‘Shocked, Hurt and Angry’: SAG-AFTRA Health Plan Overhaul Spotlights Broken U.S. System (Column)

David Robb Labor EditorHilary Swank has filed a lawsuit against the trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan, asking a federal judge to order the trustees to resume coverage of her treatment for recurrent malignant ovarian cysts, which have afflicted the two-time Oscar-winning actress for more than 11 years.Her lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S.

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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.

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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

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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.

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.

Dave McNary Film ReporterAllies of SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris have blamed rising costs for recently announced changes that will sharply cut eligibility for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan on Jan. 1.“Nothing is as personal or emotionally charged as our health and the peace of mind that comes with having quality healthcare at an affordable price,” the Unite for Strength faction said in an email to members sent Monday.

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.