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Posted on 09/27/2026 10:30:51 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
Several Hollywood actors, including Princess Diaries star Heather Matarazzo, are trying to raise awareness about new actor’s union requirements that could cause many performers to lose their healthcare benefits.
Matarazzo, whose last role was in the 2025 short film Paper Tiger, told fans on her social media that if she does not get a paying acting role soon, the new union rules will cause her to lose her health insurance, according to Variety.
She made her comment in reply to a similar post made by actor Jack Haven, who told fans that he is $4,000 short of reaching the annual $28,933 earning requirement to retain his SAG-AFTRA health insurance plan.
The most recent SAG-AFTRA union contract is not static at the $28,933 income level, either. According to the agreement, actors will find the annual earning total rise by $900 a year all the way to 2030, meaning that by then actors will have to earn $32,533 every year thereafter before being qualified to enroll in the union’s healthcare plan.
Union scale wages for speaking roles are currently as low as $256 a day for low-budget productions and $1,283 per day for productions carrying a $2 million budget or more.
The Welcome to the Dollhouse star echoed Haven’s distress, telling her fans, “I am literally in the same boat right now. Lots of my fellow actors are. I remember a time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance.”
The union began a series of steps several years ago to change the plan “to address financial deficits facing the plan.”
But, according to Variety, that means about 90 percent of actors are no longer covered under the union’s healthcare plans.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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they should wait for Single payer to take effect, they will have to wait 3 yrs to see a doctor then they can find something to bitch about. Meantime, they all supported Obamacare, gee imagine that, Obamacare which was supposed to be the greatest health care ever turned out to be what most thought it would be, total dreck
One of the secrets of group health care is that an insurance agent approaches the owners of a company with the standard deal; "If you get enough of your employees to sign up for this generic plan with all sorts of exceptions and deductibles, we'll give you, personally, this top-tier coverage."
So after berating us for not being liberals you want us to help you through this tough time - really?
No one cares what you say but many of us remember the insults. Good luck.
Give it the same leftist "holier than thou" slant they did on every other movie that attacked those who opposed socialism.
Add a scene with Alec Baldwin shooting one or two of them, and having to take the wounded to a witch doctor, or a Cuban doctor - maybe played by Michael Moore.
Booo-Frickin’-Hoo.
We also have too many lawyers, college profesors with degrees, politicians, opinionated groups, and loose handled polling organizations. They need to consider the amount of people getting laid off because of items like this and cost to the orgnization and themselves. As Bruce Willis said, Okay pal, join the party.” You are now expendible for same reasons. And it was the knight templer in Last Crusade that said, “He failed to choose wisely.”
wy69
Just like everyone else.
That’s true.
Many will have to. But I think a lot of people like to keep the health insurance they’ve had for decades.
Actors don’t have the VA to fall back on like you do.
Plastic surgeon’s hit hardest.
Never used it. Wouldn’t know how if I needed to (although I suppose I could figure it out).
Nearest VA to me is 200 miles away, and is supposed to be a hellhole.
Ain’t no union boss losing their benefits.
apparently the new union rules require members to actually work to receive health insurance, rather than just joining the union for the insurance ...
so, has-beens and hanger-ons can kiss their cushy insurance goodbye ... things are tough all over, even for celeb-wannabes or celeb has-beens ...
AI definitely has some ways to make me happy.
You would think that with all their millions in earnings they would have a very sizeable nestegg and could simply buy health insurance. Instead they lived high on the hog and squandered it.
Do I care? Nah, why should I.
You would think that with all their millions in earnings they would have a very sizeable nestegg and could simply buy health insurance.
Also expect newer actors to get frozen out because they can't afford working part time for low wages when competing against seasoned actors who'll work for the same scale.
"Actors who are unable to find work are at risk of losing their health insurance, with 95 of SAG-AFTRA members earning less than the required income threshold. To join SAG, actors must pay $3, 000, plus semi-annual dues of $198, and 1. 575 percent of wages. To qualify for group plans, they must clear their income threshold of $25, 950 in any 12-month period. SAG has over 170, 000 members, but only 12. 7 qualify for the union's health plan. Only 14 of its members make at least $26470 annually to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare coverage. Less than 10 of all SAG actors qualify for coverage. "
Most actors don't get SAG insurance, from the get go, and many fall off because 80 percent and more earn less than $26K a year. Ditto for the other entertainment unions, in general. Who makes money in the unions? The union higher-ups. The National Executive Director rakes in upwards of $500K a year,
Source: How Many Sag Actors Are Eligible For Health Insurance?
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