GOT INSURANCE? The push to boost health care coverage for artists BY ALEXANDER PROVAN

The era of guilds is long gone, and the age of America’s social welfare net seems to be following in its footsteps. As health insurance premiums in Rhode Island continue to rise — three times faster than inflation and four times faster than wage increases — local artists are among those increasingly likely to end up without affordable health insurance options.

Since they are self-employed, tend to work part-time jobs, or work for small organizations and nonprofits, artists rarely qualify for Medicare, Medicaid, or RIte Care, the state program offering comprehensive health coverage for low-income women and their children. Meanwhile, "For the amount that government and business in Rhode Island promote artists when it’s useful to them," there’s a startling lack of services to meet their health-care needs, says Cristina Di Chiera, the director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts’ (RISCA) Individual Artists and Public Art Program.

RISCA, along with the state and the Rhode Island Citizens for the Arts, is attempting to fill this gap. One of the five initiatives in Governor Donald L. Carcieri’s recently announced health-care reform agenda aims to increase by 10,000, or 15 percent, the number of small business employees receiving health coverage through their employer by 2010. Though artists are not mentioned specifically, state Insurance Commissioner Christopher Koller, who is working with RISCA on its campaign, calls artists, "A prime example of people in that group — lots of artists are independent business people."

Reevaluating options for insuring individuals will be the first step of this initiative, says Koller. As it stands, Blue Cross & Blue Shield is the sole provider of individual plans, and practical emergency coverage options don’t exist for artists and others who are less concerned about being able to pick from 100 ophthalmologists than living in fear of getting hit by a bus and being in debt for the rest of their lives.

Sara Agniel, 29, who owns Gallery Agniel, for example, says she pays "an enormous amount" for insurance through the National Association for the Self-Employed, though she still complains, "I don’t have any coverage; I can’t get anything with it." Ben Russell, a 29-year-old filmmaker and curator of the Magic Lantern experimental film series, recently got health insurance after being without it for two years. Preparing to take a $2400 test to determine if he’s narcoleptic, Russell just learned that his deductible is $2000 — almost half his yearly rent. "I can’t afford that," he says, "but I have to have this done." He can pay with monthly installments, but says, "It almost doesn’t matter that I have health insurance."

After posting info about alternative health-care options on its Web site, RISCA has launched a survey to identify the particular needs of artists and other self-employed or freelance workers. The survey, which will continue through November 4, will then be used to try to tailor new health-care options for artists and individuals with similar needs.