Georgia entrepreneur Amy Bielawski has never been able to afford
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- Amy Bielawski, 61, has gone most of her life without health insurance, according to a STAT+ profile of the Tucker, Ga. entrepreneur.
- Bielawski has operated her own entertainment company in Tucker, Ga. for 32 years, setting up bounce houses, petting zoos, stilt walkers, and other attractions for family and corporate events.
- For several years, Bielawski performed face painting and balloon sculpting for kids before Atlanta Hawks home games.
- One morning this past spring, Bielawski delivered a singing telegram to a woman getting off the graveyard shift at a Waffle House, dressed as a chicken in a bikini and singing a Beatles and Stevie Wonder medley before a birthday twerk.
- The article is gated as exclusive STAT+ content for subscribers, with the full analysis of why health coverage has remained unaffordable for entrepreneurs like Bielawski behind the paywall.
Why it matters: Bielawski's case — a self-employed small-business owner in Georgia who has spent most of her 61 years uninsured — illustrates the affordability gap that individual-market enrollees face outside employer-sponsored plans, a recurring subject in STAT+'s coverage of U.S. health care access.
