How do actors (particularly film) have insurance, etc?

Question

Something I have wondered for a while... As a wannbe freelance artist and therefore would work short lived jobs under contract, I know those kinds of things don't generally come with health insurance, etc. For actors that make that their sole career, but aren't making the millions, how do they have insurance benefits? Does the guild help get it? Through agents? Temporarily offered when working a job?

Answer 1

I can tell you my experience - whenever I've qualified for insurance through the actor's unions, I have their insurance. And like every other employer in the country, it's more and more expensive for them to offer it, which of course trickles down to the individual.

Before I was union, and also during years when work was slow, I was one of those uninsured Americans you hear about. I went for six years without insurance. I now, luckily, get enough work that I use the Equity insurance plan, but I spent a long time terrified that I'd get sick or in an accident.

A lot of the survival jobs actors take are just that - for earning rent money. Most actors I know do not have full time side jobs - a full time schedule would be too inflexible for auditions and the work you manage to book. Temping and waiting tables generally do not offer benefits. There are exceptions of course. So you end up in a situation of scratching together the money for the cheapest insurance you can find, or going without.

Answer 2

The majority of professional actors (both union and non-union) in my experience do not make their living exclusively from acting in and of itself, but have other jobs as well, some of which come with insurance.

Often they are teaching artists who go into schools and conduct seminars related to their areas of expertise, or temp, or wait tables, or have jobs that are generous with the time they will give them away from the office.

As with SAG, Actor's Equity also offers insurance for its members, but based on how many weeks the actor or stage manager works. Many I have known carried that insurance and often another policy -- just in case. Some better temp agencies will also have insurance for their workers.

Answer 3

As a member of Screen Actors Guild, I can tell you tht SAG members who make at least $15,000 a year get insurance through SAG. I make more money than that, and I have great insurance.

However, a lot of non-union actors do not have health insurance, and this is a tough business.

Answer 4

If you belong to any of the major performing arts unions, benefits are available through the union, PROVIDED that you've had a certain number of union-sanctioned weeks of work during the previous calendar year. I don't know what the numbers are, but a representative of any of the unions (SAG, AFTRA, AEA) could tell you.