‘Drake & Josh’ actor Drake Bell blasts SAG-AFTRA after revealing he doesn’t qualify for health insurance.
On her Instagram Story on Tuesday, Bell posted a screenshot of the SAG-AFTRA health plan’s website that says “you are not eligible for health plan coverage at this time. Your reported covered income from July 2025 to June 2026 did not meet the minimum eligibility requirements, or you were not eligible under other eligibility rules.”
The web page says Bell earned $17,480.53 and needs $11,452.47 more to qualify by reaching the $28,933 required for the SAG-AFTRA health plan.
“Don’t become an actor. Don’t join SAG. You can work for 35 years and they still say (middle finger emoji),” Bell wrote in the screenshot. He then tagged SAG-AFTRA and its president, Lord of the Rings and The Goonies actor Sean Astin, in his scathing post.
“@SAGAFTRA, really, but @SeanAstin, you’re doing a great job. How about maybe we stop using actors to direct things? They literally know how to say words on camera.”
Bell recently turned to music and voice work after his acting career slowed following the Nickelodeon series “Drake & Josh” in the 2000s. In 2024, he came forward in the documentary series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” and revealed that he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by dialogue coach Brian Peck.
Bell is the latest celebrity to speak out about the difficulties of obtaining SAG-AFTRA health insurance. “Atypical” actor Jack Haven and “Princess Diaries” star Heather Matarazzo both revealed last month that they wouldn’t qualify for health insurance if they didn’t find more work soon.
“I’m in an emergency situation,” Haven said in a YouTube video at the time. “I need to make $4,000 by the end of the month to qualify for SAG health insurance starting in January.” Haven later got enough work after reaching out publicly, and Matarazzo shared that she was facing a similar situation.
“I’m literally in the same boat right now. A lot of my fellow actors are,” she wrote. “I remember a time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance. I’m happy to see Jack received an offer that will allow them to qualify for 2027.”
Variety has contacted representatives of SAG-AFTRA and Bell for further comment.
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