SAG health, pension plans tighten qualifications needs

Driven by tough economic occasions along with a drop in TV earnings, the Screen Stars Guild health insurance and pension plans are tightening qualifications needs and benefits, and also have cautioned people that further cuts might be coming.The trustees from the plans, overseen by reps of SAG and also the majors, introduced the alterations inside a e-newsletter that started coming in participants' mail boxes now. The alterations work Jan. 1."The Plan remains inside a deficit situation as television contributions have ongoing to continuously decrease andthe price of supplying government mandated benefits is growing," the e-newsletter stated.The plan -- covering about 40,000 participants -- is growing qualification levels by 2% to $30,750 for Plan I and $15,100 for Plan II. The person out-of-pocket maximum is rising by $500 to $1,750 and also the family out-of-pocket maximum is booming by $1,000 per family to $3,500.The trustees, which in fact had introduced a yearly $1,000 hike within the earnings requirement last year for pension credits, also revealed the $20,000 threshold requirement would become effective on Jan. 1, 2012, rather than 2013. The alterations come two several weeks after SAG revealed its reported TV earnings in 2010 dropped 8.2% this past year to $564.8 million this year -- 24% below 2007 levels -- while overall earnings rose 3.9% this past year to $1.986 billion. The split in primetime jurisdiction between SAG and AFTRA, that has signed the lion's share of recent shows, cuts down on the chances that rank-and-file people can earn enough to satisfy the income thresholds and adds momentum towards the push for merger by having an eye toward subsequently merging the plans. The e-newsletter noted the type of pension have been licensed within the "eco-friendly zone" in 2010 by having an 83% funding level because of favorable returns on opportunities and federal legislation passed to permit intends to get over deficits throughout the 2008 economic crisis. However the outlook for that near term is troubling."Investment returns for 2011 are presently below precisely what it takes to help keep the program licensed within the 'green zone' for that long term," the e-newsletter stated. "The healthiness of the Type Of Pension is driven by investment returns so when the marketplaces aren't carrying out well, the trustees must make changes to guarantee the plan doesn't fall under the red-colored zone."Despite the fact that the trustees did not offer specifics, additionally they stated that they're going to need to take similar steps. "The Trustees still monitor expenses, contributions and financial returns for the Pension and Health Plans and regrettably when the unfavorable trends don't improve, additional benefit modifications might have to be produced,Inch the e-newsletter stated. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com