Working Today, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, launched Freelancers Union in 2001 to address the need for health care insurance for workers in nontraditional arrangements.

Sara Horowitz founded Working Today in New York City in 1995, in order to represent the needs and concerns of the growing independent workforce.

Freelancers Union also provides its members with online tools, business management information, networking opportunities, group discount terms with various vendors or partners, and other assistance in working successfully as independents.

Members pay fees for certain events, seminars and other services, as well as premiums if they elect to buy health insurance through the union.

The World’s Longest Invoice campaign followed, a tandem effort to create publicity in order to pass the “Freelancer Payment Protection Act, which [gives] the self-employed many of the same remedies for non-payment that regular employees now have, including the right to file grievances with the state department of labor.

The spaces were created to function ”as the first medical home and serve members of the Freelancers Union Insurance Company.

"[10] With yoga, iPads and no co-pays and deductibles, the 408 Jay Street clinic, housed in a renovated 6,000 square-foot building, offered same-day services, nutrition and cooking classes as well as text messaging communications from doctors.

"[13] A new association, The Independent Driver’s Guild, ”was created to “push for labor protections for the company’s independent contractors.” The Freelancers Union was chosen to “advise Uber on strategies for building a nationwide portable benefits platform for drivers, bringing safety net protections to tens of thousands of hardworking men and women.

"[14] Sara Horowitz, Freelancers Union's founder, does not believe in a Canadian-style single-payer health care system, she said on WNYC's radio program, The Brian Lehrer Show.[why?

Working Today – Freelancers Union was recognized in 2004-2006 as a leading social entrepreneur by Fast Company magazine.

Chosen for the unique constituency the Freelancers Union represents economically, “Horowitz was appointed in 2013 as a Class C director and in 2014 she began to serve as deputy chair.

"Policies that provide the exact same coverage to someone working for a large employer will cost more for an individual," says the Center for American Progress's website for college students.

A Center for American Progress fellow estimated the average difference in administrative costs alone to be $300 per year between individual and group insurance.

[24] Members then faced the complexity inherent in comparing the limits, exclusions, co-payments, co-insurance percentages, and annual and other deductibles of the various new options with those of the old plans.