Music can’t always cure what ails you, even if you’re the one who makes it. This is why FMC created the Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT) in 2005 as a free service for musicians to learn about their health insurance options. Our two health insurance experts (who are also musicians) volunteer their time to run the program, which is why we’re always happy to have folks like you chip in to keep this worthy resource up and running.

The folks in the Carrboro, North Carolina scene are doing their part with a two-day benefit festival that will not only raise money for HINT, but also raise awareness about musician access to health insurance. (For more information on the current health insurance landscape for musicians, check out our 2010 study, Taking the Pulse.)

On April 9 and 10, NC peeps will rock out  with an impressive array of local bands performing at the Carrboro Gets the HINT concerts at Jesse’s Coffee & Bar (401 E. Main St).

The area’s finest acts will grace the festival, including Bulltown Strutters, Justin Robinson from Carolina Chocolate Drops, Fan Modine, Stars Explode, Luego, Brett Harris, Greg Humphrys and Towers (which features the talents of co-host and HINT mainman Alex Maiolo). Plenty more artists are also scheduled to perform throughout the weekend; if you’re in the area be sure to check it out. And if you work during the weekend, we’re not suggesting you use your, cough, sick days. But we’re not not suggesting it, either.

These donation-based shows will be ongoing from 11 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and 10:30 a.m to 10p.m on Sunday. All money raised from the weekend festivities will go to HINT’s ongoing campaign to help musicians learn about possible ways to get covered. We want to thank organizer Olivia Hjermitslev for her incredible work in organizing this sure-to-be-a-blast benefit.

HINT doesn’t sell insurance, or even recommend specific programs or packages. What does is provide musicians with free, confidential information about their health insurance options on a case-by-case, state-by-state basis. Using it is super-simple: just make an appointment via the HINT site, and one of our musician experts will call you on our dime to go over your situation. It’s not a silver bullet fix, but it can give you a leg up on figuring out what might work.

We know there’s still plenty to be done to ensure that musicians have access to affordable health insurance. Our Taking the Pulse survey revealed that, of the 1,451 musician respondents, 33 percent do not have health insurance — nearly twice the national average. FMC will continue to seek solutions to this problem and we encourage you to join us by supporting HINT.