As Hollywood Spending Drops, Health Care Fears Rise For Many Writers 

David Radcliffe always knew trying to make it as a Hollywood writer with good pay and health benefits was a gamble, and especially risky for someone with cerebral palsy.

And now, the risks seem higher than ever.

With studios pulling back on spending after years of rapid expansion, it’s become harder for newer writers like Radcliffe to make the nearly $44,000 needed to qualify for coverage through the Writers Guild of America.

Writers weren’t working during a nearly five-months-long strike that went until last September. Even before then, studios were making fewer hires as they shrunk writers’ rooms and ordered shorter series.

Radcliffe, who was last staffed on the CBS drama Tracker found himself $4,000 shy of earning WGA coverage, which is known for being comprehensive and affordable.

“My health insurance basically would have been extended for another year if I had about one more week on the TV show I was on,” Radcliffe said. “So that's how down to the wire these things can become. Just a few days of work can make all the difference.”

He shared his predicament on social media, as did other writers on the verge of losing coverage. Some asked for help in finding writing jobs that would pull them over the income threshold.

A break for now

Radcliffe and other writers affected by the strike are getting a brief reprieve under the terms of a strike settlement deal struck with the studios last year that grants coverage extensions.

Radcliffe only learned about the extension days ago from another WGA member who had seen one of his social media posts about losing coverage.

Instead of having his policy canceled in the fall as anticipated, Radcliffe will be insured through the year. And he will get more time – three extra months — to earn the remaining $4,000 he needs to qualify for insurance next year.

Radcliffe is helping to spread the information about the extension to fellow writers like his friend Joelle Garfinkel. She is short $3,000 in earnings needed to qualify for coverage.

“It's a very scary situation to be in, especially as a single mother,” said Garfinkel, who has a six-year-old son.

Garfinkel said that a confluence of industry developments has created an unstable landscape for entertainment workers.

“The streaming bubble popping and the sale of [the CW television network] – these are all factors that are kind of creating this contraction that we're in,” Garfinkle said.

To help struggling writers during the strikes, Garfinkel came up with the Green Envelope Grocery fund which has continued to provide grants for help with household expenses.

Now that she is looking for writing work to supplement her income so she can qualify for health care, she's turned to the same community of writers for help.

“A lot of the writers I know tend to be resilient and have grit and deep empathy,” Garfinkel said.

The lower rungs

It’s a particularly challenging time for lower-level, lesser-paid writers which is how Garfinkel describes herself. Despite 16 years of experience, she’s been stuck in staff writer or story editor roles – many rungs below showrunners or writers with studio deals.

Radcliffe, who’s worked on three shows, said he had hoped he would be “further up the chain.”

As the industry recasts itself during this tumultuous time, he says more needs to be done to retain and promote newer writers, including those from underrepresented communities – an issue dear to him as co-chair of WGA’s Disabled Writers Committee.

A mid-level writer with a co-producer credit, for example, will make enough to not have to worry about qualifying for health insurance, Radcliffe said.

“We need to pay particular attention to people that are still at the lower end of the ladders,” Radcliffe said. “Those are the people that are going to need the experience and the network to build their own projects in the future.”