There are now two newish options for bartenders to get health insurance.
1. USBG
The United States Bartenders' Guild now offers full insurance plans (previously they only had discount health plans that are not the same thing) through Custom Benefit Consultants.
2. RBA
I also just leared of the Responsible Bartenders' Association, another bartender (and related professions such as servers) that offers health and other insurance through a company called HLP. What they did was partner with TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) to show that their member bartenders take responsibility seriously, which helped them negotiate insurance discounts. Thus you need to join the RBA ($49 annually) plus take the TIPS certification to be eligible (I think they start around $40, with certification lasting 3 years).
I can't vouch for the insurance plans or the ease of getting them for either membership association, but the more options the better!
Wow. Thanks! I had wondered about my options for a long time.
Posted by: Ricky Agustin | October 20, 2011 at 11:38 AM