Key Takeaways
- Drake Bell told followers “Do not join SAG” after learning he no longer qualifies for SAG-AFTRA health coverage despite working as an actor for 35 years.
- His portal showed $17,480.53 in covered earnings against a $28,933 requirement, leaving him $11,452.47 short.
- Bell tagged SAG-AFTRA and president Sean Astin as other actors, including Heather Matarazzo, have also warned that they may lose coverage without more work.
Drake Bell is airing out SAG-AFTRA, telling followers he no longer qualifies for health insurance after decades of work in front of a camera.
The 40-year-old actor shared a screenshot of his SAG-AFTRA Health Plan portal to his Instagram Story on Tuesday (Oct. 13), then tagged both the guild and its president, Sean Astin.
“Do not become an actor. Do not join SAG. You can work steadily for 35 years and they still say [middle finger emoji] @sagaftra really though @seanastin you're doing a bang up job,” he wrote. “How about stop using actors to run things maybe? They literally just know how to say words in front of a camera.”
Bell's covered earnings appeared to sit at $17,480.53 against a $28,933.00 requirement, leaving him short by $11,452.47 to qualify for health insurance through the actor’s union based on his reported earnings from July 2025 through June 2026.
According to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan website, members can reach eligibility one of two ways: either by clearing the earnings minimum or by logging at least 108 eligible work days, and the reward is 12 months of coverage. Actors who fall short lose coverage when their benefit period runs out, with COBRA offered as a continuation option.
The threshold was $28,090 for 2026 and climbs to $28,933 for 2027, with roughly $900 in annual increases expected through 2030.
Bell's acting work slowed in the years after Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, which ran for four seasons between 2004 and 2007. He has leaned into music and voice roles since.
In 2024 he spoke publicly for the first time on Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV about allegedly being sexually abused as a teenager by dialogue coach Brian Peck.
He is also not the only one. The Princess Diaries star Heather Matarazzo said last month that she would fall short without more work soon, according to Variety.
“I am literally in the same boat right now. Lots of my fellow actors are,” Matarazzo said. “I remember a time when we didn't have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance.”
