Actors’ Equity Association Slams Cuts to Live Theater Actors’ Health Plan

The Actors’ Equity Association, which represents actors and stage managers in live theater, is upset with the changes made by the Equity League to the stage actors’ health plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes will increase the minimum number of weeks that actors will have to work per year to qualify for the health plan. Currently, members who work 11 weeks qualify for six months of coverage, and 19 weeks earns a year of coverage. As the plan is jointly managed by trustees from both the union and employers, Association President Kate Shindle and the union’s council voted in favor of a resolution directing union trustees to withdraw support from the changes and to postpone any public announcement regarding the health plan until further studies could be performed. Also Read: How TV Animation Survived Mid-Pandemic: Zoom, Puppeteers and Voice Actors in Closets Instead, the Equity-League Health Fund announced on Thursday that actors would have to work 16 weeks for six months to be eligible for the standard health plan coverage, and that 12 weeks would only qualify for a plan with higher out-of-pocket costs that only covers in-network providers. Shindle said that the changes risk depriving thousands...

Read original story Actors’ Equity Association Slams Cuts to Live Theater Actors’ Health Plan At TheWrap