Writers and Art Workers Need Health Insurance: Here’s a Lifeline That Can Help
- PlayPenn
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Working in the theater is risky business—and not just because it’s tough to make a living in the performing arts, but because theater workers are often on their own in finding and maintaining health insurance coverage.
United Hospital Fund, with grant support from Venturous Theater Fund, on November 12, 2026 released a guide, Riskier Business: A Guide for Dramatists and Performing Arts Workers on Finding Affordable Health Coverage and Care, a comprehensive, free online guidebook to help theater workers and performing arts professionals navigate the often-bewildering world of health insurance, find affordable coverage and care, and become their own best advocates.
The guide highlights recent legislative and regulatory changes that will affect consumers’ coverage for 2026. While the guide largely focuses on coverage options and resources in New York State, it also includes information for those living in other states.
This new guide is an updated version of a similar resource, Risky Business: A Guide for Dramatists on Finding Affordable Health Coverage and Care, produced by United Hospital Fund in 2024, which focused more specifically on the unique situation of dramatists seeking coverage.
“Finding affordable health coverage can be tough for performing arts professionals, and recent legislative changes and cutbacks have made things even more complicated,” says Peter Newell, director of United Hospital Fund’s Health Insurance Project, and author of the guidebook. “As New York leaders work to maintain affordable coverage despite recent federal actions—and inaction—we hope this new guide provides vital information on the range of options and resources that are available for people in the performing arts field.”
The guide aims to help performing arts professionals without employer or union health plans navigate the complex world of health insurance. It will help them identify and select health insurance plans and provide information on how to access essential resources they may not know are available, including free, one-on-one counseling from the Entertainment Community Fund and other experienced “navigators,” emergency grants from the Dramatists Guild Foundation, and more. The guide offers easy-to-understand information on such topics as “Obamacare” plans, public programs like Medicaid, the Essential Plan, and Medicare, and state and federal COBRA rules (which let you keep your employer’s health plan for a limited time after you leave your job). The guide also offers tips on how to avoid scams and “junk insurance,” gain access to discounted medical care and prescriptions when you are uninsured, get the most out of your plan when you have coverage, and find consumer assistance.
As independent contractors, theater workers and dramatists are particularly vulnerable when it comes to accessing health insurance. Many don’t have full-time jobs that offer health benefits, and union plans in place for other entertainment professionals are sometimes not an option, particularly for dramatists. Income from a variety of sources that varies widely from month to month makes qualifying for affordable coverage even more complicated.
The guide is organized into five “Acts.” Act I contains a glossary of useful terms; Act II highlights regulatory and legal changes new for 2026; Act III features an FAQ-style script for finding coverage in New York State; Act IV details extra help available to find care if you don’t have insurance, or to get the most out of the coverage you have; and Act V lists resources for coverage for those living in other states besides New York. With the potential for additional actions by Congress, regulators, and the courts that may affect coverage, the guide will be updated with new information as it becomes available.
“Every culture worker deserves affordable health insurance and access to quality health care. Given recent federal changes affecting the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and other programs, it is more important than ever to provide up-to-date, clear, unbiased information for dramatists and others who make their living in the performing arts,” said Ben Pesner, program director of Venturous Theater Fund. “Venturous Theater Fund is proud to continue our support for United Hospital Fund by commissioning the second edition of UHF’s health insurance guidebook for dramatists and other performing arts professionals.”
The Entertainment Community Fund, a national human services organization that meets the needs of the entertainment community, provided valuable assistance in developing this guide. “Health insurance is a constantly changing landscape,” said Jim Bracchitta, managing director of health services at the Entertainment Community Fund. “Recent changes at the federal level are likely to make Marketplace coverage harder to get, harder to keep, and more expensive—especially for those who work in the entertainment industry. Luckily, the United Hospital Fund’s updated Riskier Business guide provides clear, accurate, and unbiased information, as well as hands-on tools that theater workers can use to navigate a complex and scary system. This is a must-read for anyone in the arts.”
The guidebook can be downloaded free of charge on UHF’s website.
Every Dramatist Insured: Fall/Winter Open Enrollment
Get the info you need to successfully find and keep Affordable Care Act coverage for 2026. This webinar will:
Help you understand your options
Review changes in the law that may affect this year’s coverage
Give you resources to find help in your state
Tell you how to access health care if you’re uninsured
Present strategies for estimating freelance income
Guide you on how to select a health plan
Medicare Open Enrollment: What to Know for 2026
Learn about the new premiums, copayments and deductibles in 2026, and understand the difference between Medigaps (aka Medicare Supplements) and Medicare Advantage Plans. The webinar also reviews the Medicare Prescription Plans, also known as Medicare Part D, and helps you stay informed and prepared for Open Enrollment so you can choose the right plans for yourself.
About United Hospital Fund
United Hospital Fund works to build an effective and equitable health care system for every New Yorker. An independent, nonprofit organization, we are a force for improvement, analyzing public policy to inform decision-makers, finding common ground among diverse stakeholders, and developing and supporting innovative programs that improve health and health care. We work to dismantle barriers in health policy and health care delivery that prevent optimal opportunities for health. For more on our initiatives and programs please visit our website at www.uhfnyc.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and BlueSky.
About Venturous Theater Fund
Venturous Theater Fund (VTF) is honored to support this project through its donor-advised fund, the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation. VTF makes grants to fund the production of plays that are “venturous”—ambitious in scale, epic in scope, challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, experimental in concept, and/or unabashed in their theatricality. VTF also funds artist-driven initiatives that embrace agency for playwrights at all stages of their careers, and that champion creative growth and financial security for dramatists. These include playwright fellowships, opportunities for collaboration across national boundaries, the Legacy Playwrights Initiative for elder writers, and healthcare/health programs.
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