POP/ROCK - Oct. 19, 1992

Insuring Musicians: More than a million people in the various arms of the music industry will be eligible for a new insurance program instituted by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. The plan, modeled after care programs long offered to members of the motion picture and TV industries, will provide both routine medical coverage and catastrophic assistance not just to singers and musicians, but to record store clerks, radio personnel, concert promoters and others whose work revolves around music. Mike Greene, the academy’s president, said that one reason it took two years to get the plan together was his insistence that it cover treatment and counseling for substance abuse and HIV infection. The plan is already available in California and will be in all states early next year.