New and Free Benefits for
Black Car Drivers in New York
Drivers Benefits and The Black Car Fund have partnered to provide black car drivers in New York with free telemedicine and vision benefits.
Everyone is Eligible for Benefits
Including telemedicine, a prescription drug discount card, affordable traffic lawyers, accident support, defensive driving classes, and, for eligible drivers, vision benefits.
How Do I Activate My Benefits?
Call the Drivers Benefit Hotline
Our multilingual experts can tell you how to activate your free benefits.
Fill Out the Eligibility/Activation Form Online
Complete the short benefits activation form. Drivers Benefits will email you or text you back with a full explanation of your benefits.
Featured Benefits
Provided by MD Live
No Cost 24/7 Telemedicine (Call a Doctor) Services for Drivers and Their Families
You can call (in your language) a doctor by phone, secure video, or MDLive app anytime from anywhere for a non-emergency consultation.
No going to a clinic, waiting for weeks for an appointment, or standing in long lines at a doctor’s office.
How does it work?
Drivers Telemedicine lets you speak to a doctor over the phone, video call, or mobile app any time of the day, wherever you are.
It’s Safe
Drivers Telemedicine gives you access to board certified doctors who have over 15 years of experience.
What services are available?
Drivers Telemedicine doctors can diagnose and treat a number of health issues, including allergies, asthma, the flu, cold, arthritis, backaches, joint pain, and much more. Prescriptions can be phoned in to whatever pharmacy is most convenient for you. While the call with the doctor is free, you will be responsible for the cost of any medications you need or any doctors visit you might need for a more serious situation an MD Live doctor can’t solve over the phone
Is my family covered?
Yes. Your family matters. That’s why our Drivers Telemedicine benefits include not only our hard-working drivers, but their families as well.
Provided by GVS
No Cost Eye Exam and Glasses Benefit for Qualified Drivers
Drivers who meet a monthly hourly threshold get a no cost eye exam and glasses benefit by visiting one of our partner locations in New York.
Where do I go for my eye exam and glasses?
Providers are located throughout the tri-state area. Members can look-up provider locations here or by calling 1-833-814-8590. The New Member Benefits Package that gets emailed to members includes the benefits code needed to make an appointment.
What choice of glasses do I have?
Members are entitled to a $200 credit towards frames from our exclusive GVS Designer Collection or a $100 credit toward any frame outside of the collection. In lieu of eyeglasses, we offer a 6 month supply of disposable contacts every year or a $100 credit for any contact lens outside of those included in the plan.
Do I need an appointment?
Yes, once you contact Drivers Benefits to activate your benefits you can simply select a GVS location of your choice. It is recommended that you schedule an appointment prior to your visit.
How often can I get new glasses?
Members who maintain benefits eligibility can get new glasses once every 12 months.
About Us
About Drivers Benefits
Drivers Benefits is designed to help drivers in New York get benefits they do not have. Over 40,000 drivers will be eligible for free eye exam and glasses benefits and the ability to call a doctor for free whenever they need one. The Black Car Fund has been providing workers’ compensation benefits to drivers since 1999. This coverage is for injuries received while on the job and has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in medical bills and lost earnings for drivers who couldn’t drive while they recovered. Now the Black Car Fund is helping drivers by paying for eye exams and glasses benefits and telemedicine for eligible drivers
Click here to see if you are eligible
Drivers Benefits is also working with the Independent Drivers Guild (“IDG”) to let drivers know about the benefits IDG provides, including low-cost lawyers for drivers needing help with a traffic ticket or Taxi & Limousine Commission violation, driver safety and wellness classes, and free help for drivers whose accounts have been deactivated by Uber.
About the Black Car Fund
The Black Car Fund is a non-profit organization created by New York State to provide workers’ compensation insurance to black car and luxury limousine drivers who perform work in the affiliation with the Black Car Fund’s member dispatch bases.
We also provide safety and health programs that benefit for-hire drivers.
How is eligibility determined?
Not every black car driver is eligible to get the free vision benefits. These benefits are paid for by the Black Car Fund which adds a 2.44% charge to each paid trip. Most of that money is spent providing workers compensation insurance which pays drivers’ medical bills and lost earnings when they are injured in an accident while driving a passenger and cannot work.
To get the vision benefits a driver must average 85 hours per month of trips with a passenger over three consecutive months. In New York City the Taxi & Limousine Commission calculates who qualifies using the data the different black car companies submit including how long each trip lasts. In the rest of New York State we work with companies to determine which of their drivers qualify.
Facts you Should Know
As you may know, the Black Car Fund provides drivers in the black car industry with workers’ compensation benefits. In order to help its covered drivers stay healthy and reduce accidents that lead to injuries the Black Car Fund is sponsoring this Program for the purposes of injury and medical claims reduction. The Program is provided to you as a driver covered by the Black Car Fund and is not intended to provide you with any rights of employment or to otherwise affect your status as an independent contractor with respect to the Black Car Fund or with the dispatch base you are affiliated with. While we hope you will participate in the Program, the Program is entirely voluntary and you are not required to participate. If you are an employee driver, this Program is not sponsored or endorsed by your employer. The Program is not intended to be covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”). If you register for the telemedicine benefits available under the Program, you may become ineligible to contribute to a health savings account. Consult with your tax advisor for more information. The Black Car Fund reserves the right to revise or terminate this Program in whole or in part at any time, and for any reason.