Artists Health Care Task Force - Toward a Healthy Community

The Artists Foundation launched in January 2007 a new web site: www.healthcareforartists.org It is a new site to for artists in all disciplines to aid them in navigating the Massahcusetts Health Care Reform Law and it is also a site to help health care providers enroll artists into health care reform options.

Background of The Artists Health Care Task Force
There has been a national movement to integrate the arts into all aspects of health care facilities and their programming. The goal is to create an overall/total "healing environment" and to "humanize" health care facilities. Artists working in all disciplines have played a critical role in developing, creating and sustaining the "healing environments" in these facilities and in their programs. But in the noble efforts to create a "healing environment", many of the health care providers have over looked the fact that a large number of artists who provide the vision, skill and labor for transforming their institutions and our society, do not have access to affordable and adequate health care.

In response to this issue, the Artists Foundation co-founded the The Artists Health Care Task Force in December 1993 with The Boston Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, and Boston Health Care for the Homeless. National studies have shown that 30% of artists living in big cities are without health coverage and 43% of insured artists are at risk of losing their insurance. The Artists Health Care Task Force used Boston as a model to document the problem. The Task Force held a series of public forums in the spring of 1994 to gather testimony from artists on health care reform. The Task Force's findings and artists' testimonies were published in a report to the National Congress in July of 1994. It was the Task Force's intention not only to inform Congress of artists' health care needs, but to also help make health care in Boston, one of the top medical centers in the country with one of the highest concentrations of hospitals/ medical facilities, accessible and affordable to the artists who work and live in the city.

Current Task Force Endeavors
The Artists Foundation is continuing its work with the Artists Health Care Task Force and has begun to collaborate with and inform medical institutions/health care providers and health care advocacy groups on ways to address the health care needs of artists. The Artists Health Care Task Force hopes to create city-wide models that can be implemented state-wide and hopefully nationally. It is the goal of The Artists Health Care Task Force to critically address the health care needs of artists- one of our national assets. In facilitating this crossover among collaborators, the Task Force creates a ground breaking network with the ability to address issues of mutual interest to the arts community, the private sector and the public.

The Artists Foundation is currently collaborating with South Boston Community Health Center (SBCHC) in a pilot project to enroll artists into the Boston Health Net, Mass Health and the sliding scales program at the health center. SBCHC created a specific form to be used by those artists who are self employed or do not have regular pays stubs to assess their income.

The Artists Foundation via the Task Force is collaborating with Massachusetts' Health Care for All and the Insurance Partnership on issues of the uninsured and underinsured. The Artists Foundation is an active member of the ACT II Coalition.and is very active in advocating for artists' needs in the Massachusetts Health Care Reform implementation.

Mission and Long Term Goals of the Task Force
The mission of the Artists Health Care Task Force is to advocate for affordable and accessible health care for artists of all disciplines. The need for such a program was clearly stated in each of the testimonies by area artists in the Task Force's Report to Congress in 1994. The Artists Health Care Task Force is continuing to work on ways to target and provide health services for Massachusetts Artists. The Task Force's long range goals:

(1)	to enroll artists who are eligible into MassHealth programs, and other health care options created by the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law.(Occuring)
(2)	to create a comprehensive "on line" resource of health care options available for uninsured, underinsured artists, and health care coverage options for small non profits (Done: www.healthcareforartists.org)
(3)	to create an "on line" resource for information on artists' occupational health hazards. (Done)
(4)	to conduct a statewide survey of artists health care needs. (Occuring)
(5)	to continue to work on artist's health care issues on a local, state, and national level.(Ongoing)

 

Healthcare Task Force Report