It’s an all too familiar story: an artist without a lot of funds, and no insurance, all of it wiped out following a sudden illness. Artist Norm Breyfogle, best known for his memorable Batman work, suffered a stroke last week, and it was very serious. His left side is paralyzed….and as a left handed artist this is very serious. He’ll need months of therapy and recovery.
And he had no insurance. And his savings are already wiped out.
A fundraiser has been set up to help him. People have already been generous but there’s a long way to go.
This happens way too much in our industry, people. We need to take care of our own.
I’d love to see Disney and Warner Bros and Sony and Fox hold fundraising screenings for the Hero Initiative, the non profit that helps creators in need. It’s really time that the big companies put 1% back into the people who created all the ideas the studios are benefitting from.
Here some of Breyfogle’s art. In recent years he’s been drawing Archie comics and Batman Beyond, as well.
Oh man, I really hate hearing stories like this! I’ve loved Breyfogle’s art for years, going back to that Prime comic you showed above. You’re 1000% correct that these big money making machines should take care of the artists who they’re profiting from. How can they not provide health insurance for this guy?? It’s sickening. Here’s to hoping that Norm become ambidextrous quickly and can make a recovery (and it goes without saying that everyone reading this needs to donate NOW!).
“I’d love to see Disney and Warner Bros and Sony and Fox hold fundraising screenings for the Hero Initiative, the non profit that helps creators in need. It’s really time that the big companies put 1% back into the people who created all the ideas the studios are benefitting from.”
That is a great idea that seems like a no-brainer. I’ll sign the petition!
Wow
This one hits home very hard as Norm has a big presence on Facebook and is always communicating with his fans. He seemed relatively healthy and gets out a lot, but a stroke like a heart attack can strike at anytime.
So very sad to hear
“no insurance”
Confused: I thought having insurance was now mandatory and/or free for the taking in the US?
I wish him well, loved his Batman work.
Smithy: under the new federal insurance laws, you can opt out and will pay a very small fee for doing. And it still cost money to be covered as we didn’t follow the Nordic model of much higher taxes in order to do their model of pre-cradle to old age health and social welfare coverage.
He might well have taken health insurance out but not one of the higher tier coverages. That means very high bills for his care would result from something like what happened to him.
First, I hope Mr. Breyfogle makes a speedy recovery. I hate to see anyone suffering like this.
But I guess I’m just confused in regards to the health insurance issue. The average deductible for the Bronze and Silver plans under the Affordable Care Act is about $5,000 to $6,000. Which seems high-ish for run of the mill preventive care, but for a catastrophic event like a stroke seems to be quite minimal, especially if he’s facing $200,000 in health costs. After the first $5,000, the other $195,000 would be paid for.
And it’s my understanding that Mr. Breyfogle lives in Michigan which has accepted the Medicaid expansion that (I would think) would make the monthly premiums much lower for someone in a less lucrative field like the arts.
I don’t know Mr. Breyfogle’s specific situation, but with ACA available I’m not sure why he and other freelancers wouldn’t be signed up for it, especially in states with the Medicaid expansion. Hopefully this is a wake-up call to others in his situation.
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