Every so often, a group or an association or a “union” pops up that purports to represent comedians or offer them group benefits such as health insurance. Comedians might want to think long and hard before cutting a check to the most recent one to emerge.

The brief description on their website says that this most recent association was “formed to provide group benefits and services to Comedians and those who support the Comedy Industry.”

There’s one very big problem: The company that they chose to provide health insurance, Associated Health Professionals, cannot provide health insurance to a huge number of the group’s potential membership.

Just for fun, we emailed AHP to ask them if they could offer health insurance to New Jersey residents. (Of course, we knew the answer would be “No.” The boys in Trenton long ago restricted just who could or couldn’t offer health insurance to Garden Staters. Under the guise of “protecting the consumer,” they passed legislation that allows exactly eight companies to do business here. Or, to look at it another way, the laws they passed are so restrictive, only eight insurance companies found it anywhere near profitable to do business here. This is most unfortunate, as there are hundreds of health insurance companies in America, but the vast majority cannot do business with residents of the eleventh most populous state in the union. As a result, premiums are sky-high and companies such as AHP can’t offer group rates to professional associations.)

Since we couldn’t get AHP to answer our question (after two attempts), we found the answer in a letter to the American Association of Woodturners:

AHP cannot offer medical insurance coverage in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Vermont due to state health insurance laws. Due to state mandates, there are limited health insurance opportunities in New York and New Jersey. Alaska and Hawaii have limited policies available as well.

Hmmm… we wonder if there are any comedians living in New York or New Jersey? Or Massachusetts?

On the member benefits page is a long list of “Group Insurance Products,” which lists “Health,” “Dental,” “Pharmacy,” etc., but there’s an asterisk next to each. Scroll down the page and the asterisk indicates:

*Insurance products are not available yet

Nor will they ever be, for a huge number of comedians residing in the states named above.

Wait… what’s this? Under “Latest News” comes the “SPECIAL BULLETIN” that they’ve “assembled a comprehensive plan of a variety of insurance options.” Clicking on the “Member Insurance” link eventually leads to a form on the AssociationPros.com website. (We filled one out and got no response.)

The website is void of personality. By that we mean that there doesn’t seem to be any human beings behind it. When someone is asking you to hand over $89, it’s nice to know who will be cashing that check.

Caveat emptor.