SAG-AFTRA’s Unite for Strength Blames Rising Healthcare Costs for Looming Health Plan Changes

straight to your inbox Alexis Sanchez has admitted that he regretted joining Manchester United after his first training session and wanted to return to Arsenal.Sanchez joined United in January 2018 in a highly publicised swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go to the Emirates in part exchange. Despite the sky high expectations, however, the Chilean failed to deliver at Old Trafford and only managed to score five goals in his 45 appearances for the club.

In a statement, the guild said the new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers passed by a vote of 87.68% to 12.32% and will apply retroactively to July 1, 2020.

Dave McNary Film ReporterSAG-AFTRA members have ratified successor television animation contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.Members approved the three-year agreements by a vote of 87.68% to 12.32%, the performers union announced Wednesday night.“This is a strong, future-focused agreement with significant gains for our members,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly – 87.68% to 12.32% – to ratify a new TV animation contract covering network, basic cable and streaming shows.Animation, and the voice-over work provided by actors, is one of the few sectors of the entertainment industry that didn’t grind to a halt during the coronavirus shutdown. The terms of the new three-year pact, which had been unanimously approved by the union’s executive committee, are retroactive to July 1, 2020.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman in his latest fireside chat, reposting a laugh-filled Q&A with cast members and director of Marshall, the 2017 film in which Boseman portrayed famed civil rights leader and Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.In the Q&A, Boseman, who died Friday at 43, recalled getting his SAG card for a role on Law & Order.

David Robb Labor EditorTrustees of the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans have approved a third round of premium-free COBRA coverage – this time for participants whose earned active coverage terminated on June 30, 2020, extending the total period of premium-free COBRA coverage from three to six months, through December 31, 2020. The trustees approved similar rounds of premium-free COBRA coverage in April and June.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA Health Plan CEO Michael Estrada on Tuesday described the “perfect storm” of soaring health care costs, employer contributions to the plan that have failed to keep up with those costs, and the devastating impact of the coronavirus shutdown on those contributions that made a complete overhaul necessary to keep the plan from going broke by 2024.Changes to the plan, which include increased eligibility thresholds for many, and higher premiums for all, will go into

straight to your inboxLargie Ramazani has joined Spanish side UD Almeria on a free transfer following his departure from Manchester United.Supporters had high hopes for the exciting winger following his performances for the Under-23s this past season as he scored nine goals in just 13 appearances in the Premier League 2.Ramazani even made his debut for the first team as a late substitute in the Europa League defeat at Astana but was released along with eight other academy players following the

David Robb Labor EditorOpponents of changes coming to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan said tonight they are considering legal action to prevent thousands of participants and their family members from losing their health coverage when the sweeping changes take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.“We have been talking to lawyers.

An unofficial Zoom meeting hosted by the SAG-AFTRA opposition faction Aug. 14 drew nearly 500 participants in a visceral display of fear and fury as dozens spoke out against a restructuring of the union’s affiliated health plan that will hike premiums and tighten eligibility.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterHeather Jones feels “lost, tired and hopeless.” Work has been slow for her and her husband, both actors, since the coronavirus pandemic shut down film and television production five months ago. Last December, their 4-year-old son Harmon completed a series of surgeries, chemo and radiation for alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, and is now undergoing physical therapy as well as routine MRIs, CT scans and bloodwork in the aftermath.

David Robb Labor EditorEXCLUSIVE: Representatives of trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan have told members in a series of Zoom conferences that employer contributions to the Plan and participant premiums have not kept up with the skyrocketing cost of providing health care coverage to some 33,000 participants and their 32,000 family members.

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Andreas Wiseman International EditorAs UK independent production Miss Willoughby And The Haunted Bookshop wrapped shoot this week, the film’s co-star Kelsey Grammer offered some thoughts to stateside actors.“Although COVID presented a new set of challenges, we were able to work very effectively through new standards of film production,” the Frasier actor said today.

David Robb Labor EditorUnite for Strength, part of the ruling coalition of SAG-AFTRA, is calling for unity as thousands of performers and their family members face losing their health coverage next year due to a restructuring of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan, which is projecting a $141 million deficit this year and $83 million next year.More than 13,000 members and their supporters, led by the union’s Membership First opposition party, have signed a petition calling on the Plan’s trustees to scrap

The petition, hosted on Change.org, was nearing 11,600 signatures by 6 p.m. PT on Saturday.In a letter to members sent out on Wednesday, managers of the guild’s health plan said the changes are necessary because of projected deficits “of $141 million this year and $83 million in 2021,” and that “by 2024, the Health Plan is projected to run out of reserves.”The health plan currently covers those making more than $18,040 per year.

Dave McNary Film ReporterMore than 11,400 people have asked trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan to overturn recently announced changes that will cut eligibility for the plan on Jan. 1.The petition at change.org — titled “Overturn the changes made to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan” — noted that the changes are being imposed amid the pandemic and characterized them as “unconscionable.”The health plan announced in an email it sent to members on Aug.

David Robb Labor EditorTwo members of the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee that bargained for the union’s recently ratified film and TV contract said tonight that they had not been told during the talks of the severity of the problems facing the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan.The plan’s restructuring is projected to remove some 3,500 participants and 3,200 family members from coverage come Jan.

David Robb Labor EditorHard times call for hard decisions, which trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan say they had to make to save health benefits for future generations of participants.Even before the pandemic, the Plan was facing unsustainable deficits, and the COVID-19 production shutdown accelerated the need for a complete overhaul of its benefits structures.