Will freelancers gain better healthcare in 2025?

We’ve done it before and we can do it again.

Flexible work has become the norm for more than a third of American workers, yet we remain woefully dependent on long-term, full-time employers to undergird our social safety net. Independent consultants, gig workers, content creators and artists all know what I’m talking about - the US health insurance system has been broken for a long time.

Our options are unfairly limited due to the nature of our work.

We used to have a better solution than we do now. In 2009, Freelancers Union launched its own health insurance captive to offer affordable, tailored group insurance to the working freelancers of New York City. A social enterprise owned by a nonprofit membership organization, the plan covered over 40,000 people over seven years, launched an integrative primary care practice focused on building health - not just treating disease - and maintained affordable premium rates with no increases for three years in a row.

We did it by focusing on a clear sense of purpose and aligning incentives whenever possible. We did it by removing as many layers of profit motive as possible while working within our for-profit healthcare system. We did it by focusing on a like-minded group of diverse people with a wide blend of needs and some core things in common. We did it by moving past the binary of employer vs government as our only option.

For some, the answer should be employment-based or need-based. I believe that for others, a meaningful group of similar freelancers makes mores sense as a path forward. If we are successful in (re)building a social enterprise for freelance health, it must be affordable, portable, patient-centered, community-driven and sustainable. I’m hopeful we can once again build a solution that will protect and nurture the millions of Americans who moonlight, freelance, consult, work on demand, and live the hustle every day