Drake Bell becomes latest actor to criticise SAG-AFTRA over health insurance struggles

Shahana YasminWed, October 14, 2026 at 6:24 AM UTC

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Drake Bell has become the latest actor to criticise SAG-AFTRA’s health insurance requirements after discovering he does not qualify for coverage.

The former Drake & Josh star shared a screenshot of his account on the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan website on Tuesday, which showed that he had made $17,480.53 in covered earnings between July 2025 and June 2026.

The account said he needed another $11,452.47 to reach the $28,933 threshold for coverage in 2027.

“Do not become an actor. Do not join SAG. You can work steadily for 35 years and they still say [middle finger emoji],” Bell wrote on his Instagram Stories.

He tagged SAG-AFTRA and its president Sean Astin in the post and asked: “How about stop using actors to run things maybe? They literally just know how to say words in front of a camera.”

Drake Bell has become the latest actor to criticise SAG-AFTRA’s health insurance requirements after discovering he does not qualify for coverage (Instagram/Drake Bell)

The Independent has reached out to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) for comment.

Members of SAG-AFTRA receive insurance through the guild’s health plan, but members have to meet minimum earnings requirements to qualify.

For benefit periods beginning in 2027, members need to earn at least $28,933 from eligible work during the assessment period, up from $28,090 for 2026. They can also qualify by completing at least 108 eligible work days during the relevant earnings period.

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The union calculates those days from the covered earnings they receive for SAG-AFTRA work. Once an actor meets either requirement, they receive 12 months of health coverage.

‘Do not become an actor. Do not join SAG. You can work steadily for 35 years and they still say [middle finger emoji],’ Bell wrote on his Instagram Stories (Getty)

I Saw the TV Glowactor Jack Haven and Wednesday actor Heather Matarazzo have recently spoken up to publicly describe their struggles to earn enough through union-covered work to qualify for health insurance.

Haven, who played Casey Gardner in the Netflix series Atypical, appealed for work in a video posted online in September. “I’m in a bit of an emergency situation,” Haven said in the video, adding that they would do “pretty much any job” as long as it was on a set and he could make $4,000 threshold.

The appeal appeared to work, as Haven said in a follow-up video they had received a large number of offers after the post circulated online. “I got a lot of offers,” Haven said. “So, thank you guys. Thank you for your love and your kindness. I really feel overwhelmed. I really didn’t expect this many people to see the video.”

Heather Matarazzo, best known for playing Lilly Moscovitz in The Princess Diaries, talked about a ‘time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance’ (Netflix)

Matarazzo, best known for playing Lilly Moscovitz in The Princess Diaries, then revealed that she was facing a similar problem. Responding to Haven on Threads in September, she wrote: “I am literally in the same boat right now. Lots of my fellow actors are.”

“I remember a time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance,” she added.

Letters to Cleo lead singer Kay Hanley, who also played the singing voice of Josie in the 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats, also criticised SAG-AFTRA earlier this year for not receiving residuals for her work on the film.

“I’m not being paid residuals for my singing on Josie & the Pussycats bc film producers failed to provide paperwork to SAF-AFTRA for my 20+ vocal sessions in 2000,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in June. “SAG says I had two years to report but I found out this year. Didn’t hit 25 earnings. I lose my health [insurance] 1 July.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”