Yesterday, we told you about FMC's Billboard Op-Ed about the possible impacts of health care reform on musicians.

Well, right after hitting "publish" on that blog post, we saw this Pitchfork article that also mentions our work on the issue. The piece, called "What's the Matter With Sweden," looks at how American musicians have dealt with our health care system over the years. There are a couple of juicy quotes from Alex Maiolo, the program officer for FMC's Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT), which offers free information to musicians looking to learn more about their health insurance options.

We also wanted to remind you about our Taking the Pulse survey, which helps us get a sense of how many musicians have health insurance and how they're covered. This is the followup to our 2002 study that showed that 44 percent of musicians didn't have health insurance — three times the national average. The new survey runs until April 7 — if you're a musician, please take a few minutes to answer some basic questions.Yesterday, we told you about FMC's Billboard Op-Ed about the possible impacts of health care reform on musicians.

Well, right after hitting "publish" on that blog post, we saw this Pitchfork article that also mentions our work on the issue. The piece, called "What's the Matter With Sweden," looks at how American musicians have dealt with our health care system over the years. There are a couple of juicy quotes from Alex Maiolo, the program officer for FMC's Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT), which offers free information to musicians looking to learn more about their health insurance options.

The article also talks about something we've been thinking about a lot lately, namely, how other countries invest in their arts and cultural sector. For example, if you look at a Broken Social Scene CD, you'll see that the Canadian government underwrote a portion of the recording costs. Similar arrangements can be found in Europe. We don't have time to get into whether this could (or should) be tried here in the States, but we definitely found it interesting that the writer of this piece, Marc Hogan, sees a link between health coverage for musicians and state funding for the arts.

We also wanted to remind you about our Taking the Pulse survey, which will give a sense of how many musicians currently have health insurance and how they're covered. This is the followup to our 2002 study that showed that 44 percent of musicians didn't have health insurance — three times the national average. The new survey runs until April 7 — if you're a musician, please take a few minutes to answer some simple questions. It'll help us get a snapshot of the current health insurance landscape for musicians, which we can use to measure outcomes of health care reform on our community. It's way less painless than a doctor's visit, we swear.

Here in DC, we've been spreading the word about how we help musicians get a handle on health insurance. On Thursday, March 25, FMC Policy Counsel Chris Naoum spoke at One Common Unity — a local DC nonprofit that supports sustainable community development through peace education in the arts and media. OCU was kicking off off their 10 year anniversary with a concert series at BusBoys and Poets — a popular joint here in the District. This event had HealthCare and Wellness as its theme and featured local acts such as Head Roc and Princess of Controversy.

Chris talked to performers and the public about our HINT program and let everyone know about the Taking the Pulse survey. We also hear he got a solid groove on, but there are no Facebook pictures. . . that we know of.

If you're a musician who is curious about your health care options, why not check out our HINT page? It's got a lot of great information that demystifies the issue, and you can even schedule a FREE phone consultation with one of our health insurance experts (who also happen to be musicians). And if you've tried HINT, please let us know what you think of the service by sending an email to nicoleATfutureofmusic.org.