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Freelancers Union

 
Website
 www.freelancersunion.org
www.freelancersinsuranceco.com
Sector Group
 Health Care
Fund
Relationship
 Ford Foundation, Prudential, NYS Health Foundation
Description
 In October 2008, the New York City Investment Fund ("NYCIF") alongside several organizations and foundations, including the Ford Foundation, New York State Health Foundation, Prudential’s Social Investment Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation, provided $17 million of grants and loans to Brooklyn-based not-for-profit Freelancers Union, Inc (“FLU”) to launch Freelancers Insurance Company, Inc. (“FIC”). FIC is a for-profit, wholly-owned subsidiary of FLU that offers flexible and lower-cost health insurance plans for eligible freelance or independent workers.

FLU has historically offered its members commercial health insurance plans operated by traditional carriers that set premiums and plan availability. As a freestanding insurance company, FIC can now offer additional plan customization based on its members’ needs. FIC will also be able to maintain better control over future premium increases and expand into new industry sectors that were previously ineligible for membership under third party plans.


Freelance workers represent approximately 30% of the nation's workforce, including an estimated 1 million people in NYC, which face high individual insurance premiums and are often forced to go without coverage. FIC is an innovative program that could potentially serve as a model to help address the national issue of providing health care insurance for the growing ranks of the uninsured.