Actors and Health Insurance. Huh?

Contrary to most popular opinions, actors in general do not fall into the celebrity or starving artist categories. Most of us are hoping simply to be working actors who can pay their bills, take care of their families, and work. It's no secret that health care is an issue in America. Who gets it? Who can afford it? I'll attempt to let you in on how Union stage actors qualify and how it affects them. Trust me. It's fascinating stuff if you're interested in how an actor's life takes shape.

For years, achieving health insurance through union stage work was fairly simple and straight forward: If we worked 10 weeks on a union contract with health and pension in 12 months, we received 12 months of health coverage. A very good deal, especially when considered now in hindsight. Simple, right? It's also sadly a thing of the past.

Through a series of changes brought on by economic necessity, the rules have evolved into this:

If in 12 months you work 20 weeks of union covered work, you get 12 months of health coverage.

If in 12 months you work 12 weeks of union covered work, you achieve 6 months of health coverage. Any weeks between 12 and 19 weeks that are not used towards eligibility can be "banked" and used at the next review period to acquire another 6 months or step up to 12 months of coverage if 20 weeks are achieved.

Sadly, the vast majority of actors do not work enough weeks to achieve even the 6 months option. Because of the episodic nature of our employment, from job to job with unemployment in between, actors who do receive some insurance often find themselves yo-yo-ing between 6 months on and 6 months off. The actors who most consistently see health coverage are those in long running shows.

With health insurance becoming such a hot button topic and so difficult to achieve, many actors now find themselves deciding which jobs to take based on the number of insurance weeks available rather than salary or artistic elements.

Confused? So are most actors. If we didn't love what we do, we'd long ago have turned to a more stable and secure existence. But we soldier on and live in optimism. Mostly.

My opinion: It's a sad comment on our society that the care of our citizens is governed more by dollars than by a desire to help people. Illness is big business. Hey, there's got to be a reason all the new condos in my neighborhood have medical offices on the ground floor, right?