I have been with FU since 2005 they provide the plans to my life and disability insurance. I have had some issues with customer service in the past, but I would give them a try again now in 2025, if you have dropped them and need these policies. i have never used their health insurance so i cannot comment.... anyway, Im SO glad I have kept them as my carrier. Guardian, the insurance carrier--like every carrier, has made my disability quite difficult but Freelancers union came to my rescue while I was out on an appeal (which i prevailed on). Make sure you use CHAT gpt to help guide you with all and any policies. I wouldnt have prevailed if I hadnt had that tool to see how Guardian Life and disability was trying to not pay me......back to Freelancers union: They(Jonathan Gray) really came through for me in every way and i highly recommend them. read more

Love the Freelancers Hub in Industry City. Free co-working and great networking events - wonderful workshops for freelancers too!

I had Freelancers Insurance a couple years ago when they were the insurance company. After a miscarriage for a planned pregnancy that required surgery to ensure I didn't bleed to death, Freelancer's told me I had to pay 100% of the costs because I hadn't gotten pre-approval for the procedure. Let's reiterate that- they told me, repeatedly, that I should have gotten pre-approval for a miscarriage. It took 2 months and multiple phone calls, almost always with a different "customer service" rep, just to get that mind-bogglingly offensive mistake cleared up, and another couple months to finally reduce bills from ~$9,000 to the $400 co-pay for an emergency room visit, plus $700 for an out-of-network ambulance. My experience with them more than a year later after a C-section for my daughter was just as poor. They flooded me with cryptic and often mistaken paperwork and didn't cover most of the costs as per my policy until I fought with them again for months to fix it. It was clear that their representatives were poorly trained and their number one directive was to push back on any member claims, no matter how unethical or illegal. Not one of them even knew (or were willing to tell me) the correct process for a getting denied claims formally reviewed, I had to figure it out myself. They make themselves out to be a union that's on your side, but don't be fooled, they're just a heartless corporation out to make money off of their members when they're at their most vulnerable. read more

I made the mistake of getting insurance through Freelancers Union. Their mission appealed to me and I thought they'd be better to work with than a large insurance company. It's been just the opposite. They are nearly impossible to contact. They don't provide full answers when they do respond. It's been a nightmare trying deal with them. Huge mistake on my part to pick them. Now they are impossible to get rid of. read more

This is a total disaster of a company. The clinic they make you go to for primary was fine, esp. if you make enough to pay full price and you like subsidizing poor designers to get acupuncture and yoga at their doctors office. The REAL PROBLEMS ARE with billing. It is a total disaster. STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!!!! They basically sign you up through freelancers, but then give you blue cross blue shield and if you have any problems - like that they didn't take your ex-husband off your policy - both sides - freelancers and blue cross - swear that the other one is the one that has to remedy the situation. read more

After 6 months of paying insurance premiums every month not one claim has been paid. I have contacted the F. U. multiple times and received the run-around. I applied to the FU as a primary coverage. Someone in the mail room opened up requested correspondence from my previous provider and decided that the FU would be my secondary coverage. I was never notified of this change in terms. It took 6 months for me to find this out. An error on their part as I no longer paid my previous providers premiums. Then I provided requested termination information form my previous insurance provider. That was in November. As of January 2, 20011 no claims have been paid. How ugly. There is NO synthesis of information between departments in the Freelancer's Union. If the MD's claims are not paid I will be forced to give up coverage and use my premium money to pay my allergist. I guess Insurance For All is just a catchy marketing phrase that is used in the ads. It appears that the Freelancer's Union is in the business of collecting premiums. They are not paying my claims. read more

The saga continues....My PCP quit Freelancer's Medical, and they didn't switch me to his replacement. Now I can't use the Freelancer's clinics, and they just tell me to call Empire. Empire's site won't let me change my PCP to the new doctor at Freelancer's, and the average wait time to actually speak to someone is an hour. I've since purchased health insurance through another provider, but I can't even find a way to cancel my insurance through Freelancer's or Empire. You know a company is bad when they don't provide the service they promised, and they can't even provide a way to CANCEL that service. Never will do business with nor recommend Freelancer's again. read more

I've had Freelancers Union for over 1 year. It's AWFUL!!! STAY AWAY. Bad customer service using disorganized archaic systems,and lots of shadiness. Bills/copays confused, refunds messed up just a nightmare. Health care in New York is very expensive. And the "Union" is no exception, unless you do one of their Catastrophic coverage plans with high deductible / "If you get hit by a bus" plans. I do not recommend this type of insurance unless you are a very healthy, non risk-taking kind of person. READ THE FINE PRINT on these plans, most make you cover EVERYTHING, up to the deductible. So make sure you have the 3-5000 dollars in the bank in case something goes wrong. @230/mo you're in for over 7 grand if something happens over the course of a year. Consider a health savings account if you really can't afford higher premiums. Of course GET INSURANCE of some kind if you don't have any. Affinity does Family Health Plus, which is like Medicaid with less-strict income requirements, but if you are unemployed, no matter how much you have in the bank you CAN QUALIFY. I had this insurance for 2 years it is AMAZING. look into it!!! good luck md read more

Do not EVER use this company for anything. I would give them zero stars but that doesn't appear to be an option. I would say their customer service is the worst, but it's worse than that, it's completely non-existent. You cannot get a live person on the phone ever and they do not respond to repeated emails. So you can purchase a product from them and they will never fail to bill you but you can never get a copy of your insurance policy or ask any questions about it. Stay far far away, especially as the products they offer are health, dental and disability insurance, things that are critical when you are sick and when you need to use them, you are typically at your most vulnerable and don't have the time or energy to spend hours going down some rabbit hole of trying to contact them. read more

We had Dental through Freelancers Union and it was excellent. Unfortunately, they dropped the plan and now we have to use the individual market, with significant drops in coverage. Their rep emailed me saying it reflects the wishes of most members. So let me be understand- most members want to pay the same premium for 1/3 the coverage? What exactly is Freelancers Union's value? read more

These people are the worst! There is no communication between FU and Anthem Blue Cross which provides the actual health insurance. That leaves you stuck in the middle footing the bill for something that your premium covers. You're better off stuffing money in a mattress for a rainy day. read more

TERRIBLE & SUPER SKETCHY. 1. Their website hasn't been updated since 2014. 2. There's ZERO billing information online--just instructions to call, but they only answer the phone during business hours, and offer no customer service evenings or weekends. 3. They send emails purportedly with links to billing information, but after you log in there's an error message. 4. You can't even email a webmaster to tell them of the broken website. 5. I'm pretty sure that the gym reimbursement forms I mailed in last November were never paid, though they continue to remember to bill me every month. 6. My plan includes one eye exam every two years, but when I log into the optical website it says I'm not covered for an exam. So I had to pay out-of-pocket and then find time my work day to call them to do what I pay them to do. I would not recommend this to anyone. read more

I've had Freelancers for 7 years and I am discontinuing service this year. Its just awful. No customer service and the rates went up higher this past year than all of the 7 years combined I was with them. Also you can only be seen by 2 doctors in the city. Now Im having problems canceling my policy ugh!!! read more

To clarify about the health benefits (if anyone's interested) - it's great, as long as you fit into their definitions of freelance work. No one working in the fields of the food industry or in retail (which is every artist and actor I know) qualify for the insurance. Leading me to believe they're not the benevolent helpers of artists they would leave you to believe. read more

Freelancers is holding $450 of my money hostage. I opted out of their medical insurance before the 12/15 deadline. They billed me (auto-pay) yesterday. They require 7-10 business days to refund the money. I'm sure it was not a mistake...something instead probably that their accountant recommended for tax purposes. Meanwhile, I am out money that I desperately need. Their new insurance plans are terribly costly and I don't recommend anyone do business with them. read more

As a response to A.M.'s comment about it going up to $380/month. that's not actually accurate. There is a more expensive PPO option (as there has always been), but there still is a EPO option with Empire. It's now at $239.64/month. Check the website for all the deets. FYI... read more

Terrible and extremely frustrating. Disorganized, slow, never even finalized my application. I gave up after waiting over 6 weeks. Overall, customer service was kind but had no answers for me. Multiple times told me a supervisor would be in touch but I never once heard from anyone. The rates seem reasonable but I would recommend you not waste your time. read more

The previous reviews are all dead on. I'm writing this review on Yelp because I cannot find anyone to complain to on Freelancer's Union's site. It's like a secret society. I'm about to make a formal complaint to the state. I pay over $625 a month for the platinum plan. This is because I am a type 1 diabetic. I have to have various services or my health is critically impacted. Someone earlier said when you call Freelancer's they tell you to call Empire and when you call Empire they tell you to call Freelancers. It's true and to boot it is now the 19th and the message the previous reviewer said was on the line March 10th that they are offsite at a meeting till 10am on there STILL on there and it immediately hangs up on you. So, no access to customer service of any sort. The interfaces are HORRIBLE. Empire says you need to contact Freelancers Union if you are enrolled through them. I need to check on my deductible, if it's been met and what I owe to various doctors I've been seeing. The Freelancer's Union options are as follows: Are you calling about -long list of things you have to patiently wait for them to go through; retirement services, disability, health insurance etc) then when you pick health insurance - do you want to buy or update or change your plan. NEITHER. I need to know current benefit information about my plan. When they switched over in January it was a complete debacle. They cancelled me twice despite full payment. They enrolled me in the wrong plan. They refused to help me when I needed insulin and couldn't get it because the pharmacies had me as erroneously cancelled. They would tell me I wasn't and it was fixed and 3 visits to the pharmacy and each time Empire still had as cancelled. Calls to customer service would require hours of hold times (no exaggeration) and then them telling me it's been fixed. Requests for a supervisor and they would say they are busy and will call you back in 24-48 hours. No one ever returned my call. Finally I flipped out (I need insulin to stay ALIVE) and a supervisor called me and gave me the wrong information again. I called back the next day and was, after much duress and demanding finally given a supervisor who apologized and was able to help, but at that point it had take over a week. The thorough lack of accountability on freelancer's unions end is in my mind criminal. They know it's a mess, they say it's a mess but have done nothing to fix it that I can tell. How can I get a hold of anyone to let them know what is happening? You can't because there is no number except that number that currently won't let you through and in the past has never had access to anyone that can help me. How can you allow the only customer service number to be down for 9 DAYS with a message that cuts you off saying they are in an off site meeting? HOW? And why do you stop customer service for an off site meeting anyway? Medical insurance has serious and far reaching consequences for a person's health. Especially when facing a chronic condition. The websites don't link up, the billing has inconsistencies even the good supervisor I was finally able to reach was unable to explain (I finally gave up). They act like you are calling about a trip to the beauty salon. Freelancer's medical - the centers you go and don't pay a co-pay are pretty great, but I no longer live in NYC, I live upstate. And they are not good for specialist care or for questions about your insurance (they have no control over that). They are only good if you need to have primary care and can refer you if you need. This is not my situation. If you are very healthy and don't think you will ever get sick, fine, this might be okay for you. But how do you know? I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 43. I went to freelancer's medical and complained of tiredness for two years. They didn't catch it until I went to an emergency room upstate. So, as nice as they are, it wasn't perfect for me. But again, that portion of freelancers is the only thing working as far as I can tell. But they can't do anything to advocate for your coverage or specialist care. I am paying over $625 a month for this and I'm going to figure out how I end it and enroll in a different plan. I am so distraught over it and it has caused me so much stress my health has been impacted. So, I say stay far away from any plans from them. read more

I rarely give poor reviews but I just got burned by Freelancers Union and need to share. I mailed a bunch of out of network claims in early December to FU (along with claims to two other insurers) and the other two insurers processed my claims within 1-2 weeks but FU hadn't, so I called and asked why they didn't get the claim yet, and they said it can take up to two weeks or something to process, and perhaps I should fax the claim (my response: ALMOST NO ONE faxes anymore, everyone emails and PDFs, but fine), I waited another week or so and called - same runaround. Finally I faxed the claim in, in late December. Today I checked and they denied all the claims. When I called to ask why, the reasons for most of them were that I was outside the 180 day claim submission window (despite that two of the dates would have been inside the window had they gotten my original submission - how convenient for them that they didn't) and the one that was within the 180 day window they denied for not having been pre-authorized or pre-certified. Freelancers Union supposedly used Anthem Blue Cross in 2014 but late in 2014 I worked for an employer that used Anthem and they didn't require pre-certification for the same out of network charges. Blue Cross has never required it for these submissions, but somehow FU (properly named) magically requires it, conveniently to them. I got nothing back. I'm really disgusted with them. It's just as well that they decided to go "pricey HMO" on everyone because everyone I know has left them as of 2015. They aren't even on the playing field anymore. And this experience wasting my time (big time) submitting a claim, calling, faxing, checking - was just adding further insult to the experience. They were overpriced and not worth the experience. It's sad to see a formerly reputable company that supposedly is there for the freelancers, screw individuals / freelancers out of a few hundred bucks on technicalities that serve FU. And seeing these other complaints on yelp makes me realize I'm completely not alone. If karma means anything, good luck to FU. Very uncool. read more

I've had both Freelancers Union medical and dental insurance for a couple of years. I will find insurance elsewhere in 2016. Coverage negotiated with providers is sub-standard--but the killer for me is how bad customer service is if you have to deal with Freelancers directly. The bureaucracy and attitude is as bad, if not worse, than the large insurance companies. I thought I was buying into a smaller, more people-focused experience but it's just not the case. read more

In this day and age of universal health insurance, Freelancers Union dropped my policy for a $79.11/mos payment error because they "no longer reinstate members". In July they sent a letter by snail mail stating I would be receiving a rebate that would be reflected in my August premium amount. I send e-payments from my bank so I adjusted the August payment accordingly. I forgot about this minor transaction, and didn't re-adjust my premium payment. Freelancers Union continued to receive and accept monthly payments from me at the "rebate rate" which was $79.11 less than my contracted rate. On November 11, they sent an email that stated I was $158.22 in arrears and had to pay by November 30th or my policy would be terminated as of AUGUST. Did I mention they were still accepting my monthly e-payments? Well, the holidays enveloped my brain and I sent the payment ON November 30th. November 30th was a Sunday and their billing and enrollment department was not open, but they accepted my e-payment on December 1 ... and proceeded to cancel my policy. Really Freelancers? Really? That's customer service? Freelancers is going to send me a refund rather than reinstate my membership because, as the "customer service agent" I spoke with said "We don't reinstate policies anymore". I've been a loyal consumer since 2005, I can't believe this is how you're handling this situation. read more

Wish I could give it zero stars. Freelancer's has self destructed in 2015. The worst company with the worst insurance and ZERO customer service. Just try getting a call returned, or a question answered. Imagine if you had to file a claim for something! hardly bears contemplation. Avoid at all costs. read more

If I could give 0 stars, I would. Countless phone calls and e-mails to them to add the beneficiary to my life insurance that I indicated when I signed up a year ago. They can't get it straight - have spent countless hours on the phone and am ready to bail. Anyone know of better alternatives? read more

I've been getting disability insurance from Freelancer's Union for years. No complaints about that. But this new billing system change--wow, what mess. First they sent me a bill that indicated an approx. 600% increase in my rate. I emailed them; they didn't respond, but sent me a new bill with a note on it saying that they corrected the mistake. Great. Then I tried to actually pay the bill on their website. Despite being a computer and user interface professional, I was unable to find a button on the new site to click to actually pay. I called, and got a message saying that the only way to contact them was by email. Currently waiting for a response. read more

Their health insurance costs have changed. The old plan sounded great (the HIP one). The new one is a PPO through Empire, and costs $380 a month if you're single. More than a hundred dollar raise. Healthy NY is apparently a better deal... read more

0 star review. just awful. I have had this insurance for three years. the first two years, I was very healthy and had no need for a claim. This past year, I had some small claims that should have been no big deal. F.U. insurance did everything in their power to avoid paying my claims on some very basic things. They opened up a "pre-existing condition" case on me and my wife, and would not even inform us what condition they considered pre-existing. They were clearly fishing for excuses to delay/avoid paying claims. Forget dealing with them on the phone. They have two companies, the "union" and the insurance co., and each blames the other on your problem. Worse yet, the two refuse to communicate with each other. Challenging a claim is a bureaucratic nightmare. If you are still not convinced- listen to this. My co-worker had this insurance, and they refused to cover the pediatrician bills for his newborn child. The reason? He didn't add the child to his famiy-plan insurance immediately after birth (which the insurance company new about and covered). If they knew he was having a child, and he is paying for a family plan, why would they deny coverage? read more

Simply the worst. I've never written a yelp review before but Freelancers is actually THE ENEMY of freelancers. I've had their health insurance for many years, paid via automatic debit to the tune of roughly $40k over the past few years. In January they switched providers and plans...same high premiums but brand new lousy HMO service. Too busy to find new insurance I bit the bullet. In September they changed their payment policy...policyholders had to pay Anthem BC directly. A pain in the ass that took a couple of hours of sorting out but I did it. Last week I went to a doctor for the first time in 2015 and found out that I DON"T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE (apologies for caps) because of non-payment. Even though I'd registered w Anthem and gave them my CC details I somehow someway didn't sign up for automatic payment, even though I've been doing it the same way for 4+ years. To review, I've spent $4k on premiums this year, $40k on premiums the past few years, and now when I need a doctor for the first time I don't have insurance. Freelancers changed from PPO to HMO without lowering their fees. That sucked. Then they changed the way they billed in the middle of the year. That sucked. And now I don't have health insurance even though I am a freelancer who plays 1000% by the rules and for the first time this year actually need a doctor. FREELANCERS UNION IS THE ENEMY FREELANCE WORKERS read more

Terrible, awful, really reprehensible. Dropped me from the plan last August after sending 1 letter and 1 email re: changes in billing structure; as I am a freelancer, I was out of the country at the time, missed the letter, assumed a future email would be sent if it was urgent. No future email was sent and I did not take action. Saw a doctor 3x between September and the end of NYS open enrollment period at the end of January -- at no point did anyone in either of the two doctor's offices I visited advise me that I was, in fact, no longer covered under Freelancer's Medical BCBS insurance plan. Not until after open enrollment had ended and I received a 1095 did I realize what had happened and, when I tried to remedy the situation, zero help was given. Now, continuing to try to fix the situation, I can't get ahold of anyone in any office to help. The overwhelming disorganization is truly life-threatening. read more