A Photo Assistant and His Mangled Arm

It's a sad reality that freelancers often fall through the gaps in America's patchwork health insurance system.

Freelancers like Sean Moser. Sean is a photographer and photo assistant in New York who was seriously injured in a car accident this summer while returning from a job on Long Island. His arm was crushed and he required extensive medical treatment. He spent 38 days in the hospital and he continues to undergo outpatient physical therapy and likely will require more surgery. Like many freelancers, Sean lacked good insurance. He is waiting to see how much he'll be covered by the driver's car insurance and a basic New York State HIP policy, neither of which seems especially promising. (Sean says his surgeons don't take HIP.)

The immediate problem is that Sean is unable to work and faces a mountain of bills. I asked Sean about his financial situation, and here's what he wrote:

"The financial situation is fairly grim, I'm embarrassed to say. I am praying that this doesn't force me to give up my apartment here in the city to return to Asheville, NC to be temporarily forced to live with my folks. This would really crush my spirit and remove me from the proximity of the care of my surgeons and my excellent therapy. ... I will be basically holding the bag for pending future operations and whatever bounces back as unpaid or not approved. At this point with my complications I will be facing the possibility of several operations to hopefully restore me to the point I can work again."

I don't know Sean personally, but I checked with two people who vouch for him, photographer Charles Harris and James Sullivan of PhotoAssistant.net . Sullivan built a web site for Sean with support from MadActive Productions and photographer Jim Fiscus.

You can read all about Sean's injury – and send him a donation if you want to help – at www.seansmangledarm.com.

Good luck Sean, and get well soon.

Comments

[Julie Halverson]

I am a photographer, I graduated from Parsons. But it is stories like this that got me into health care. I have now made it my mission to help artists and freelancers get fully comprehensive medical insurance, and I offer free health insurance consulting. Please contact me if you have any questions. My direct line is 800.398.6536.