Free COBRA Coverage Under American Rescue Plan Dashboard Dashboard

Didn’t meet your earnings requirement for health coverage? See if you are eligible for this limited benefit.

(6/18/2021)

The pandemic relief bill signed by President Biden in March, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), offers a 100% subsidy of COBRA payments to qualified individuals, between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021.

Under COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, individuals who lose their health coverage due to a Qualifying Event, such as job loss or hours reduction, have the option to continue their coverage for a limited amount of time. For the Writers’ Guild-Industry Health Fund, this includes participants and covered dependents who lose earned coverage because the participant did not meet the annual earnings requirement.

If you are not eligible for Medicare or any other Group Insurance and you are not currently covered under the PWGA or you are currently enrolled in one of the Fund’s COBRA Plans and you have not yet applied for the ARPA premium subsidy, we encourage you to apply. Additionally, if you are currently paying COBRA premiums you may be entitled to a refund!

To find out more information about this benefit click here: Guide to ARPA requirements. You can also contact the Health Plan’s Eligibility Department at (818) 846-1015 or via email at emailbox@wgaplans.org for more information.

The Writers' Guild-Industry Health Fund provides medical, hospital, dental, prescription, vision, wellness, and life insurance benefits to its participants and their eligible dependents. Participants in the Fund are generally writers in the Motion Picture and Television Industry ("Industry") for whom contributions have been made to this Fund by their Employers who are parties to the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") with the Writers Guild of America, East and West, Inc. The Fund is jointly administered by an equal number of Directors from the Employers and the Guilds.