Rock Enroll highlights health insurance hole in music industry

• 76 percent of those in the music industry don%27t have access to employer-sponsored health insurance
• Deadline to select a health insurance plan on the federal exchange is 11 p.m. CT Feb. 15
• Mayor Karl Dean urges Nashvillians to %22stop taking risk%22 with their health

Bobby Keel, a writer behind the Hank Williams Jr. hit "Whiskey on Ice," will have a pacemaker installed this week — calling it a "blessing" because he didn't have health insurance until about 10 days ago.

Keel spoke at Rock Enroll, a session to help get Nashvillians signed up for health insurance on the federal exchange, on Tuesday about how he hoped a chronic illness would go away because despite penning hit songs, for years he didn't have health insurance.

"Fame doesn't equal fortune. Bobby is a great example of that," said Tatum Hauck Allsep, founder and executive director of Music Health Alliance, which partnered with Get Covered America and the Mayor's Office to host the event at the Nashville Farmers' Market.

Get Covered America had more than a dozen volunteers on site to help people navigate www.healthcare.gov to sign up for insurance before Sunday's deadline.

More than three-fourths of people who work in the music industry — imagine the many songwriters, producers and technicians who constantly look for their next opportunity — in Nashville are self-employed, meaning they don't have access to employer-sponsored coverage. The Music Health Alliance has 1,600 members, 80 percent of whom are in Tennessee.

"When you think about self-employed, you think about the music industry in Nashville," said Dranda Whaley, special projects manager at Get Covered America. "A lot of those who are self-employed don't realize they qualify (for health insurance)."

Rock Enroll was twinged with industry flavor but open to anybody who wanted one-on-one help with the sign-up process.

"We're going to work right through" until the Sunday deadline, said Mayor Karl Dean, adding that he wants working people without insurance to sign up. Dean wants the friends and family of those who work but don't have health insurance to push their loved ones to get coverage and "stop taking risks with your health."

As of Jan. 30, 193,207 Tennesseans have signed up for coverage, a figure that tops the 2014 enrollment by 41,855. Of the Tennesseans who selected federal plans as of Jan. 30, 83 percent qualified for tax credits — which are the subject of a Supreme Court case in early March. Tax credits are available to offset the monthly premium for many people who meet income requirements.

Resources for procrastinators

The deadline for selecting a health plan on the federal exchange is 11 p.m. CT Sunday. Here's how to buy a health insurance plan:

Get Covered TN

Volunteers give one-on-one assistance at free appointments.

Call 844-644-5443 or visit www.getcoveredtenn.org to make an appointment.

Get Covered Nashville Collaboration events

Weekend schedule:

Saturday:

9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., third-floor computer lab, the Main Library, 615 Church St., Nashville, TN 37219

11 a.m.-2 p.m., the Madison Library, 610 Gallatin Pike S., Madison, TN 37115

11 a.m.-3 p.m., the Southeast Library, 5260 Hickory Hollow Parkway, Antioch, TN 37013

Sunday:

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Lentz Health Department, 2500 Charlotte Ave., Nashville, TN 37209