Drake Bell Says He Doesn’t Qualify for SAG-AFTRA Health Insurance After Reporting $17,480.53 in Covered Earnings

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TV + Movies

By https://thoughtcatalog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-10-41-35-pm.png?w=48 Emily Madriga

Updated 37 minutes ago, October 15, 2026

Drake Bell’s SAG-AFTRA health plan notice put him $11,452.47 below the earnings threshold for coverage, prompting the actor to criticize the union and its president, Sean Astin.

Bell, 40, shared the notice on his Instagram Story. It listed $17,480.53 in covered earnings for July 2025 through June 2026, against a $28,933 minimum. Covered earnings are the figure cited for his eligibility, rather than a total of everything he’s earned.

Drake Bell browses the farmers market in Los Angeles in July 2018, sporting mirrored shades, a black tee, ornate printed pants, and colorful arm tattoos. Photo by WENN / MEGA.

“You do not qualify for Health Plan coverage at this time,” the notice read. It said his reported earnings didn’t meet the minimum eligibility requirements or he hadn’t met other eligibility rules.

“Do not become an actor. Do not join SAG,” Bell wrote. Addressing Astin, he added: “How about stop using actors to run things maybe? They literally just know how to say words in front of a camera.”

Drake Bell at Teen Vogue’s 2019 Young Hollywood Party at the Los Angeles Theatre, wearing a red Paramount-branded sweatshirt and grey jeans. Photo by Amy Sussman / Getty Images.

Bell’s screen career includes The Amanda Show, which he appeared on from 1999 to 2002, and Drake and Josh, which ran from 2004 to 2007. His work in recent years has largely centered on music and voice acting, with credits including Robot Chicken in 2021, Ben 10 and The Adventures of Kid Danger.

Other actors have described struggling to keep their coverage. Atypical actor Jack Haven said in a YouTube video that $4,000 in additional earnings was needed by the end of September to qualify for insurance beginning in January 2027. Haven later said enough work had come through to qualify.

At Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California, Drake Bell takes the stage for the “Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” For Your Consideration event on April 9, 2024. Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin / Getty Images.

Heather Matarazzo, who played Lilly Moscovitz in The Princess Diaries films, responded: “I am literally in the same boat right now. Lots of my fellow actors are. I remember a time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance.”

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