Obamacare helps musicians avoid dying for their art [Video]

Last week John Prine announced that he has lung cancer (non-small cell carcinoma of the lung, if you’re interested in the details). I was planning to see his December concert in Louisville, which has been moved to next spring but the news caught my attention for another reason.

Whenever I hear about an artist with health problems, I always wonder if they have health insurance. None of my business, I know, but I still wonder, and hope that the songwriter or painter or writer has the money to get access to care. It’s easy to understand why many don’t, given the nature of creative work. The Future of Music Coalition surveyed 3,400 artists this fall to get an answer to this question. As you would imagine, as freelance workers with variable incomes, many artists don’t have health insurance. The survey found that:

• 43 percent of the artists surveyed do not currently have health insurance, more than …