Gig to gig, city to city, with long quiet stretches between runs. Here is how musicians, stagehands and production crews who buy their own health plan are keeping it affordable, and making sure it works on the road.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, a licensed health insurance broker in Tampa. I'm licensed in 36 states and all of my work happens over the phone, which suits people who are rarely in one place for long.
Musicians and the crews who make the shows happen have one of the hardest income patterns I see. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about half of musicians and singers are self-employed, and their work is often part-time or intermittent. Stagehands, audio engineers, lighting techs, backline and production crews tend to live the same way: a few weeks of nonstop work on a tour or a festival run, then a gap, then the next call. Some weeks are paid on a W-2 and others on a 1099.
There's rarely a steady employer offering a plan, so most of you are buying your own. Here's how people in your world work out which plan makes sense.
I know, that's the question nobody on a tour schedule can answer cleanly. But it's the one that decides your path: will your household income for the coverage year fall under the subsidy line?
That line sits around four times the federal poverty level. For one person that's a little over $60,000 a year, and it climbs as your household gets bigger.
Because your work comes in bursts, your annual total can swing a lot. And for the 1099 portion of your work, what counts is the net, what's left after the costs of doing the job. The business side of the work comes out before that number is figured, and your tax preparer can tell you exactly what counts. Then pick the situation below that sounds like you.
For a lot of working musicians and crew, this is the usual case, and it's where the marketplace makes the most sense. The subsidy only works on marketplace plans, and it can bring the monthly cost down to something manageable.
The estimate is the tricky part. You sign up based on what you expect to earn, and in your business a single big tour can change the year. If you end up earning more than you said, the extra subsidy is settled on your tax return and you could owe part of it back. The fix is to update your income with the marketplace as soon as a big run is booked or a gig falls through.
There's also the network question. Depending on where you live, your marketplace choices may be HMOs or EPOs, and those generally cover out-of-network care only in an emergency. If you're on the road for weeks, we'll talk about how you'll handle non-emergency care away from home before you choose.
Next step: Send me your last return and a rough calendar for the year, and I'll help you set an estimate and pick a plan that fits your schedule.
Maybe a production job with benefits wrapped up, or you were on a plan through a W-2 position that's over. When a plan from work ends, you get a special enrollment window, typically 60 days, to pick up marketplace coverage without waiting for open enrollment. If you took COBRA, know that canceling it early on purpose doesn't open that window.
Don't let the window close while you're out on the next run. A quick call before the old plan ends lets us get the new one in place with no gap.
Next step: Call me as soon as you know your coverage is ending, and we'll line up the replacement before you head out again.
Headliners, music directors, established touring techs and anyone who stacked a long run of dates can end up above the subsidy line. Then the marketplace charges full price, and for a healthy person who rarely needs a doctor, that price often feels like too much.
In that situation I look at private plans outside the marketplace. They're medically underwritten, so you answer health questions when you apply, and the insurer decides whether to accept you and what to charge. Healthy applicants can often pay less than the marketplace's full price.
The best part for touring people is the network. These plans run on PPO networks that cover the country, so the urgent care in the city you're playing tonight can be in network.
Before you lean this way, know that the application is where it gets decided. If you've had a health issue, the insurer may say no or carve that issue out of the policy. Benefits also differ between these plans, so I'll read you what a given plan pays before you sign anything.
Next step: Call me between legs of the tour and I'll set a nationwide PPO beside the full-price marketplace option, so a strong year buys you the right plan.
If you or someone on your plan has a chronic condition or needs a regular prescription, the marketplace is usually your home, whatever your income. Marketplace plans have to accept you and can't charge more because of your health. An underwritten plan could decline you or exclude the condition you need covered most.
Then we choose carefully: the plan that keeps your doctors and medications covered, plus a plan for refills and appointments that fits around your tour dates.
Next step: Tell me your doctors, your prescriptions and your typical tour schedule, and I'll go through your local plans with you.
If your home marketplace offers only HMO or EPO plans, or prices its PPO out of reach, you still have a route to one. As long as you're healthy, I can quote a nationwide PPO in all 36 states I'm licensed in. When your work takes you from city to city, it's worth a 15-minute call to see the price.
None of it is required, but it helps:
It costs you nothing to work with me. The insurance company pays me when you enroll, and the premium you pay is the same either way.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
It depends on the plan type. HMOs and EPOs generally pay out of network only in an emergency, while a PPO also covers out-of-network care at a higher cost. A plan built on a nationwide PPO network can keep doctors in network on the road.
Start with last year's tax return and your bookings, give the marketplace your best estimate, and update it whenever a tour is added or canceled. Late updates can mean paying money back at tax time.
Losing job-based coverage usually gives you 60 days to enroll in a marketplace plan outside open enrollment. Call me before the old plan ends so there's no gap.
Yes. If you're healthy and over the subsidy line, I can price private plans on nationwide PPO networks in all 36 states where I'm licensed.
A rough idea of what you earned last year, who's on your plan, and how much of the year you spend touring is all I need. I'll tell you which path fits and what it costs, and if what you have now already works, I'll tell you that too.
Touring musicians and crews in your state
Other lines of work I help