I spoke with folks from the Freelancers Union a number of years ago about their model, hoping to fold it into IndyHall and/or our efforts in Philadelphia. The downside is that there's not a whole lot that's transferable from region to region; every region has its own laws and related regulations to overcome so while a general model to organize around that change is valuable, it's not really "copy-able" beyond being a vague inspiration.
I've gone down many paths since, ultimately hitting the same roadblocks over and over and only getting better at spotting them before starting down a new dead end. This includes speaking to leaders of insurance organizations, legal and lobbying entities, and more. Consistent results: bupkis. I would love to support the pursuit of new options. WeWork's approach of recommending plans that are "reasonable" to their members is a good reminder that independents shouldn't skip out on their health, but I'm pretty sure it's not any sort of special deal, even *with* the Freelancers Union's work in NYC. I'd love to be wrong about that. I hope that something new surfaces in America, but know better than to hold my breath. -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Friday, May 18, 2012 at 10:55 PM, Mark W. Kidd wrote: > I'm frankly surprised that there aren't any comparable organizations > providing this service in other states. And a small correction, the FU > currently offers coverage throughout New York state and "In 2014, we'll be > sponsoring nonprofit, member-driven CO-OP health plans in New York, New > Jersey, and Oregon." > > We need something like this in Kentucky. I wonder if there are any case > studies on what it takes to pull a cooperative insurance program together. > I've looked over the FU (yeah, what an acronym..) site for such information > in the past without success. > > > On Tuesday, May 8, 2012 12:28:23 PM UTC-4, Alex Hillman wrote: > > The freelancer's union can only offer their health coverage in NYC: > > > > http://www.freelancersunion.org/benefits/mutual-benefits.html > > > > The issue with offering group healthcare is that the laws are regional. The > > movement that the FU has been able to make is unfortunately limited to > > their base region, NYC. > > > > > > -- > > /ah > > indyhall.org (http://indyhall.org) > > coworking in philadelphia > > > > > > > > On Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:23 PM, Katherine Warman Kern wrote: > > > > > > > > Does Freelancer Union have some sort of affiliate program for co-working > > > centers for health coverage? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) > > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chad Ballantyne > > > Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 12:15 PM > > > To: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) > > > Cc: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) > > > Subject: Re: [Coworking] Coworking membership & Group Health Insurance? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > We offer Health Spending Accounts for our members through a local > > > provider. Because the individual member is part of a "club" they can get > > > access. A nice value added. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Chad > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 2012-05-08, at 12:12 PM, Alex Hillman wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I'm pretty sure that it's not group insurance, but instead recommended > > > plans that they researched. If that's not the case, I'd also love to know > > > what they managed to pull off. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > > > > /ah > > > > > > > > > > > > indyhall.org (http://indyhall.org) > > > > > > > > > > > > coworking in philadelphia > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:07 PM, Aliza Torok Schlabach wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I just saw this article > > > > http://thenextweb.com/us/2012/05/07/wework-labs-coworking-space-will-open-new-offices-in-san-francisco-next-week/ > > > > which mentions that WeWork Labs NY now "offers health insurance to > > > > members for ~360/month, which should make its membership that much more > > > > worthwhile to freelancers". > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I looked into group health insurance for Coworking for Parents, and was > > > > told that it's not possible since I'm not employing members. I would > > > > love to know what type of deal WeWork Labs put together, who their > > > > insurance agent is, and if any other coworking spaces offer group > > > > health insurance policies. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thoughts? Thanks in advance! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Aliza Schlabach > > > > Founder, Coworking for Parents > > > > > > > > > > > > www.CoworkingForParents.com (http://www.CoworkingForParents.com/) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 215.858.4658 > > > > > > > > > > > > Sign up for our email newsletter (http://www.coworkingforparents.com/) > > > > | Join our Meetup group (http://www.meetup.com/CoworkingForparents/) | > > > > Like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/CoworkingForParents) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > PS - Coworking for Parents got a little press today on WHYY's NewsWorks > > > > :-) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/component/flexicontent/item/38065-coworking-space-for-parents-in-manayunk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > > > Groups "Coworking" group. > > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > [email protected] > > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "Coworking" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Chad Ballantyne > > > > > > > > > > > > The Creative Space Director > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > (705) 252-2423 > > > > > > > > > > > > www.thecreativespace.ca (http://www.thecreativespace.ca/) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "Coworking" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "Coworking" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected]). > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/xkblHd19DkAJ. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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