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Actors Fund Launches Expanded Website For Health Insurance Resources

Thousands of resources for comprehensive information included

The Actors Fund’s acclaimed Artists Health Insurance Resource Center website – www.ahirc.org – has re-launched with a complete redesign and a more powerful search engine, providing state-by-state information and resources to those seeking insurance. The website is well known as one of the most effective resources for comprehensive, unbiased information about getting and keeping affordable, quality health insurance and health care in every state.

The AHIRC site, which already attracts more than six hundred thousand visitors each year, uses annotated links to direct visitors to the best and most reliable healthcare resources on the web. Highlights of its content include:

• All categories of health insurance including government-subsidized and association plans.

• Information on free and sliding-scale clinics and local health programs.

• Tools for comparing the quality and cost of doctors and hospitals.

• Guides to finding lower cost prescription drugs and financial assistance programs.

• Rules regarding charity care and assistance with medical debt.

• National and local organizations advocating on behalf of artists and others for health care reform.

Since the first version site launched just over 10 years ago, this innovative website has been used by visual and performing artists and entertainment professionals around the country, a group that is twice as likely to be uninsured as the general population. It is also used by thousands of freelancers, the self-employed and small business owners in other fields. With funding from The National Endowment for the Arts and The Commonwealth Fund, AHIRC has grown with the use of the web to become the gold standard for providing health insurance information.

The expansion, redesign and relaunch of the site is made possible with the partnership and support of Leveraging Investments In Creativity (LINC), a project supported by the Ford Foundation. This partnership allows AHIRC to regularly update its content and expand its resources. And a new communications program will help hundreds of thousands additional people take advantage of this invaluable resource.