Theatre work is freelance work. A show closes, a tour ends, or you're between contracts, and health coverage can disappear with the job. If you're an actor, musician, stagehand, designer or anyone else working in the theatre, here's where to find health insurance and help when you need it.
Much of this help comes through the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), the national human-services organization for everyone in performing arts and entertainment. You don't have to be an actor, and you don't have to be in a union, to use its services.
The Entertainment Community Fund's Artists Health Insurance Resource Center was created in 1998 with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. It offers free, unbiased help to anyone in the performing arts and entertainment industry, anywhere in the U.S.
If you're not sure where to begin, this is the place. In California, the Fund and the Motion Picture & Television Fund also run Entertainment Health Insurance Solutions for residents there.
Many theatre unions offer health plans. Actors' Equity, Local 802 for musicians, and IATSE locals for stagehands and other crafts each have benefit funds. Union plans usually require a minimum amount of covered work to qualify, so coverage can lapse between jobs. Check your plan's rules early so a gap doesn't take you by surprise. For an overview of the unions themselves, see our guide to Broadway unions.
Freelancers often buy coverage through HealthCare.gov or their state's own marketplace. Depending on your income, you may qualify for financial help that lowers your premium.
Depending on your income, state and age, you may qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center can help you check and apply.
The Entertainment Community Fund operates the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts in Times Square, with care provided by the Mount Sinai Health System. It's built for the schedules and needs of people who work in the industry.
If an illness, injury or other crisis leaves you unable to pay for basic needs, emergency grants can help.
For a full list of the organizations that support theatre workers, see Broadway charities that help actors and theatre workers.
Much of this work is funded by the theatre community itself. When you drop money in a red bucket after a show, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS sends a significant share of its grants to the Entertainment Community Fund. Read how the two work together in Broadway Cares vs. the Entertainment Community Fund.
Rules about marketplace enrollment, subsidies and public health programs are set by elected officials. Whatever your views, that's one more reason your vote matters. Broadway for Democracy is a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps the theatre community register, get informed and vote. Explore more in our guide to Broadway nonprofits.
This article is general information, not insurance or legal advice. For help with your situation, contact the Artists Health Insurance Resource Center.
Yes. Many performers buy coverage through HealthCare.gov or a state marketplace, and some qualify for Medicaid. The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center offers free help to union and non-union workers.
Losing coverage usually qualifies you for a special enrollment period on the marketplace, so you can buy a plan outside open enrollment. Act quickly, because the window is limited.
No. Despite its former name, The Actors Fund, it serves everyone who works in performing arts and entertainment, onstage and off.
Yes. The Behind the Scenes Foundation gives grants to entertainment-technology workers who are seriously ill or injured, and crew members can also apply to the Entertainment Community Fund.
Believe in a theatre community that takes care of its own? Donate to Broadway for Democracy.
