PAC WE. addressing health insurance for creative freelancers.
A Dallas based group dedicated to insurance reform and equitable access to healthcare for freelance creative professionals, PAC WE, has just formed. the first meeting is oct 25.
I try not to editorialize on this blog, but as someone who works full time drawing comics for client companies in the biz, i’m freelance and i don’t have benefits. i work just as hard as anyone, but since i’m not in the traditional system that grants people employer based healthcare, my options for coverage are not great. i currently do not have health insurance, and i’ve put research and thought into buying a plan, but anything i could afford is like putting money into a hole. with the copays and deductibles on plans i could kind of afford, i’d still not be able to see a doc or get scrips when sick. i still wouldn’t be able to fix the tooth that’s falling out of my fucking head, and my increasingly crippling tendinitis in my drawing hand and neck would be a pre-existing condition that i’d still have to pay out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars to remedy. i’ve been pretty frustrated with this situation and increasingly mad at the hype, lies, and attempts to derail the conversation coming from the right. myself, and the thousands of freelance professionals in the comic biz are pretty good examples of people who could benefit from a public option. I’m a college educated professional illustrator, i work hard, i want to be self sufficient, and have no desire for a hand out from anyone, but the kind of competition a public option would give the insurance monopolies would benefit real people like myself. let’s just hope my hand holds out till something changes.