Writers’ assistant Olga Lexell used to rack up around $10,000 a year in medical bills to manage a chronic condition, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, that requires her to sit through thyroid X-rays and frequent blood tests. While her show was on hiatus, she would pay $500 a month to extend the insurance that the studio offered, even though it was “never that good.” It wasn’t until writers’ assistants and script coordinators banded together in early 2018 to unionize under the banner of Iatse Local 871 that her healthcare costs shrunk dramatically.
“Once we unionized, my medical expenses went down from about $10,000 a year to $300 a year,” said Lexell. “I went to see my doctor, where my co-pay used to be $65 under the studio plan, and it was only $5. And I cried. I was so floored.”
Lexell, like many of the more than dozen writers’ assistants and script coordinators who spoke with Variety, cite access...
“Once we unionized, my medical expenses went down from about $10,000 a year to $300 a year,” said Lexell. “I went to see my doctor, where my co-pay used to be $65 under the studio plan, and it was only $5. And I cried. I was so floored.”
Lexell, like many of the more than dozen writers’ assistants and script coordinators who spoke with Variety, cite access...
- 10/22/2019
- by Elaine Low
- Variety Film + TV
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