Today Stride Health announced our partnership with Uber, the company leading the Freelancer Economy. As of this morning, we're delivering Uber driver partners around the U.S. their own built-in, intelligent coverage decisions and supporting them year-round.

Thousands of drivers have already used Stride directly from their mobile devices, and I've received a number of questions today about why this was important for us, and what this means for America's freelancer workforce.

Freelancers are changing the face of the American workforce: 34% of your fellow U.S. workers are freelancers. That’s over 50 million people! And they’re not just bloggers and graphic designers. They’re your Uber driver. They’re the designer who crafted your website. They’re your sole-practitioner attorney, the realtor who sold your house, and very likely the reporter who wrote the article you just read.

Independent careers have always been risky, especially pre-Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”), when personal health coverage was often impossible to afford. With the ACA, Americans no longer have to stick to 9-to-5 desk jobs to get affordable, quality health insurance. Now every year from November 15 - February 15, all Americans can buy their own coverage for any reason. It’s the key to security in an independent and creative lifestyle.

Unfortunately, healthcare is a jargon-heavy industry. It wasn’t built for us consumers. We’re presented with a confusing vocabulary and a lame-duck binary choice: are you feeling risky or are you feeling risk-averse?

I think it’s time for a change.

Stride Health starts by generating a financial forecast for your entire year's potential health investment — and then we narrow to a your recommendation based on your preferences for doctors, drugs, and quality of care. It's the kind of personalization we experience when we buy our cars. It’s how we pick our movies and, lately, it’s even how we invest our retirement accounts. Now, it’s finally how we pick our health coverage, too.

Log on from any device you own — we work with your mobile phone, your tablet or your desktop — to get your tailored plan recommendation. And unlike the alternatives, it usually takes less than 10 minutes. Perfect timing for you busy, independent go-getters.

With quality coverage you can understand, you’ll never be afraid to get care to stay healthy. At Stride Health, we’ll equip you with a plan to help you stay healthier, happier, and stay on the road in pursuit of whichever career you desire.