Once the new delivery model was in place, we realized we needed to create new products beyond what the insurance companies are willing to offer. Moving up the spectrum of insurance activities, Working Today plans to increasingly take on risk in order to have greater flexibility in designing insurance products. Our plans will combine insurance to protect against unforeseen events with new networks of practitioners. These network offerings will feature a menu of discounts, to let members tailor a plan to their budget, lifestyle, and health care needs.

We are building a network of alternative health care providers to address the many structural issues of traditional provider networks. These systemic problems directly impact the quality of patient care:
• care is constrained by what insurance companies cover
• providers must practice short-term care, as lengthy treatments are not covered
• they must provide insurance companies with private patient information they are uncomfortable disclosing
Our plans will allow for more comprehensive care and reduce administrative and record-keeping burdens, through our streamlined, paperless systems. Savings would be passed along to our members, who would access services through the network at a pre-negotiated, discounted rate. As the network expands, we can negotiate even deeper discounts. To grow, the network will take advantage of our ongoing marketing and outreach efforts to match up members with providers (many of whom are freelancers themselves, and hence, members). By addressing the limitations built into most provider networks, ours will improve patient care while reducing the current burdens on practitioners.

The discount network will be a new model for providing comprehensive, affordable care. And, by shouldering more of the activities traditionally done by insurance carriers, Working Today can experiment with different means of payment and billing, extend eligibility, and expand to cover other kinds of care.

Working Today’s primary innovation has been to create a new benefits delivery model beyond the employer-based system. We provide health benefits to independent workers, who otherwise have no practical alternative, through the Portable Benefits Network (PBN). With the PBN, benefits are attached to the individual, not the employer. This way, independent workers can maintain their benefits as they move from job to job.

The PBN solves the problem of insurance for independent workers, who make up the largest group of working uninsured. Without a single long-term employer, they lack access to employer-based benefits. At the same time, most earn too much to qualify for public programs, but earn too little to afford individual plans, which range from $500 to $1,100 per month in New York State. The PBN enables these workers to access group rates, so the premiums are less than one-third of the price of those they would purchase on the individual market, ranging from as low as $127 a month. The PBN now covers over 15,000 individuals in New York, two thirds of whom were previously uninsured or on temporary coverage.

• Technological infrastructure: Our paperless systems are custom-built and highly scalable. Thanks to this initial investment, as our record-keeping, enrollment, and administrative activities increase, our technological systems already in place will handle the higher volume of activity.

• Viral and word of mouth: Most of our referrals come through word of mouth, as independent workers are a networked group and routinely share information and advice. They swap information about our services in-person and online, and our membership numbers continue to snowball.

• Associations in the field: Working Today partners with 45 other arts and professional organizations nationwide, in order to reach an extended network of independent workers.

• Advertising: We frequently mount our eye-catching and highly effective advertising campaigns in the subways of New York City. As our national expansion continues, we will replicate our advertising in other important markets nationwide, through print, radio, and local sponsorships.

• PR: Working Today receives great press coverage nationwide, and we are often sought out in articles on the emerging independent workforce.

• Bloggers: Working Today’s own blog is part of a larger blogging strategy. We are one voice in the online conversation. Bloggers frequently link to related content, and this informal network reaches many freelancers who blog, as well as their audiences.

• Community and advocacy organizations: Our members are connected to their local communities and are active in political and advocacy issues. We have partnered with these organizations to drive forward policy innovations that sustain new experiments in benefits delivery and design.

• Insurance company partners: Our partners in the insurance industry recognize that we have opened up a new market to them. Many of our members were previously uninsured and would not be purchasing insurance without the PBN. These partners value our business and are willing to accommodate our members’ needs to a greater extent.

• Blogosphere and online communities: There is intense information sharing among independent workers. Our own fully-featured online community, and our partnerships with social networking sites like MySpace, Meetup, and Twitter, let our members share information and advice.