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Not even the least bit doubtful.
It is a bit odd since sag-aftra members have pretty decent insurance policies for their members. My best guess is that he was probably seeking care from an out of network provider and paying out of pocket.
Unfortunately there are a lot of predatory cancer clinics who specialize in selling false hope to wealthy clients with terminal illnesses. It's still an awful byproduct of the American healthcare network, but it is a more unusual aspect of it.
Not how it works when you have cancer.
The treatments come from a specialty pharmacy and don't count as a part of your out of pocket maximum. There's no limit on what they can charge for that. Additionally, any of the bleeding edge treatments, are never covered by insurance. And when your life is on the line, you want the bleeding edge treatments.
That is entirely dependent on your insurance plan. Sag aftra has specialty drug coverage
"CVS Specialty for specialty medications Specialty drugs are high-cost oral or injectable medications used to treat complex conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, HIV, psoriasis, rare genetic disorders and cancer. These medications will only be covered when filled through CVS Specialty. Visit cvsspecialty.com/DrugList for a list of covered medications that is updated quarterly. When your drug is on the list, you pay $0"
If you visit the drug list for oncology, it's fairly extensive compared to programs like Medicare or Medicaid.
That's what I was talking about when I spoke about specialty clinics that predate on wealthy clients.
Unfortunately if you are seeking bleeding edge cancer treatments your cancer is likely already advanced enough that your outcomes are looking pretty bad.
I can tell you, having gone through the CVS specialty pharmacy stuff for chemo medication specifically, it is absolutely not covered in the way you or they have said, and you absolutely do not pay $0.
Have you ever had cancer or had a family member go through cancer treatments? Because if you haven't, you probably shouldn't speak from a position of authority on things for which you have no direct personal experience with.
I have both had very close family members go through this and am going through something similar myself personally.
My copay is absolutely not $0 from CVS specialty pharmacy. Usually, for a $9k-12k prescription (Depends on the dosage they decide I need), I end up needing to cover around $2k/month, after insurance. And that's with having double insurance providers. Some of that can be helped out with from other assistance programs from the manufacturer, such as a manf. co-pay card, but the money I pay towards it does not count towards my out of pocket deductible, so I'm forced to also hit my OOP maximum from normal procedures that aren't related to the specialty pharmacy medication.
Additionally, health insurance has been covering less and less of my medications and procedures each and every year. So it keeps getting worse for me, and I assume everyone else, including those in the SAG.
It's dependent on your individual insurance plan and what kind of coverage you have....... This is the reason I said the Sag-aftra policy was pretty decent compared to most private insurance policies. The quote I gave is directly from the policy they currently have, which would be different than the policy you have experience with even if you utilized the same pharmaceutical company.
Yes, and Im a healthcare provider in a field where a lot of my patients population have been or currently are in being treated by oncologist.
While it's disheartening to hear that, that does not mean that is going to be the same for someone with a different policy than you. Sag-aftra has a very good policy because they have group bargained as a union to get the best care for their members. Which is different than most private insurance policies that are sponsored by workplaces who bargain to get their employees the cheapest policies available.
I'm not trying to make excuses for the American healthcare system of inequality. I was just pointing out that the union provided policy was particularly impressive compared to most. It's sure as hell alot better than my policy and I work for my state's largest healthcare provider.
Every actor has to be in good standing with SAG-AFRA in order to qualify for health insurance, and if the actor hasn't worked in a while they are not considered in good standing so lose the insurance.
It's best if you research these things before commenting.
https://www.sagaftraplans.org/health/eligibility
He was regularly working as an actor in 2025.....>Imbd. Likely to maintain his insurance coverage.
It's best if you research these things before commenting.
Cool. How many hours must he have had to work to keep his insurance? How much medical debt had he accumulated before 2025? And if he was working 'regularly' why was he still selling his memorabilia?
You have to work a certain amount of day or make a certain amount of compensation as a performer, to qualify for insurance its a little over 100 days or so 28k and that includes residuals, production, and background work.
As I stated in my original comment, you can still have medical debt while having decent insurance. I'm not saying that the medical system is good, or fair.
For one..... I never said he wasn't in medical debt. Secondly, if I had 6 kids and knew I wasn't going to be around to financially secure their future I would be hawking memorabilia as well.
I don't think they are destitute, they still have a multi-million dollar home outside of Austin. I think he was just doing anything possible to maintain their financial norms as much as possible.
I don't doubt the bills were large, but I doubt he left his family penniless.