Equity-League Health Fund Addresses Issues Raised by Actors' Equity Over the Impact of Recently Announced Changes

Equity-League Benefit Funds has released the following message, addressing issues raised by Actors' Equity over the impact of the Health Fund changes, which will require members to work more weeks per year to qualify for coverage.

"We want to address the three specific issues raised by Actors' Equity in the email they sent to members and in their statements to the press. Specifically, they are concerned that we have not taken into account the specific impact of the Health Fund changes on three groups: BIPOC members, members living outside office cities, and pregnant participants.

We recognize the concerns of BIPOC theater artists about employment patterns in the industry. This is an essential issue for all stakeholders involved in employment policy decisions to examine.

As a benefits fund, we only collect data directly relevant to providing benefits. Therefore, we have never collected information on participants' racial identity, and we aren't aware of any multiemployer benefits fund that does collect such data. Recognizing the importance of addressing these real concerns, we have begun working with Actors' Equity to gather the type of demographic data that we hope will allow us to assess whether, or to what extent, these issues impact eligibility for the Fund's coverage.

We are committed to engaging in this work and sharing with you what we learn when the research is completed. However, immediate action is needed to respond to the disastrous impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our Health Fund and our ability to pay participants' health claims. If we don't make these benefit changes now, there won't be a Fund in the future.

Our review of Fund data shows that members living outside office cities (New York, Chicago and Los Angeles) do NOT have a harder time earning the weeks required for eligibility.

This is data we can access now. Based on Fund experience, the Tier 1 plan will be accessible to participants who live and work throughout the nation. Looking at Fund data from 2019, 65% of participants who would have qualified for Tier 1 did so without any work on Broadway or touring productions, whereas just 23% would have qualified for Tier 1 with only this type of work.

The Fund's new three-tier approach was designed to address participants' needs in a financially responsible way, considering the ongoing uncertainties related to the COVID pandemic. And, the three tiers take into account the varying levels of work across our participant population.

Finally, we recognize the difficulty participants expecting children face if coverage is offered for only 6 months at a time.

That's why we are introducing a new Parental Benefit. Beginning January 1, 2021:

If you're covered under the plan through employment and the child arrives (either by birth or adoption) when you are within 3 months of your coverage running out, you will pay only $250 per month for the first three months of COBRA. This starts at the moment your coverage runs out.

If you're covered under COBRA (because your previous coverage earned by employment ran out) and the child arrives (either by birth or adoption) when you have been on COBRA for three months or less, you will pay only $250 per month for the first 3 months of COBRA after the child arrives.

The Parental Benefit applies to participants, as well their spouses or domestic partners.

We understand that the Health Fund changes may seem overly drastic at a time when almost all work has ceased. In fact, it's because work has ceased that these changes must be made. The loss of almost all of the Fund's income makes it absolutely essential to make these changes. If the Fund runs out of money, it cannot pay benefits. These changes allow us to address the present challenge and adjust in the future. We want to be here for you throughout the years.

We urge you to continue learning more about the changes.

• Visit equityleague.org
• Attend an upcoming webinar (Register on our website)
• Call the Fund Office at (212) 869-9380, or toll free (800) 344-5220, Monday-Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET
• Send us an email at health@equityleague.org"