Porn stars make a ton of money for having sex with relative strangers on camera, right?
Whether we would like to admit it or not, most of us have enjoyed at least one adult movie in our lifetime. But with documentaries like After Porn Ends, which came out last month, and Obamacare dominating the news, have you ever wondered what these two things have in common? Probably not. But here is a little known fact: up until now, insurance companies considered doing pornography for a living a "pre-existing condition." This means, even if the average female porn star, who (on the high end) may do 300 scenes in her career that spans maybe 10 years, that's about $30,000 a year. And more than likely, she doesn't have health insurance. Yep, you heard me right, porn stars don't make much more money than the average American. We have all heard that porn is a billion or even trillion-dollar business, but like most porn stars' boobs, that number is actually a little over-inflated. According to Forbes the figure is closer to around $520 million, which is then distributed among countless companies. Most of this profit goes to the top, the majority of the actors themselves not getting any type of residuals -- only being paid on a scene-by-scene basis as an independent contractor. But I digress.
So back to my original point, how will the president's new healthcare plan affect porn stars? Well, considering that most porn actors are considered independent contractors, none of them would be eligible for healthcare through their employer. So that would mean that they would be responsible for finding their own health insurance. But in theory, insurance companies would no longer be able to completely deny adult industry workers insurance. But would they still have to pay a premium for "high-risk" insurance -- insurance that runs about $500 per month? This would mean that men and women would have to pay roughly 20% of their monthly income on health insurance.
Even factoring in feature dancing and other income, $500 a month is a lot for health insurance. And this doesn't include STD testing, which performers have always paid out-of-pocket every 28 days. This would only be health insurance in case of emergency, in case something terrible happened like they got cancer or were in a car accident. Under the current healthcare system, most adult performers rely on luck and little else when it comes to health care. And when something does go wrong, like in the case of Nicki Hunter, co-host of Playboy Radio's Night Calls, who found out she had lymphoblastic leukemia in 2007. Nicki found that her fellow performers were willing to pull together and do fundraisers to help her pay off the mountain of debt caused by her illness. Or Stephanie Swift, who also got cancer and racked up a ton of debt. And even the most resent tragedy to befall the porn community, the death of Holly Stevens from cancer. He may not want to think about it just yet, but her husband now has stacks of medical bills to figure out how to pay, in addition to grieving for his wife. And not everyone has the admiration and backing like some of these stars do. Not everyone will get help from the porn community and fans.
So as the rest of the nation, and the world, waits to see if the healthcare bill will even be implemented, the adult film community holds its breath to see just how they will be affected. Will they finally have the security of health insurance, or will they get the shaft like they have so many times before?
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The main issue for me, though, is whether insurers will be willing to provide more extensive coverage for performers, and whether industry producers would be willing to at least partially put in for a pool that could potentially cover performers. Perhaps a guild similar to the Screen Actors Guild or even a union for performers and sex workers would be the solution, or an organization similar to the AARP which would pool resources into developing an insurance plan that could protect performers and even provide some deal of coverage.
The best approach would be single payer, or even a bonafide National Health Service that provided comprehensive health care while reducing middleman costs and profiteering, which would be universal and non-discrimatory. Until that happens, though, best thing would be to defend the good parts of the ACA, fight against the bad parts, and defend adult entertainment and adult performers as people worthy of their humanity and deserving of the same rights, responsibilities, and equal treatment that the rest of us take for granted.
As to the actual question of what the ACA would do for adult performers....well, I'm sure that it probably would affect the major contract models and high-end models the least, since they make more than enough through their contracts to pay for their own insurance. It's the middle- and low-level performers, the $30K performers who have to grind through (no pun intended) via camshows and occasional shoots, that would probably be most affedted.
I'd think that since most porn is still shot in California, which is one of the more liberal states and one who will definitely allow access to the health care exchanges and expansion of Medicaid, persons shooting porn there will be more able to take advantage of the ACA's new benefits. People in more conservative states, of course, which refuse to opt into the exchanges, will probably get less benefits, even as they are required by the individual mandate to pay for private insurance.
[cont'd]
P.S. Is everyone else convinced she pays her fair share of taxes on the cash she gets while dancing?
LOL, they already increase your rates after you have a certain number of violations.
States will provide exchanges where people can purchase health insurance.
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Their employer likely has less than 50 employees, and is thereby exempt from the ACA mandate.
The porn workers will have to buy full, expensive medical coverage. Whether they want to, or not.
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I hold the same view as Randy. I too, lived abroad for the government and saw how these supposed socialist governments took care of their people. While taxes maybe higher, some of the basic humane rights they have, Americans have to somehow justify as "cost effective." A person not going in for basic medical care because they can’t afford it doesn’t exist in Europe. Until you've known someone you love deteriorate because they can't afford medical care, it may not register with you. In America some people must accept mental illness because they cannot afford to get treatment. Why should that even be an issue in this supposedly great country with the world's most expensive medical system?
Americans tend to look at the world from their own perspective. But, when you experience the world from abroad you see America in a different light. America is a wonderful place, but there are differences between the haves and have-nots you don't see other places. And, the differences do not exist in just the health care system. It can be fixed, but change is difficult.
Although they may still get the shaft....
If someone decides to forego getting insurance then they can pay the now infamous FreeLoader Tax on the Income Tax return.