|
Here are the facts: Workers' Compensation is insurance that provides cash benefits and/or medical care to workers who
are injured or become ill as a result of their employment. All employers are required by law to have it. It is not, I
hasten to add, the same as your health insurance, a common misconception. But it can work in conjunction with your
health insurance.
To get some definitive information on Workers' Comp, I went right to an authority, Valerie La Varco, Actors' Equity
Association's business representative for workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. "If your injury occurs while
rehearsing or performing on an Equity contract, all of your medical bills are covered by workers' compensation," La
Varco says. "This includes doctors' bills, hospitalization, surgery, medicines, special aids such as crutches and braces,
and cab fare to the doctor's office if you're unable to get there by other means."
And here's where actors can get confused: If you are injured on the job, you shouldn't use your health insurance to pay
these costs. However, La Varco notes, Equity offers a supplemental insurance policy through the Equity-League Health
Trust Fund that provides additional coverage to help an actor until workers' comp kicks in, which can take up to seven
days.
Researching this article, I encountered a surprising reluctance from some actors to tell their Workers' Compensation
stories. It wasn't embarrassment that they'd been injured on the job; it was that they didn't want to be known as actors
who get injured - they didn't want to be seen as a liability to producers. One actor I spoke with kept his back injury a
secret from his employers, ultimately making it much worse because he avoided treatment at the outset. And that mindset,
he believes, is common among actors who have worked many years to get where they want to be.
"No actor wants to be injured," says J.D., a veteran of two Broadway shows and several national tours who asked that his
real name not be used, "but nobody wants to go to their stage manager for fear of freaking them out by telling them you
hurt yourself and you don't think you can perform."
Yet immediately reporting your injury helps ensure your health long after the current gig ends. And more to the point,
for workers' comp you need to provide a paper trail showing that your injury occurred on the job. According to La Varco,
"The first important thing is to immediately file a report with your employer through the company manager or stage manager.
This information will be vital to substantiate your claim of injury."
Next you need to seek medical treatment and obtain a doctor's report saying you're temporarily or totally disabled. And
remember, it's vital to get the name and address of the employer's insurance company; don't assume the stage manager
will handle all the details. Once the show closes, it may be hard to find that information.
It can be very emotional for an actor to even admit to being injured, but that's a hurdle every actor has to surmount.
"The emotional strain really weighed on me," says J.D. "I finally got a Broadway show, I was doing what I wanted - it
was like I arrived. I got so used to that money, the thought of having it taken away - it was a hard thing emotionally.
To have my injury jeopardize that, it was very scary."
|
For many actors, there's a bit of mystery surrounding Workers' Compensation. What is it? Who is eligible? Is it the same
as your employer-sponsored health insurance or is it something entirely separate?