‘One Job Away’ Campaign Spotlights Actors’ Health Coverage Crisis
WHO:
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said actors who had led television shows for years were now asking, “What am I gonna do?”
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said he had appeared on more than 40 television shows and earned residuals, but those payments did not necessarily count toward health-insurance eligibility.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said he had a stage career.
The Hollywood Reporter - Gibby said she had several months left to qualify for insurance and did not plan to leave the industry.
The New York Post - Cheyenne Jackson said he started the #OneJobAway campaign to help struggling actors.
The Hollywood Reporter - Cheyenne Jackson, an actor known for roles in *American Horror Story*, *30 Rock* and *Glee*, launched the “One Job Away” campaign on Instagram.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said actors had sent him “hundreds and hundreds” of direct messages asking to be featured; some were a few hundred or a few thousand dollars short of qualifying for insurance.
The Hollywood Reporter - Bayne Gibby, a middle-class actor with 30 years in the industry, was featured in the campaign. Her credits include *The Comeback*, *Hacks*, Emmy-winning HBO series, commercials and feature films.
The Hollywood Reporter - Kathy Bates arranged for Jackson to perform four speaking lines on *Matlock* after he told her he was short of the insurance earnings requirement.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson cited Angela Lansbury’s practice of hiring older actors who were short of insurance eligibility as inspiration.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said Sarah Paulson and Jamie Lee Curtis were reposting featured actors’ biographies and photos.
Variety - Cheyenne Jackson has appeared in more than 40 television series, including *Imperfect Women*, *American Horror Story*, *Call Me Kat*, *Glee* and *30 Rock*, as well as several movies.
WHAT:
The Hollywood Reporter - “One Job Away” highlights SAG-AFTRA actors who need one or a few additional jobs to qualify for the union health plan, which requires $28,000 in annual earnings.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said the eligibility problem is systemic across working SAG actors. He said residual payments do not necessarily count toward insurance eligibility and cited the example of earning $350,000 one year followed by a lean year.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said he was $6,000 short of eligibility in 2025 for coverage for himself, his husband and their twins. He later “squeaked by” through acting in a microdrama and doing a commercial.
The Hollywood Reporter - Gibby said she had worked only one day that year, calling it her “worst financial year ever,” and said she feared being unable to pay bills or losing health insurance.
Variety - Jackson was close to losing his SAG-AFTRA health insurance after falling short of the approximately $28,000 annual earnings minimum.
WHERE:
The Hollywood Reporter - The campaign was launched on Instagram; Jackson discussed it with *The Hollywood Reporter*.
WHEN:
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson launched the campaign Monday morning and reported receiving hundreds of messages within 24 hours.
The Hollywood Reporter - Starting Jan. 1, quarterly eligibility premiums and the earnings threshold will rise; the threshold will increase by one percent, with additional one-percent increases in subsequent years.
The Hollywood Reporter - Gibby referred to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and said actors had expected work to recover in January 2025; she also cited fires in 2025 as further disruption.
WHY:
The Hollywood Reporter - Gibby said actors’ sacrifices during the 2023 strike had not led to better opportunities, prompting peers to question why they had gone on strike.
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said industry consolidation, fewer jobs, reduced scripted-series orders, runaway production and cost-cutting have made qualifying for coverage harder.
The Hollywood Reporter - Gibby said the pandemic, strikes and fires contributed to declining work and questioned whether the strike’s sacrifices had improved opportunities.
HOW:
The Hollywood Reporter - Jackson said actors had discussed being short of insurance eligibility “in hushed tones” while waiting for auditions; the campaign aims to reduce the stigma around asking for work.
The Hollywood Reporter - The campaign posts actors’ headshots and biographies to help casting directors and well-known industry figures connect them with work and reduce the stigma of asking for jobs to meet insurance requirements.
The Hollywood Reporter - SAG-AFTRA plan members face four quarterly qualification deadlines, depending on when they joined the union. Eligibility changes were negotiated in the union’s latest contract with studios and streamers.
(UPDATED October 27, 2026 14:12 UTC)
Actor Cheyenne Jackson has launched the “One Job Away” campaign on Instagram to connect struggling SAG-AFTRA performers with work that could help them qualify for the union’s health plan, which requires $28,000 in annual earnings. Jackson says he was once $6,000 short of the threshold, and residuals from his more than 40 television roles did not necessarily count; the campaign features actors such as Bayne Gibby, who says she worked just one day this year and is worried about losing insurance. Jackson says fewer jobs and industry cost-cutting have made coverage harder to secure, while the campaign shares performers’ biographies and photos to help them find work and ease the stigma of asking.
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(UPDATED October 27, 2026 13:25 UTC)
Actor Cheyenne Jackson has launched “One Job Away,” an Instagram campaign connecting SAG-AFTRA performers who are just short of the earnings needed for health insurance with potential work. The plan requires $28,000 in annual earnings, and Jackson says he was $6,000 short in 2025 before picking up a microdrama role and a commercial; actor Bayne Gibby, featured in the campaign, says she worked only one day that year. Jackson says fewer acting jobs are making coverage harder to secure, while stars including Sarah Paulson and Jamie Lee Curtis are helping spread performers’ profiles.