CMU School of Drama


Monday, October 05, 2020

Changes to Equity-League Health Fund’s Medical Coverage Require More Weeks of Work for Less Coverage

Playbill: The Equity-League Health Fund, which administers healthcare benefits to members of Actors’ Equity Association, has announced new changes beginning in 2021 that will require more weeks’ work to be eligible for a level of coverage similar to the current plan.

Currently, Equity members are required to submit 11 weeks of work during a 12-month lookback period for six months of coverage, or 19 weeks for 12 months. Under the new guidelines, members will have to work at least 16 weeks to qualify for six months of Tier 1 coverage, which provides benefits similar to the current Health Fund plan but with higher deductibles, copays, and out-of-pocket maximums.

1 comment:

Jacob Wilson said...

I think financially the fund may have made the right move so they can continue to serve working actors during the pandemic, but it seems as if they have failed to protect actors who may still be out of a job. Forcing everyone to work 19 or more weeks for basic coverage just simply would not be feasible during this pandemic. It is understandable that they do not want to cover people who are not currently working in the industry and may have taken on a second job at a grocery store or in an office, but they should still cover actors who may have relied on this medical care last year and are not currently working. I think it is a grave misstep in the treatment of actors but it likely is a step towards survivability of the fund until after the pandemic subsides. Hopefully, this all will end soon.