SAG-AFTRA Health SPD

Continuing Eligibility – Minimum Earnings, Alternative Days, Age and Service

Your Earned Eligibility for health coverage will continue without interruption as long as you meet the requirements for minimum Covered Earnings, Eligibility Days or Age and Service eligibility during your Base Earnings Period each year and you continue to pay the applicable premium in full by the due date. The first time you qualify for Earned Eligibility, your Base Earnings Period and Benefit Period are established, as described in Section II. These periods will not change unless you fail to meet the eligibility requirement to continue coverage. 

If you do not meet the minimum Covered Earnings requirement (or one of the alternate eligibility requirements) in your Base Earnings Period, you no longer qualify for Plan coverage. To qualify for coverage again, you will have to meet one of the eligibility requirements and establish a new Base Earnings Period.

Continuing Eligibility – Network/Station Staff

Generally, if you are covered as a Network/Station Staff Participant, your coverage continues as long as you remain in the same Covered Employment and the terms of your employment continue to meet the initial qualification rules, provided you continue to pay the applicable premium in full by the due date.

Continuing Eligibility – Covered Roster Artists

As long as you remain a Covered Roster Artist and continue to pay the required premium in full by the due date and your record label continues to make the annual special payment, you will continue to be covered by the Plan.

Qualifying First as a Covered Roster Artist and Then Based on Covered Earnings

As long as you enroll as a Covered Roster Artist, your initial Benefit Period and Base Earnings Period are established and will not change. If you qualify based upon Covered Earnings by the end of your Base Earnings Period, you may continue your coverage for a second year (and for each subsequent year that you qualify) based upon your Covered Earnings, regardless of whether or not you continue as a Covered Roster Artist. For additional information about how Base Earnings periods and Benefit Periods are determined.

Qualifying First Based on Covered Earnings and Then as a Covered Roster Artist

If you enroll in the Plan after qualifying based upon Covered Earnings, and then you are signed by a record label as a roster artist, your coverage based upon Covered Earnings will continue until the end of your Benefit Period as long as you continue to pay the applicable premium in full by the due date. If at that point you no longer qualify for coverage based upon Covered Earnings, and you qualify for coverage as a Covered Roster Artist, then you may continue your coverage for the remainder of the period covered by the roster artist special payment.

If you have questions about the specific qualification dates pertaining to your label and your qualification for coverage under the special Covered Roster Artists side letter, please contact the Sound Recording department of the SAG-AFTRA union office.