by
NARR
On a typical weekday morning, Charlie Schmid walks into a music classroom at Holy Cross High School in Flushing, Queens. His black backpack is slung over one shoulder; his sunglasses perched on his head. He goes into the back room and sets up four snare drums.
Sound: Freshman band (I would like a nice, warm tone.)
While the band practices in the background, he addresses the three wide-eyed boys wearing khaki pants and neckties in front of him.
Schmid 01 TIME 0:07
OK ready? So one-ee-and-uh two-ee-and-uh ready and go-ee-and-uh. (drums)
This isn't Schmid's full time job. He only does this three times a week for a few hours a day. In fact, he doesn't have a full time job. He's a freelance musician.
He also plays in a rock band and works as a studio drummer. So teaching freshman and sophomore boys at this private high school is only one of his odd jobs.
Schmid 02 TIME 0:12
This is good. That was very good. You really picked it up nice.
Around lunchtime, he's done. Schmid headed out to eat brunch at a local diner.
Sound: People talking. Plates crashing.
When it comes to health insurance, Schmid has a problem. He doesn't have a regular job that provides health benefits. He makes too much money to be eligible for Medicaid, the government program to help low income Americans. But he can't afford to pay $350 per month out of pocket for health insurance.
Schmid 03 TIME 0:07
I mean it's way way too expensive. I'll do without it as long as I can.
Schmid makes around $3,000 a month and spends it on "bare necessities," he says, such as groceries, car insurance, gasoline, utilities, student loans, and rent. After he pays his bills, he doesn't have enough money left over for much else. So he decided to forgo health insurance.
Schmid 04 TIME 0:09
So I mean I do think it's a necessity, but it's a necessity so far out of reach it's not a necessity anymore. It would literally be a luxury.
A lot of his friends see it the same way. Many of them are also freelancers and see being uninsured as the norm.
Schmid 05 TIME 0:13
It's literally a well brought up topic. We talk about it a lot. What are you going to do? How are you going to get it? You think about getting it? Yeah, I thought about getting it.
Despite the fact he's been uninsured for the past 3 years, Schmid says he's been lucky: he's been relatively healthy. He doesn't remember when exactly he last saw a doctor. Whenever he feels sick, he tries to heal himself.
Schmid 06 TIME 0:25
I pretty much had everything in the book you can imagine, right down to the worst backache you probably ever felt. And I didn't go to the doctor, and I got better. It probably took six or seven times longer. Well, I kept on taking melatonin pills so that I would sleep, so I just slept it off.
It's not only he can't afford seeing a doctor. He's in his late 20s, so he thinks these are the years in his life when it's "safe" to be uninsured.
Schmid 07 TIME 0:15
I try to take care of myself as much as possible, so I don't pick up these colossal viruses that cost a lot of money.
Sound: fade under.
Thompson01 TIME 0:04
There's a sense of invincibility among some young musicians.
Kristin Thompson is the education director of the Future of Music Coalition, a non-profit organization that advocates on the behalf of independent musicians. She says many musicians think like Charlie Schmid does:
Thompson02 TIME 0:04
That health insurance isn't a good investment. That they're not going to get sick.
Even musicians, who can afford health insurance, can be confused by the process of getting a policy.
Thompson03 TIME 0:12
It's a very jargon-filled, fairly complicated situation. All the policies are determined at the state level, so musicians need to do some research to figure out what policies are good for them.
Thompson's colleague, Alex Maiolo, says he tells musicians they have 3 options:
Maiolo01 TIME 0:10
Work over 30 hours a week for a company that provides it, pay out of pocket for it somehow, or move to Canada.
The US spends more of its gross domestic product on healthcare than any other country. But according to the World Health Organization, its healthcare system ranks 37th out of 191 countries.
James Knickman, President and CEO of advocacy group New York State Health Foundation, attributes the ranking to the disparity of incomes in the US.
Knickman 01 TIME 0:12
That means we have more poor people relative to others, and it's very hard in this country to stay healthy when you're poor, and that's a striking determinant in many of our rankings.
The 2008 presidential candidates have proposed reforms to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all Americans.
Republican Senator John McCain suggests giving tax credits to individuals so they can buy health insurance in the private market. Health policy scholar Michael Sparer of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University says McCain's strategy wouldn't affect the status quo.
Sparer 01 TIME 0:12
I think he knows that this won't provide health insurance to all 45 50 million of the uninsured. But he would argue that it's not government's responsibility to make sure that all 50 million people have health insurance.
Sparer says the Democratic candidates have more dramatic approaches than McCain. Both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama want to expand public insurance programs and require either employers or individuals to buy health insurance.
That's called universal healthcare. But Alex Maiolo from the Future of Music Coalition says that's not the solution for freelance musicians.
Maiolo02 TIME 0:11
It has basically put a new financial burden on them. You're basically slapping a band-aid on a system that is hemorrhaging.
In other words, universal healthcare forces people to buy insurance on their own with… money they may not have.
Instead, Maiolo would like to see what is known as national healthcare - a system that is funded through taxes, making healthcare "free" for everyone. But there are many obstacles in the way of a national healthcare system. Elected officials may not have the political will to do it.
Columbia University's Michael Sparer doesn't see national health insurance being enacted in the near future
Sparer 02 TIME 0:13
I think it's going to take the right set of circumstances and the right timing. It's going to take the right president at the right time with a great deal of political credibility with some institutional support in the Congress.
Sparer also thinks the problem goes deeper than politics. The issue, he says, is that Americans view healthcare as a product they can buy. Dr. David Newman of St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan says healthcare is a gray area in most people's minds.
Newman 01 TIME 0:11
People have to decide whether healthcare is a right or a privilege. And once people decide that, we can probably be able to move forward with something.
At dusk in Queens, it's time for Charlie Schmid to rehearse with his band, The Diggs. He meets up with fellow band member Tim Lannen in a dimly lit basement lobby, which smells like stale cigarette smoke.
Sound: Drums banging. Laughing.
Lannen plays guitar and is the lead singer in the band. By day, he works part-time at a coffee shop in Tribecca. By night, he rehearses with The Diggs.
Lannen's situation is similar to Schmid's. He lives from paycheck to paycheck and hasn't had health insurance in years. That doesn't bother him though.
Lannen01 TIME 0:16
I procrastinate, and I put things like that off, you know, because I don't need immediately right now. And I never really have to go to the doctor. I don't really have any prescriptions I need filled. That's probably why not that big of a deal to me.
But a year ago, a tooth in the back of his mouth started to hurt. For a week, he lived in agony as he tried to take care of himself.
Lannen02 TIME 0:30
There's this like topical novacaine type of stuff you can buy in a store. I forgot what it was called. It's for toothaches. But I was like putting it on there like crazy because it hurt. I would wake up at night because it hurt. It sucked, so I had to bite the bullet and go to the dentist. He yanked it out. Felt better immediately. Then it cost me like 500 dollars. And that was kind of like, that kind of hurt a little bit. Hurt the pocket you know.
Since then, Lannen has surfed the Internet in search of a cheap health insurance plan. He's looking into "free" public health insurance, but has run into obstacles.
Lannen03 TIME 0:11
There's all this paperwork, and then there is this interview, you know, for this one that I'm looking at. And I feel that I would have to lie to get health insurance, and that's kind of just discouraging.
Lannen acknowledges that a serious accident or illness would break his bank and ruin his future. He finds that unfair.
Lannen04 TIME 0:09
That just doesn't make any sense to me. What's the point in being able to cure diseases and help people out if they can't afford it.
Lannen and Schmid head down to the practice room. They hope one day, they'll be able to afford insurance on a freelancer's paycheck. They're skeptical this will happen soon.
SOUND: "Careen" song
In the meantime, they find solace in doing what they love. Making music.
SOC
Euna Lhee, Columbia Radio News.
Fade out: 0:10 music after SOC
TOTAL TAPE TIME (9:39)
SOC (9:13)
MUSIC TAIL (0:36)