Health Insurance Isn’t Enough — Music Also Needs a Financial Safety Net (Guest Column)
"We need better coordination to create comprehensive support for everyone who works in music. At MusiCares, we have never gone at it alone and have no interest in trying."
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Prompted by Chappell Roan’s comments about health insurance from the Grammy stage on Feb. 2, over the last several weeks an important conversation has been taking place about financial stability and health among those who work in music. At MusiCares, we celebrate this conversation and want to collectively seize this moment for real change. To do this, we need to go deeper than just a conversation. It is important to understand and focus solutions on data-backed, long-standing issues around fair pay and health in the music community.
In fact, MusiCares was founded with this mission in mind. The Recording Academy formed MusiCares as an independent 501c3 charity in 1989 to be a shared service for the larger music industry because even back then, it was difficult to ensure fair pay across all sectors. As a result, many music people were falling on hard times. Health and welfare problems are exacerbated in low-income environments. This problem continues in music today, even after MusiCares has provided over $118 million in direct assistance to people from every music profession, genre and U.S. state.
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We know this because we research it. Financial instability is a major concern for people in music, affecting their household economics, physical well-being and mental health. Our Wellness in Music survey, open to anyone in the U.S. working in music, shows that 69% of respondents cannot comfortably cover their expenses through work in music alone and 47% attribute their stress to financial instability. Furthermore, 65% of respondents are not confident about the trajectory of the industry. These are major red flags for both the well-being of our music community and the sustainability of this industry in its current form.
MusiCares provides customized care, often with substantial financial assistance to cover basic living needs and other expenses, when music people face economic hardship. Many people in music never get guidance on how to manage their money. For this reason, we also focus on the preventive side of financial health, including financial management services and tax support. The tragic fires in Los Angeles and hurricanes in the Southeast demonstrate how perilously close so many people in our community are to financial ruin. While some music people had substantial loss, many of the 5,000+ individuals we supported through our recent disaster relief efforts needed support simply because they lost a gig or two: $200 or $300 in income was often what separated them from security and an inability to pay their basic living costs. Higher wages are essential, but we also need to grow financial safety nets, which include funding and resources to support music professionals through hard times. This requires substantial and ongoing investments from the industry to ensure qualified non-profit organizations can meet the need.
Health insurance has also been a major topic in recent weeks, and it’s an important one. But health insurance alone is not enough. Our Wellness in Music survey consistently shows that 87-90% of music professionals have health insurance, just slightly the below US national coverage. While universal coverage is the goal, the barrier many people in music face is an inability to use the insurance they have. Most MusiCares clients have health insurance but may not use it because they can’t afford the deductible, their provider doesn’t take insurance, or the provider is out of network. Overwhelmingly, music people are not accessing preventive care services, like mammograms, dental cleanings and hearing screenings, at healthy rates. For this reason, we work with a carefully vetted network of hundreds of licensed health providers across the United States and have provided over 45,000 free preventive clinic visits. We need to keep closing the gap in economic and logistical access to essential medical care. This includes access to quality health insurance, additional funding to cover out of pocket costs and dedicated providers who can work with music professionals on their unique needs.
Inability to use insurance affects mental health too. The American Psychological Association estimates that about one in three therapists do not take insurance. Access to care is further complicated because people in music are highly mobile. Licensing regulations may mean people can’t work with their mental health provider or worse, end up receiving care from unlicensed providers. In the absence of access to licensed, affordable care, many music people are vulnerable to unregulated initiatives that have no grounding in science.
Music people in need of substance use treatment often face similar challenges. In-network treatment centers may have no space or it’s not the right fit for their needs. For single parents, highly mobile workers or those who need to keep working, in-patient treatment may not be an option. To get people the care they deserve, we need to expand access to substantial financial assistance for addiction recovery, in addition to tailored and long-term care options, referrals, and placement.
At MusiCares, we’ve provided over $25 million in direct assistance to music people and placed them in therapy and substance use treatment. Currently, MusiCares is the only philanthropic organization that covers the full costs of substance use treatment for music people. While financial support is essential, we find it is only effective because we have specialized providers o meet the needs of music people as well as follow-up care, like sober living, accountability coaching and support for basic living needs during key recovery junctures.
Finally, we need better coordination to create comprehensive support for everyone who works in music. At MusiCares, we have never gone at it alone and have no interest in trying. We need to work in tandem with health care providers, music industry companies and non-profit partners to ensure no one slips through the cracks. Those of us who work in this space have an opportunity for stronger coordination, including sharing our data and best practices, so that we are all making evidence-based investments that address the very real challenges within our community.
We all need music. Music needs a safety net.
Laura Segura is executive director and Theresa Wolters is vice president of health & human services at MusiCares.
