Cameron Meier
SA Editor
Elizabeth Sullivan is a successful art-show exhibitor. Her watercolors are favorites at events anywhere from Texas to Florida. And for the past year, she’s been a freelance writer for Sunshine Artist. Three years ago, she experienced a terrible pain in her side and could barely move. A friend drove her to the emergency room, where a doctor was never able to determine what was wrong and simply dispensed painkillers.
For this trip, Elizabeth had to pay $1,700 out of her own pocket. "I have no health insurance," she says. "Thus I have no doctor. Thus I do not go to doctors unless I am really, really in trouble. I do not have health insurance because I am a self-employed artist, and I am also old, so I could never afford any of the insurance I’ve found."
Rachel is a talented painter from the Midwest. She suffers from migraine headaches and scoliosis, which she has had since the fourth grade. "My husband and I are both artists," she says, "and we both do not have health insurance. We both wish we did, but we can’t afford it. Like many, I suppose we are just hoping that nothing terrible will happen, and we pay cash when we have to go to the dentist. I have a friend who has diabetes. She can’t afford to go to a doctor and has self-diagnosed by doing Internet research. Her mom, who is also diabetic, is giving her half her monthly medications. They plan to go to Mexico soon to get more."
These artists are not alone. In fact, their stories are similar to thousands of other exhibitors on the art and craft show circuit, most of whom must fend for themselves when it comes to health insurance. That doesn’t mean, however, that artists who can’t afford comprehensive coverage are simply giving up. Victoria and her husband, Scott, for example, have tried repeatedly to qualify for a Health Savings Account (HSA). But Victoria, who is a metal artist, is also a cancer survivor. In addition, she takes a beta blocker for a non-life-threatening heart-rhythm problem. Because of those reasons, the only high-deductible policy that she has a chance of getting is Blue Cross, for more than $1,000 a month. But she can’t afford it, and without that policy, she can’t qualify for an HSA.
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