The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worker protections

Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by patrickaljord on Sunday April 28, 2019 @11:48AM (#19771726)

Not sure how this is related to healthcare. I'm from France where everybody has healthcare and the gig economy is still huge. In the US you could either go single payer like France or full private/free market but obligatory like in Switzerland or the Netherlands. Either way, this is not related to the gig economy. The US has a problem where an oligopoly of insurances are trying to keep a bad status quo.

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Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by zwkrt on Sunday April 28, 2019 @11:58AM (#19771801)

Sorry if I was unclear. My point is that gig workers in the US and other people of transient employment status do not generally consider themselves to have access to healthcare, even though they technically do through the accumulation of unpayable debt.

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Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by rayiner on Sunday April 28, 2019 @12:20PM (#19771945)

The average Uber driver makes about $35,000 per year: https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/education/how-muc....

That’s about 300% of the federal poverty line. Under the ACA, they can purchase health insurance on the exchanges for a premium that is capped at 8-10% of their income.[1] In Germany, a self-employed person would pay 15% for mandatory state health insurance premiums. (People who work for a company pay half of that, with their employer paying the other half.)

Here in Maryland, a quick search of the ACA exchange shows a Silver Kaiser Permanente plan for $266 per month (subsidized) for a 35-year old single person making $35,000.

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Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by mcguire on Sunday April 28, 2019 @01:18PM (#19772312)

Mean, median, and mode...

"Pay Per Month: A median of $155 per month and an average of $364"

Then, there's that "pay" isn't "pay". These are gross numbers rather than net.

"The actual expenses of driving, like maintenance and gas, consume about $4.87 per hour of a driver's income."

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Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by rayiner on Sunday April 28, 2019 @03:35PM (#19773184)

2/3 of Uber drivers only do it part time, so the median isn’t a useful data point if you’re talking about health insurance. The $36,00 figure is for full time. Regardless, if someone makes less than that driving Uber, their ACA premiums are correspondingly lower. And if they make really little, they are eligible for Medicaid in many states.

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Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by zaarn on Sunday April 28, 2019 @03:26PM (#19773139)

In germany consistently working for a company like Uber as part of "gig" would likely fall under "fake self-employed", so Uber would have to offer you an employment contract and you'd pay half of the 15%, so about 8%, which falls on the lower end of your premium caps. You'd also gain accident insurance and other privileges or protections.

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Re:The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worke... by rightbyte on Sunday April 28, 2019 @01:03PM (#19772222)

No way they do ... "indeed.com" has no backing of those numbers.

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