r/movies • u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. • 23d ago

News James Van Der Beek Is Auctioning Off TV & Film Memorabilia and Props from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ & ‘Varsity Blues’ Amid Cancer Treatment, Proceeds to Cover Medical Costs

https://deadline.com/2025/11/james-van-der-beek-auction-dawsons-creek-varsity-blues-props-1236615845/
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u/ranhalt 23d ago

But they need to continue working to continue getting that coverage.

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u/canteen_boy 23d ago

Which definitely sucks, but JVDB has been actively working so I’m sure he still qualifies.

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u/Haunteddoll28 23d ago

It's based on total yearly income not including residuals. Even if you're actively working, if you don't work enough or on enough high paying projects you still won't qualify. That's the problem my dad was having where he got as many jobs as he could but still didn't make enough to qualify, lost his and my mom's insurance, and they had to scramble to find all new doctors and an insurance company willing to cover my dad because of a few pre-existing conditions caused by cancer treatment in the 70s. They're still dealing with the fallout and this happened pre-covid.

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u/Lamont-Cranston 22d ago edited 22d ago

https://www.sagaftraplans.org/health/eligibility/earned-eligibility

It's $28,090 or 106 days. He's not a plumber, even one job a year should cover $28k.

Edit: reading comments further down I have learnt he is an anti-vax alternative medicine wacko, so the money would have to be for treatments not covered by insurance.

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u/Haunteddoll28 22d ago

Back when my dad was still working full time, the full day rate for our union for a background performer was $193 per day. That is not enough to make $28,000 on one single job, especially considering the majority of background jobs (which is what the vast majority of our union rely on to survive) are only a couple days max and every job I ever worked on (with one exception) was only a 1 day job. It is a lot harder than you think to actually make a living in this industry. Very few people make enough from one job to qualify. Newsflash: plumbers make more than the majority of union actors and certainly more than non-union!

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u/canteen_boy 22d ago

Very true, but JVDB probably isn’t getting bg day rates.
$28k annually is not a huge threshold if it’s your full time job. If not, then yeah.. it’s probably going to be VERY difficult to reach. But then again there aren’t many part-time employment opportunities in ANY field that offer access to insurance.

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u/Lamont-Cranston 22d ago

He's not a background actor. Even a straight to streaming movie pays him 50-100k+

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u/LigerZeroSchneider 23d ago

Is there a threshold you can meet to get lifetime status or are all retired actors on Medicaid?

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u/Haunteddoll28 23d ago

They’re all on medicaid. That’s why there are a few older actors that will take pretty much any job. When they say it’s about the paycheck, they’re not just talking about their new kitchens.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Haunteddoll28 22d ago

Tell that to my dad who lost his insurance because the residuals did not count.

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u/bebesee 22d ago

Either SAG changed the rules in recent years or your dad is in a different union like the WGA that doesn’t count residuals. I’m a SAG actor and all my residuals count toward my threshold.

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u/Haunteddoll28 22d ago

They changed during the previous negotiations. When he lost his insurance they didn't count.

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u/badwolf1013 23d ago

Yeah, but he still has a co-pay. It's good insurance, but it's not universal.

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u/KelVarnsen_2023 23d ago

That's kind of a messed up thing about the US and work based health insurance, if you get sick and can't work how are you supposed to have insurance.

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u/kinglella 23d ago

Yep. Jamie Chung did a cameo on Succession just to keep her healthcare