NC should pay attention to the portable benefits moment

I started researching self-employment and independent work over a decade ago because I’d been exposed to it my whole life — my parents were self-employed — and I could see it growing steadily since at least the 1990s. What intrigued me was a persistent puzzle: Most people in this workforce wanted to stay independent, yet they also wanted access to benefits like health insurance and retirement savings. Why couldn’t these two coexist? The demand was clearly there — but the supply was not.

Over time, the answer became clearer. The problem wasn’t a lack of interest from workers or even businesses. It was the law. Our benefit system remains locked into a 20th-century employment model, where benefits are tied to a single, long-term employer. For workers who earn income across multiple clients, contracts, or platforms, that model simply doesn’t fit.

In North Carolina, more than 900,000 residents earn income as freelancers, contractors, or self-employed workers, generating nearly $48 billion annually for the state. These workers span professional services, health care, construction, transportation, real estate, retail, and the arts. Independent work here is not a niche — it’s a major part of how the state’s economy functions.

Yet current law actively discourages businesses from helping their independent workers access benefits. Voluntarily contributing to health or retirement benefits can be interpreted as evidence of an employer–employee relationship, triggering legal risk. As a result, even well-intentioned companies and clients stay on the sidelines, and workers are left navigating benefit gaps on their own.

This is where portable benefits come in. The idea is simple: Benefits should follow the worker, not the job. Under a portable benefits framework, independent workers could receive contributions from multiple companies into a single, worker-owned account. Those funds could be used to pay for health insurance premiums, as retirement savings, or as paid time off — without forcing the worker into traditional employment or creating new mandates for businesses.

What’s striking is how closely this approach aligns with worker preferences. Surveys consistently show that a large majority of independent workers want to remain independent. They value flexibility, autonomy, and control over their schedules—but they also want access to benefits that provide stability over time. Portable benefits offer a way to meet both goals at once.

For years, portable benefits were mostly discussed in research papers, policy briefs, and academic settings. I spent much of that time explaining the concept to policymakers and stakeholders as an economic framework — one that could resolve the mismatch between how people work and how benefits are delivered. Today, those ideas are beginning to move from theory to practice.

Momentum is finally building across the country. States like Utah, Alabama, and Tennessee enacted portable benefits laws last year. This year alone, similar legislation has already been introduced in eight more states, including Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, Kansas, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Mississippi, and Wyoming. These efforts are bipartisan and voluntary, reflecting a shared recognition that labor markets have changed — and policy needs to catch up.

This approach stands in sharp contrast to more restrictive policies that attempt to force independent workers into traditional employment categories. Those policies — while often well-intended — reduce work opportunities without meaningfully expanding access to benefits. Portable benefits take a different path: expanding access while preserving individual choice.

North Carolina doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. Lawmakers can clarify that voluntary benefit contributions do not affect worker classification, creating legal clarity for businesses and new options for workers. Doing so would support labor market mobility, reduce the risks associated with changing jobs or clients, and encourage entrepreneurship — without expanding government or imposing mandates.

What once looked like a missing puzzle piece is now coming into focus. The demand for portable benefits has been there all along. The policy tools are finally catching up. North Carolina has an opportunity to be part of this moment — by aligning its benefit system with the realities of modern work and supporting the many residents who contribute to the state’s economy outside traditional employment.