The Freelancers Union, with its oxymoronic name, is a motley collection of workers in the fast-evolving freelance economy — whether lawyers, software developers, graphic artists, accountants, consultants, nannies, writers, editors, Web site designers or sellers on Etsy....
The Freelancers Union... doesn’t bargain with employers, but it does address what is by far these workers’ No. 1 concern, by providing them with affordable health insurance.
March 24, 2013
"New mutualism" at the Freelancers Union.
"[N]ew mutualism is based on a simple premise: freelancers should band together to set up social-purpose institutions to serve their mutual needs."
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46 comments:
will there be a union boss? Union dues?
Will union dues be taken out of their paychecks?
Where "affordable" is not defined by the marketplace.
I want a new car that is affordable. And I want property taxes that are affordable.
Maybe I should join a Union, and give up some of my wages, to that can happen?
That's crazy thinking.
Affordable healthcare will be achieved after we remove freedom and property from "others" to make it happen. And it will still never happen because there is no such thing as "free". State run healh care seems like a great idea if you think you would enjoy being a slave to the state.
If you are not paying union dues, you are not in a union.
The problem with this is that there are plenty of people out there only too willing to work for a little less.
This is the sort of thing you start in flush times, not when we are all being flushed.
How many left wing liberal minded businesses utilize the "contractor" exception for the work they hire done? It would seem to me to be at odds with their professed labor ethics. Isn't this what liberals accuse right wingers of doing....taking advantage of the working man or woman?
Or is there another reason for defining so many employees today as "contractors?"
I've been buying my health insurance from these people since I became an non-voluntary freelancer.
Expensive, but it works.
I'm looking forward to hitting 65 because I think that Medicare will lower my premium substantially.
The Society of Old Bastards used to charter aircraft to holiday destinations when the FAA banned other than genuine organizations from doing so (to get around minimum fare restrictions).
I don't know if it was hard to get into or not.
This is a flat-out stupid waste of effort. When O-care is fully implemented, small professional groups are not going to be allowed this option. If you don't have insurance from your employer, you have to buy it as an individual through an exchange or pay the tax. Period. How is it possible for so many to be unaware of this?
I'm looking for local Burger King and McDonalds to cut employees to 20 hours a week but give the other 20 hours to the rival's employees reciprocally, when Obamacare kicks in.
That way both have experienced full time staff but legally part time.
Maybe they'd all qualify as freelancers as well.
Shouting Thomas said...
I've been buying my health insurance from these people ... I'm looking forward to hitting 65 because I think that Medicare will lower my premium substantially.
Seriously ... let me know how that turns out upon hitting 65. Medicare Part A is Mandatory and no added cost to you. My experience is that the premium doubled for the supplement to Medicare Part B, which costs $104.90 per month on its own ... all of which replaced the pre-65 health insurance package.
It would be interesting to know if a certain approach actually lowers the cost. My supplementary coverage is an HMO which does save some money..., but to keep the same full coverage post 65, Part B is necessary, and the supplement cost is double what I paid pre-65.
Aridog said...
How many left wing liberal minded businesses utilize the "contractor" exception for the work they hire done? It would seem to me to be at odds with their professed labor ethics. Isn't this what liberals accuse right wingers of doing....taking advantage of the working man or woman?
Never forget, there is no such thing as a poor, white Liberal?
AprilApple,
Per the article, they do not have "bosses," and they do not pay dues. It's essentially an insurance cooperative.
edutcher,
The problem with this is that there are plenty of people out there only too willing to work for a little less.
No, you're missing the point. These are people already working as freelancers, independent contractors, and the like. (A group about to swell dramatically as employers suddenly cap the work week at 29 hours for as many employees as possible to avoid the requirements of the PPACA.)
Basta!, I'll defer to you if you've actually read that behemoth. Is it clear that such cooperatives will be illegal? I hadn't read as much, though it's quite possible that they'll be laden with so much mandatory coverage of this or that that they might as well be. As Rep. Pelosi said ... no, I think we've heard that line often enough, have we not?
"...premiums range from $225 to $603 a month."
"They also liked that there were no co-pays."
Sounds too good to be true.
Oh. I get it now.
edutcher said ...
Never forget, there is no such thing as a poor, white Liberal?
What do we call the 50%+ who voted for liberal democrats then? They are not all wealthy, and certainly many are poor.
Rabel said...
Sounds too good to be true ... Oh. I get it now.
Whoops. Well that didn't last long :-(
The start of the article is unmitigated bullshit. Ms. Horowitz wasn't surprised to find she was going to be a contractor, no law firm would be that stupid. They told her upfront, she just lied to herself that they weren't serious.
"Together, the union and its health insurance company have a staff of 80, and Ms. Horowitz receives a salary of $272,000 for her dual role as head of the union and the insurance company."
Anyone else see the hypocrisy?
Yeah, being harsh. If you want to create a guild or something to buy pooled insurance, that is a great thing. Just don't be so pretentious about it.
MadMan,
Not at all crazy when approaching the medical "insurance" market. When buying an individual policy, the provider should be able to rate you based on your actual situation--hey, that would make it resemble actual insurance, wouldn't it? And if your risk factor were really high, too bad for you!
But if you and 1000 of your freelancer buddies get together and say to the provider, Sell us policies but you have to take us all...
Aridog said...
Never forget, there is no such thing as a poor, white Liberal?
What do we call the 50%+ who voted for liberal democrats then? They are not all wealthy, and certainly many are poor.
You assume 50+% did.
But the voters who did vote Democrat are by no means all white. And there are plenty of poor white Radicals out there (y'know, the ones with a gray ponytail down to their belts, but no hair on their heads...).
Per the article. All she gets is a paycheck. oh no!
No free goodies that are not really free.
She may actually need to budget some of her own money to pay for things like healthcare. Of course now that insurance premiums are going to shoot through the roof, that won't be so easy. Hang in there honey. Canadian style government run health care is on the way.
edutcher said...
You assume 50+% did ... But the voters who did vote Democrat are by no means all white...
You're right. I stand corrected, only 39% of Obama voters were white.
That's still a lot of white folks who are liberal and not wealthy by and large. Have we reached that tipping point of non-taxpayers exceeding taxpayers as voters?
MadisonMan said...
Where "affordable" is not defined by the marketplace.
I want a new car that is affordable. And I want property taxes that are affordable.
Maybe I should join a Union, and give up some of my wages, to that can happen?
That's crazy thinking.
As the situation in Wisconsin unfolded it was found that health insurance on the open market was cheaper than what the unions were offering.
So. Yeah. crazy talk.
Anyone else see the hypocrisy?
Are you telling me that unions aren't run for the benefit of the rank and file? That they are there to enrich those who run the union?
color me surprised.
MDT, no, I haven't subjected myself to the whole text, much of which is blank space that is still being filled in. But I'm in Mass, so I have a preview in our mandated shit-package, which is still not quite as restrictive as O-care. Our unsustainable state insurance set-up (health care is now about 43% of the total annual state budget, and rising) with its myriad rules is about to get worse because it doesn't match O-care exactly. I've been paying attention to analyses of the details of O-care as they unroll and, so far, I haven't seen co-operatives mentioned, just businesses, dues-paying unions, and individuals.
But think about it: the point of the co-operative is to negotiate a more favorable package with the insurers than individuals could. But under O-care all permissible negotiation will have already been handled up-front by the feds and/or the state exchanges. The end result is a SINGLE insurance policy, with coverage of a greatly expanded list of what the feds consider *basic* care. All insurers will have to offer this policy. We will have to accept the insurer our employer uses, unless the employer offers none, in which case our *choice* will be limited to selecting among the insurers on our state's exchange and seeing if we can finagle a subsidy, OR paying the tax.
In Mass. the exchange has been offering some special rates to small businesses, but the latter are defined in a way that doesn't include co-operatives of the kind in the article. Anyway O-care will put an end to these special small business rates in Mass. Our disgusting governor, who was such a cheerleader for O-care, has been frantically trying to get a waiver, to no avail. Obama to his recent BFF: suck on it, Deval.
Shouting Thomas: I've been buying my health insurance from these people since I became an non-voluntary freelancer.
Expensive, but it works.
Dear Shouting, if you don't mind my asking, what does insurance with the Freelance Union cost?
In concept this is nothing new. In almost any state you can join a heating oil association that buys heating oil contracts in bulk then resells them to its members.
To become a member you buy some heating oil. The association is simply an umbrella group for people that use its service.
This is how this idea should work. If a bunch of individuals or small businesses agree on the type of plan they want to buy, they can buy it cheaper as a group than individually.
Dear Shouting, if you don't mind my asking, what does insurance with the Freelance Union cost?
I'm paying $350 a month. There are co-pays.
What drove me crazy as a one-time resident of Rhode Island is that Rhode Island had its own unique insurance laws that were different from its much larger neighbors. For no good reason, this mean that health insurance costs a premium in Rhode Island vs. Massachusetts and Connecticut.
This is the same idea writ large. The more baroque a state gets with its regulations, the more expensive every commercial service becomes. Mutualism saves money.
If ever I ran for governor of Rhode Island my platform would have been: let's be annexed by a better-run state. Instead I moved.
Rabel wins the prize. This NYT puff piece is yet another bit of proactive propaganda for The Won.
And I'm sure this has nothing to do with that $340M:
Before May 13, 2011, the Demos website described Horowitz and Obama as members of the founding group in 1999 that became "the core of Demos' staff and Board of Trustees."
Sometime between that date and Nov. 6, 2011, the Obama reference was deleted, according to cached versions of the site stored by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
Independent contractors cannot unionize, though they can form cooperatives for things like insurance, codes of ethics and so on.
The minute they start trying to bargain wages, hours, working conditions and the like they are in violation of Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Only "employees", a very clearly defined legal status, are exempt from Sherman by virtue of the Clayton act.
ISTR a major case 10-15 years back where law firms were colluding to set standard prices and got found guilty of anti-trust.
John Henry
I worked as an independent contractor for 22 years (85-07)I sold capital machinery for several manufacturers. I worked on straight commission, all expenses were my own and nothing was reimbursed. (It is actually a pretty sweet way to make a living)
One of the things I had to be constantly careful of was becoming an "employee" of one of the companies.
The IRS has a 25 part test to determine whether you are an independent contractor or not. One of my principals was found to have "employed" another rep who had the same type of contract I did.
It cost the principal close to $100,000 in fines, back SS, Unemployment, workers comp, withholding and so on.
If you are hiring someone as an independent contractor or are working as one, be VERY VERY careful.
John Henry
I am a freelancer.
I have affordable insurance.
I hope these busybodies leave me the hell alone.
I am unmutual.
- ZM73
Michelle wrote:
No, you're missing the point. These are people already working as freelancers, independent contractors, and the like. (A group about to swell dramatically as employers suddenly cap the work week at 29 hours for as many employees as possible to avoid the requirements of the PPACA.)
Exactly right. Last year I was working as a consultant and not in a full time job. THis was one of the better deals out there for health care for people who don't get health care from their employers (which is most people).
And you don't pay any dues.
Henry wrote…
To become a member you buy some heating oil. The association is simply an umbrella group for people that use its service.
This is how this idea should work. If a bunch of individuals or small businesses agree on the type of plan they want to buy, they can buy it cheaper as a group than individually.
exactly. THe word union is a misnomer. It has none of the negatives that are found in unions. You don't collectively bargain with employers. You simply get better deals by buying insurance with a lot of people than you would as an individual, and this group simply defines the people who can be in that pool as freelancers.
This is something that republicans and free marketers need to realize. in many cases the free market does not address issues when it comes to health care.
I had to buy my own insurance as a consultant and it is MUCH more expensive and hard to come by. Perhaps it's the state im in (NY), but you couldn't get decent insurance without spending a fortune.
There were plans that covered doctors visits but not drugs, or drugs but not doctors visits. Very few PPO's were even available. (and i was willing to pay more for a good PPO).
Freelancers was actually a godsend when I was working as a freelancer. I paid slightly more for roughly equivalent insurance that I would get if I worked at a company full time.
If pooling a bunch of people into groups to buy health care is the way to cut costs, then maybe that's the way we should go with insurance, rather than foist it onto govt.
I just wish the market would expand it's offerings for people who are consultants, since right now they do a TERRIBLE job of it.
If this buying club wants to call itself a union, I guess it's no skin off my ass.
If pooling a bunch of people into groups to buy health care is the way to cut costs, then maybe that's the way we should go with insurance, rather than foist it onto govt.
That's the way it should be, but all the intermediaries in the system drive up consumer costs.
Shouting Thomas said...
Reference: "Dear Shouting, if you don't mind my asking, what does insurance with the Freelance Union cost?"
I'm paying $350 a month. There are co-pays.
If that is total cost per month, without a subsidy from government or employer, it is a v-e-r-y LOW rate for an individual...dependent of course on the level of co-pays and whether drug coverage is included.
One of the things most people lose sight of is that what you get at work is not "insurance".
A more accurate name for it would be employer paid medical care or perhaps pre-paid medical care.
Your car insurance does not pay for oil changes, new tires and the like. It pays for the rare event, unpredictable for the individual, fairly well predictable in the aggregate.
If the $350/month policy is truly an insurance policy, covering unforseen relatively major events, it does not seem unreasonably low.
I for one would like to see more of this. People paying their own routine medical costs and carrying a major medical insurance policy to cover the large, unforseen, event.
I would also like to see employer paid health insurance recognized on the W-2 form as income to the employee. Make it deductible if you like, but let the employee know how much it is costing.
Typically about $5-6 per hour ($10-12m/yr, 2080 working hours/yr)
John Henry
"How many left wing liberal minded businesses...."
...are there?
"This is a flat-out stupid waste of effort. When O-care is fully implemented, small professional groups are not going to be allowed this option. If you don't have insurance from your employer, you have to buy it as an individual through an exchange or pay the tax. Period. How is it possible for so many to be unaware of this?"
Are you certain your assertion is accurate? Doesn't Obamneycare simply require that persons currently without insurance buy insurance? If one already has insurance--from whatever source or by whatever means--isn't one, by definition, exempt from the requirement to buy more or alternative insurance?
"Canadian style government run health care is on the way."
If only this were so. But it's not.
Uniouns lile these are great for freelancer community , Check out www.Outsourcerr.com
Unions such as these are grest for freelancer check out Outsourcerr website
Great information. This is an incredible article. I am looking for freelance insurance for myself. I am a freelance writer. I have written an article about freelance union insurance. But one thing is not clear for me. Is their any other route you would suggest or do you feel that Freelance Union is now the best way to go?
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