices.

The recently revised and constantly updated AHIRC website offers linked information for all 50 states on: rights and protections when purchasing health insurance, resources for purchasing a private plan including comparisons of benefits and premiums, government-subsidized programs, local health care for the uninsured and underinsured, and critical sources of emergency financial aid for medical and hospital bills. The site also provides news about grassroots and legislative efforts to expand access to health care.

"I would like to have artists and entertainment professionals waste as little time as possible on health insurance issues. AHIRC is designed to help them quickly get the information they need and understand their options. Let them spend their time creating art and entertainment," said Jim Brown, AHIRC Managing Director. "Entertainment professionals are in a somewhat unusual position," he continued. “Many of them are well-educated, but they have low incomes. They don’t realize that their income may be low enough to qualify for government-subsidized health insurance plans. For example, the HealthyNY program, which costs half the amount of a plan with comparable benefits, is available to working individuals who earn under $22,500 per year.”

More than 200,000 people each year visit AHIRC and over 700 receive telephone or in-person counseling. Among them is an actress without health insurance who was diagnosed with a condition requiring very expensive drugs at a cost of over $600 per month. Staff members at AHIRC looked into the possibility of participation in the Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs of the drug manufacturers, downloaded the application forms, and explained the procedures and the low-income eligibility requirements. She was accepted into the programs, and is now receiving the drugs free of charge from her doctor.

Another actor who recently became ineligible for his union plan was unable to afford the COBRA payment. He attended one of the AHIRC monthly health insurance workshops at The Actors’ Fund, and he found out that he was eligible for the subsidized HealthyNY program. He was able to get a comprehensive plan that included a full prescription benefit for $186 per month, half the cost of the union’s COBRA plan.

Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic

In addition to AHIRC initiatives, other Actors’ Fund health-related services include the Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic at The Aurora Residence in New York City. The Clinic provides free health care to uninsured and underinsured members of the entertainment community. In collaboration with the Department of Family Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Clinic provides primary and specialty care, health screenings and patient education. The Clinic’s Medical Director, Dr. James Spears, oversees a variety of volunteer practitioners and specialists from the community, some in private practice and some from local major medical institutions, all of whom generously donate their time at the Hirschfeld Clinic. The Clinic is opened five days a week, Monday through Friday. For more information on the Al Hirschfeld Free Heath Clinic, please call 212-489-1939.

Social Services

The Actors’ Fund’s Social Services address the needs of the entertainment professional through an individual case-management approach. Counseling and support services are available for entertainment professionals who are coping with significant health problems by providing linkage to community-based organizations, as well as emergency financial aid for the payment of health insurance premiums and medical bills. The Funds’ Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative identifies and addresses important health issues for women in the entertainment community. In conjunction with the Hirschfeld Clinic, mammograms and gynecological exams are provided free of charge to uninsured and under-insured women. For more information on Actors’ Fund Social Services and the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative please call (212)221-7301 in New York or (323)933-9244 in Los Angeles.