Access to health insurance: Through a partnership with Fractured Atlas, a non-profit organization serving a
national community of artists and arts organizations, IDSA members in 29 states (for now—that number is
scheduled to increase over the next several months) can now obtain the health insurance coverage that may
have proved elusive or difficult to find until now. (Members in all states can access the Arts Wellness Network, a
network of 500,000+ health care providers with a focus on preventive care and alternative medicine, who make
their services available to the arts community at discounted rates regardless of insurance coverage.) IDSA
members can become associate members of Fractured Atlas for free, and have access to health insurance,
liability insurance, press and publicity services, and other benefits. To enroll as a Fractured Atlas member, visit www.fracturedatlas.org/idsa
Through a partnership with the Freelancers Union, IDSA members who are independent workers (individuals who
work as freelancers, independent contractors or consultants, or who are self-employed, employed part-time,
temporary workers, or work for multiple companies at the same time) have access to group-rate health, dental, life
and disability insurance. (Health insurance is currently available to members in 30 states.) Membership in the
Freelancers Union is free to eligible IDSA members, and they also will waive the insurance application fee for
IDSA members. Visit www.freelancersunion.org to join today.
I just checked the fractured atlas page link from earlier… and it doesn’t exist. How appropriate.
The Freelancers Union is free to join and has access to health insurance, like mentioned previously, but I would bet the insurance application fee is less than my membership to IDSA. So, while it’s great that the IDSA stepped up to try and get us health insurance, it’s too bad the same thing has been done by an organization that is free to join. Sigh…
Thanks TimF, I hope you didn’t think I was attacking you in any way, as that wasn’t my intent.
And, no, I don’t expect it to be free, I just don’t think it’s that great of an option, that’s all, considering the cost of membership to IDSA to even take advantage in the first place.
(starting rant now, skip to last paragraph to avoid)
I just got my renewal notice in the mail for IDSA and I don’t think I am going to renew, and I will tell you why. The only thing I received in exchange for my hard-earned cash (and right now, it’s really hard-earned, in a literal sense) was a magazine subscription and tons of junk mail asking for more money to enter design competitions and whatnot. Call me crazy, but hundreds of dollars for a few magazines (and ID isn’t even industrial design is it? Isn’t it International Design or some nonsense?) and no other real benefits doesn’t strike me as a bargain. I previous threads someone did a rough calculation of how much money the IDSA pulls in annually and I was amazed. You think that with that much money a DESIGN ORGANIZATION would be able to afford a functioning, well-designed website to help out its collective members. Oh yeah, there is a site that gives up-to-date news about design and has forums to discuss the field of industrial design, it’s called CORE77! Oh yeah, and it’s free. If Core77 started and organization and charged dues, I would pay them because I already receive benefits from them in the form of knowledge, entertainment, and even job opportunities (coroflot anyone?), not to mention the free hosting of my portfolio.
So, if you are already a member of IDSA (hopefully your employer pays your dues for any professional organization, if you happen to be employed, that is) and need insurance, I hope you take advantage of the waiving of fees and get insured. I just think it’s too little, too late.
I am glad TimF brought it up because someone who really needs it may now be able to afford it. I already knew about the Freelancer’s Union through Coroflot’s blog and signed up. Stay healthy people!
I may bail out of the comfort of corporate design/marketing (on purpose) and need to start researching health insurance policies. The IDSA program discussed here does not include Minnesota residents. Do any Minnesotans (or anyone!) have any suggestions about group insurance policies that independent designers can jump on?
A co-worker of mine and his wife used to have their own small freelance business and they used MinnesotaCare. This was a few years back and I don’t know if it’s still offered and what the qualifiers are, but it might be worth checking out.
I hope you aren’t thinking IDSA ever had anything to do with ID Magazine. That is (sorry, was) a completely separate entity with zero connection to ISDA. IDSA also doesn’t send out mass mailings for anything - we do everything electronically (gotta be green, you know).
As for the money IDSA brings in that you are amazed by… please don’t confuse gross $ with net $. It takes a lot of money to publish Innovations magazine, put on an annual conference and 5 District conferences, run a web site (we’re working on it, trust me), maintain the Design Foundation (which raises money for scholarships among other things), sponsor the Catalyst program (which speaks “design” to Business), publish DesignBytes weekly, etc., etc.