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Value of SAG Health Plan Assets Drop by nearly TEN PERCENT!!!!

Posted: Fri., Dec. 14, 2012, 6:10pm PT

SAG health plan loses asset value

Expenses rise 4.5% while value drops 9

“How many Takes does SAG Health Plan have left?”  Here’s the Variety Article:

The Screen Actors Guild-Producers Health Plan lost 9.5% of its net asset value last year to $129.5 million while expenses rose 4.5% to $204.6 million.The plan, which operates independently of the SAG-AFTRA perfomers union, made the disclosure this week as part of the Take 2 newsletter sent to its 40,000 participants and posted online as part of a bare-bones summary of its annual report.

The SAG plan also saw income decline by 2.1% to $190.9 million, which included an $8.5 million in “unrealized depreciation” of the plan assets, but did not elaborate in the newsletter. There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the plan, which has been a hot-button issue among SAG leaders for many years.

The plan was at the center of the debate over the merger between SAG and AFTRA, which members approved in March of this year. Merger backers asserted that the SAG-AFTRA combo would increase bargaining strength and represent a first step toward solving the problem of performers not qualifying for coverage under separate plans.

Opponents asserted that merging them would not benefit participants and were unsuccessful in a court challenge to block the vote on grounds that SAG leaders had not conducted a comprehensive analysis.

Three days prior to the merger vote, SAG leaders removed longtime plan trustee Robert Carlson following a court declaration in which he disputed SAG’s contention that a merger would be beneficial.

SAG denied that the removal was motivated by Carlson’s position on merger, attributing it to “unauthorized” public disclosure of plan data.

The new Take 2 report said employer contributions last year had totaled $138.6 million, up 2.7% from 2010. The gain took place with the new SAG/AFTRA master contract including a hike in pension and health contributions from 15% to 16.5% — 9.75% for health and 6.75% for pension — starting on July 1, 2011.

The 2011 plan expenses included $183.2 million in benefits, up 5.3% from 2010, and $21.4 million in administrative expenses, edging down 1.8%.

The latest Take 2 newsletter made no mention of the health plan raising premiums on Jan. 1 for members over 65 and their dependents. The newsletter disclosed that hike in September.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

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Thanks for the heads up Mr McNary.  Personally, I haven’t received my copy yet.  It ain’t easy to locate on the sag/AFTRA website.  Of course, to be fair it’s real easy to find the SAG AWARDS Nominations.    Here’s the link to that health plan info: http://www.sagph.org/html/archives/take2fall2012.pdf 

Here’s an excerpt with the pertinent information:

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Basic Financial Statement and Insurance Information.
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The value of the Plan assets, after subtracting liabilities of the Plan, was $129,466,670 as of December 31, 2011, compared to $143,126,126 as of January 1, 2011.
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During the year, the Plan experienced a decreasein its net assets of $13,659,456. This decrease included unrealized appreciation or depreciation in the valueof the Plan assets; that is, the difference between the value of the Plan’s assets at the end of the year and The value of the assets at the begininng of the year or the cost of assets acguired during the year.
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The Plan  had total income of $190,922,347 including employer contributions of $138,582,967, employee and participant contributions of $33,560,203, other income of $4,832,136, realized gain of $9,432,861 from the sale of assets, unrealized depreciation in the value of Plan assets of $8,453,409, and earnings from investments of $12,967,589.
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Plan expenses were $204,581,803. These expenses included $21,394,789 in administrative expenses and $183,187,014 in benefits paid to participants and beneficiaries.The Plan has a contract with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to pay life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment claims incurred under the terms of the Plan. The total premiums paid for the Plan year ended December 31, 2011 were $1,331,506.”
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Since those in power sold out SAG’s jurisdiction to AFTRA in order to “convince” members to merge, one wonders if SAG actors will get a chance for a Take 3 to save their future.
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Arl
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The Ol’ SAG Watchdog
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*Photo by SAG Watchdog


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