The SIMS Foundation

Comments From SIMS Musician's Health Survey


I would need SIMS a lot more if my wife didn’t receive benefits through work.
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If this is supposed to be the musician’s capital of the world, then start treating the musicians like it is instead of just the tourists with the money.
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We broke musicians need care.
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This is something that would help a great deal of people. Do it!!!
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Such an entity is unheard of. It’s about time someone gave a s*** enough to try and establish something like this. If this had existed 3 decades ago Hendrix would still be alive!!
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Mental health services would be cool!
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soon please
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I think it’s a great idea-lets get it going on!
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I’m all for it
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We need this service.
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I have a good job but I would like to see a clinic for those who don’t.
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Hurry up with it!
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I use People’s for nearly everything but I really need Dental and eye care and can’t afford it.
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Great work!
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Please do it!
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It wouldn’t have to be permanent even a "musician’s health fair" with hearing testing, referrals etc.....would be helpful.
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Who would pay for this? Is it part of musician’s union dues or a tax increase?
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I have never had a checkup since I was a kid. I’ve been lucky enough to sell a painting or play a gig often enough to get a tooth pulled or any other pressing situation/development.
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I love this idea! We all are under served and living day-to-day with little health care.
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Musicians who are members of the Austin Federation of Musicians (local #433) can get insurance through affiliated providers. Unfortunately, many musicians are not, and cannot afford to be union members, or pay for insurance. This proposed clinic is a good idea, but I don't see the need for a separate treatment facility for musicians. And trying to set up and maintain this sort of thing is going to be difficult. As long as musicians have access to good care and treatment in some established facility available to the general public, that would be a significant improvement over no access to treatment at all.
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What most concerns us, as self-employed musicians with no health plan, is the possibility of some major medical crisis, i.e. a car accident or other unexpected life and death catastrophe. Since we are extremely healthy we are content not to have coverage for the small stuff, i.e. doctor visits. We are also concerned about dental care, and have been neglecting cavities because of the exorbitant cost of dentists.
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At present my wife has good health and dental insurance. If she didn't would look into the union’s health plan. There have been many times in the past that without the help of a friendly doctor (someone I knew already) I would have been in trouble financially or unable to get help at all. This clinic sounds like a great idea. Many of the musicians-especially in the Austin area do not make enough money to pay rent let alone make a visit to an emergency room or doctors office.
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My question would be how do people qualify as "musicians"? Is it a percentage of income? That would make a significantly smaller population in Austin, since it's so hard to get paid anything for gigs. A good indication might be if they claim it on their taxes. I have for several years, and have taken a loss pretty much every year. But, I'm sure there are legitimate musicians who don't do that on their taxes.
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One of the main reasons I have a half-time job a UT that is unrelated to music is for the benefits, especially health insurance. If low-cost medical care were available to musicians I would probably not have to keep this job.
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I have utilized the mental/emotional health care services underwritten by the Sims Foundation for nearly a year now and it has been of tremendous value. Thank you, and best of luck in the future.
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I am covered by one of my union plans but could lose the coverage if my earnings fell below a certain level!
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There is a great need for hearing tests, hearing loss prevention and hearing education in the musician’s community.
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Great idea
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Some of the main problems that I face as a musician comes from lack of insurance options.
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I am unmarried, but my significant other makes a decent living in the computer industry and has good insurance coverage. I can't be part of that, though, so I have been self-insured for five years and my benefits have been steadily reduced every year. I now pay a $30 co-pay, only have $200 per year available in lab/xray (before the deductible), and pay over $100/month for a premium. If anything big ever happened, I would have to pay up to $7,000 out-of-pocket. (I have a $2500 deductible). I have had several RSI problems over the years and occasionally see a physical therapist (out-of pocket) for $80 per session. That would be a great service for you to subsidize for musician’s...deep tissue massage and physical therapy. It's so expensive, but so helpful for those of us who play a lot and injure ourselves. By the way, I live Central and you didn't have that as an option. I have managed to get dental and eye care this year, but I had to dig deeply into my savings for that. I'm not insured for that. Overall, I realize that my situation is pretty good compared to most. But when I became a full-time musician, I determined that finding some type of insurance was a high priority. And I've managed to keep it going. It just feels very vulnerable...they keep cutting away at what they cover and as I get older and more things pop up, the harder it will be to find any alternatives. If we were to get married, that would all change, though. And we've considered it.
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Many musicians I know (myself included) work low-wage "day jobs" simply to get a level of health insurance -- which is way below the quality we all experienced only a decade ago. Those who don't work the extra job for insurance go without -- and pray pray pray they won't get hurt. Last night, however, three songwriters I know got in a terrible car accident. None has insurance. Two were hospitalized; one refused treatment because she doesn't know how she'll ever pay for it. The two that were hospitalized? They've got to worry about that today.
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Subsidized health care for musicians which include dental and eye care would be an unfathomable great gift to this town. I know I'd do benefits for it -- now and forever -- -- and so would every other musician I know.
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Thanks for offering us the chance to give you some feedback. SIMS, you're the greatest.
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We live outside Travis County in Burnet County, but the musician in our family is based out of Austin. There are alot of musicians who would utilize this care facility who live outside Travis
County in surrounding counties.
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Thank you so much for even beginning to envision health care for Austin's musicians. It is a critical and often hidden need. Musicians are contract workers with absolutely no benefits or protections as laborers. even when we are "successful" in the eyes of others, the income rarely matches. I used the map program once before and they made me come in once every two months to renew my eligibility. The treatment was humiliating and required an entire day of running around (and waiting) to process documents while I was very ill. I gave it up. Now we have no insurance. All the musicians we know trade prescription drugs (antibiotics, asthma meds, etc.) amongst each other to manage. It is ridiculous. there was an individual doctor named Blair Protzman that used to treat many of us musicians for little or no cost and gave us sample meds. He died 2 years ago and we are all lost. Thanks again for distributing this survey. Look forward to hearing the results.
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Y'all are doing a great job at SIMS.Thanks.
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Best of luck. Luckily, I am able to afford health care. Many of my friends are unable to do the same for themselves. As an occupational population with much higher risk of mortality and serious health issues, it would be a great thing for this population to have health care made available to them at a not-for-profit rate.
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I live in central Austin! Add a field for that designation basic thrust of your plan is probably a good idea besides playing in a band, I have a master's in psychology and am working on a cognitive science doc at UT...would be available for volunteer counseling, etc.
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Depending on prices, I would support a musician's clinic. I am researching insurance currently, but plan to only purchase catastrophic insurance with a very high deductable to reduce my premiums.
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Right now I'm covered by an HMO through my work, but if I ever had to switch jobs or lost mine or wanted to go on tour (that might result in loss of my job) I would definitely use a clinic. Sometimes even now I think I would rather go to a clinic because I hate HMOs and I get charged for all kinds of unexpected things that I can't pay for, and I think doctors forget that they are there for care rather than money if they are participating with all the HMOs. I also know a lot of other musicians/friends that I think might seek medical attention if it was available and affordable. I have had musicians recommend the People's Clinic to me, so I know there are definitely some people here that are happy with how the People's Clinic works. I think that'll do it.
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Unlike many musicians, I work full-time and am part of a good HMO program.
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None at this time. But this would be a wonderful service for us musicians. Thank you!
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I think it's an idea whose time has come. Thanks.
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I have insurance through my work, so this would not benefit me, however, other people may find it useful.
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I have a full-time job that provides insurance, but I would use a musician's clinic if it were provided.
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If a clinic for musicians is opened, what credentials would be needed to prove I am indeed a working musician? While it could be easy to attract general physicians to one centralized complex, how hard would it be to attract specialists? I'm very interested in this concept, and will let others know about it. Thanks.
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It is near impossible for us to maintain health and dental insurance, and get quality treatment at clinics when you are paying on a cash-basis.
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This is an excellent idea that is a long time coming....for years I had no insurance, and thank goodness nothing traumatic occurred during that time. Musicians, and artists in general, sacrifice a great deal in terms of financial security in choosing the creative life, adequate medical care should not be a matter of what lifestyle you may have chosen. Best wishes for success
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This sounds like a great idea, especially since so many musicians are uninsured.
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Currently, since I'm in music school, I take advantage of student health insurance, but I have real difficulty affording it. If I weren't in school, I would definitely appreciate a musicians' health care plan and clinic. But I wonder, what would be the stipulations and criteria for qualifying? Hopefully, for the sake of the average musician in Austin, it wouldn't be based on income from professional music work.
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Good idea - hepatitis C and the rest of the alphabet are going to hit the musician community hard when everyone wakes up and finds they have it.
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Mental Health Care services (individual, group and family counseling as well as marital counseling),and also help/treatment for alcohol/drug abuse. I am a clinician that provides such services privately and find that if these services were available through such a clinic, alot of folks would be helped earlier thus alleviating some of the chronicity of their problems. Good luck.
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I, personally, would appreciate alternative health care services, i.e. massage therapy, acupuncture, etc., being made available, as well as minor emergency services.
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Could the clinic be for the music community as the SIMS foundation is? My husband is a musician and I run a music based organization. We have 2 children and absolutely no health insurance, nor could we afford it. So if it was for the music "community" that would be optimal.
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I understand that it is hard to put together something like this. I don’t have much income but all I have is great music, and if I could use it to help people out I will, so when my music achieves greatness, you've already got some coming to you from myself! Anybody willing to look out for us low income musicians, is a messiah in my book! Thank you for this opportunity!!
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I like this idea, but I think musicians is too narrow a focus. A clinic for artists in general might be more appropriate --poets, writers, musicians, actors, painters, etc. Especially given Austin's burgeoning film scene.
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It would also be good to provide alternative health care at an affordable cost, which is unavailable through most health plans. Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Oriental herbs & teas, homeopathy, etc would be very useful to many musicians, who, like myself, are wary of western medicine practices...
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I had no insurance from the end of Aug. '98 for a year. My partner had a private insurance policy for himself as a self-employed person from Nov. '98. I put him on my policy from 1 Oct. '99
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When we are totally broke, we have to go to the Emergency room...acquire More bills, or don't seek help at all.
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I personally don’t have insurance so I stay sick!!!!
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As a woman, I have had trouble for years and now especially...needing to get to a Gyno......still haven't been able to pay for the Dr. bill from having my daughter so I can't see m7y doc. and seek a good female doc. today, yet can't afford it
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I’d like to get a complete check out if I could afford it!!
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Anyone who does anything to help people (musicians included) to find reasonable cost, and fair medical treatment for ALL citizens (not just for the rich people!) is doing a great justice to our society. Good luck in putting this together. And THANKS for doing it.
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I am a professional double bass player, knowing not only rock, but jazz and classical as well Most medical doctors that I have gone to, are not really in tune (if I can say) with what ailments affect musicians. I have had to be very careful going to specialists, too. Most chiropractors are not interested in the muscles that I use and might ache, so there is another specialist, etc. Vicious cycle, no? I really hope that you get this thing under way. It sounds like a good idea
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Although we have insurance at this time, the increasing premiums will soon make it impossible to continue with private insurance.
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My insurance is costing so much that I won’t be able to afford it much longer. This is a great idea.
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SIMS Foundation Rules! Thanks for all you’ve done already.
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Any steps in making general medical care more available and more economical for musicians would be appreciated.
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How would you classify whether or not someone was a musician or not? What would be your cut-off? One gig a month? Ten gigs a Month? Just wondering.
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Would love a way to get some physical therapy to help with musician’s problems (tendentious, carpal tunnel, movement of appendages)
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I think this would be wonderful especially if the doctors have more additional knowledge in dealing with conditions more prominent to musicians (respiratory problems!)
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It would be very helpful to have a physician specialize on the natural motions of a musician, workshops (i.e. Alexander technique)
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I am employed at UT and have fairly good medical benefits
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I would be interested in seeing doctors who know about musician’s injuries, understand the injuries effects on the profession and know or have experience in diagnosing musician’s specific injury problems that stop them from playing.
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Maybe would seek care for injuries related to performance. Have ongoing health insurance.
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I think it is a great and a great outlet for music therapists
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I think that this is a wonderful idea. So many would benefit from health care of this sort.
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Mental Health, Chiropractic, massage therapy?

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