Hollywood workers need CalCare. Our industry does, too.

As Hollywood laborers, we know what it’s like to live in fear of illness or injury, or to have necessary medical treatments denied, changed, or delayed by insurance companies that are financially motivated to provide as little care as possible. And even with so-called "Cadillac" union health insurance, too many union members across our industry have struggled or failed to meet minimum earnings thresholds to qualify for their health plans, especially since the 2023 strikes.

Precious bargaining power is wasted on increasingly expensive health insurance during union contract negotiations, and even when health care is not a priority it is still a bargaining tool wielded by the AMPTP against workers, as more union and non-union workers across our industry lose their insurance benefits the longer a strike continues.

Furthermore, Los Angeles is experiencing an existential exodus of TV, film, and commercial production to states — and countries — with lower labor costs. What drives California labor cost inflation? Our skyrocketing private insurance plans. Why are multinational corporations like Disney, Amazon, Apple, and Netflix shooting films and TV shows in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Hungary, Romania, Malta, Ireland, and the United Kingdom? Because they do not have to contribute to bloated union health insurance plans. America is the only developed country without affordable and universal health care.

Simply put, it's cheaper for companies to film in countries that take care of their citizens. 

Beyond our industry, the federal government just defunded Medicaid, stripping as many as 20 million Americans of their (privately-administrated) health care. 3.2 million Californians currently do not have any health insurance, and 12 million more are under-insured, meaning they cannot afford their copays and deductibles. More than 15 million Californians, or 40% of the state’s population, are already enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, which offers free health care coverage to low-income residents. And yet Americans use significantly less health care services than people in other industrialized countries — including physician visits and hospital admissions — yet spending is greater due to higher prices. Despite higher spending, people in the United States have worse health outcomes, including shorter life expectancy and greater prevalence of chronic conditions.

Our current for-profit, employer-sponsored health insurance system is bad for union power, bad for keeping productions in Los Angeles, bad for workers, and bad for our health.