The Campaign

Most MBA minimums increase by 1.5% for the first year of the agreement, and will increase another 3% on May 2, 2027, 3% on May 2, 2028, and 3% on May 2, 2029. Some minimums and rates increase less, mostly by 2.5% in the later contract years, while a few rates increase only once or do not increase over the contract. The minimum for individual Comedy-Variety weekly compensation will increase by 2.5% in the first year, and 3% each year thereafter.

Contribution Rate

The Health Fund contribution on reportable earnings will increase 3.25% in the first year of the agreement, from 13% to 16.25%, and then another 0.5% in the second year, to 16.75%. This increase includes 0.25% reallocated from the current 0.5% contribution rate for the Paid Parental Leave Fund, where contributions have significantly exceeded benefit costs since the program’s inception.

In addition, the deal includes a one-time transfer of $25 million from to the Health Fund from the Paid Parental Leave Fund, which will still maintain sufficient funding reserves to pay out benefits.

Health Contribution Caps

The 2026 MBA includes various increases to the caps on the amount of writer earnings that generate health contributions, many of which had not meaningfully increased in decades. These higher caps will support the overall health of the plan by reducing the effective discount companies have been taking on contributions.

The increased contribution rates, one-time transfer, and higher contribution caps are projected to result in a total of $321 million in additional contributions to the Health Fund over the term of the agreement including $280 million in new money from the companies. By comparison, the last time the Guild sought increases to bolster the Health Fund in 2017, the companies agreed to increase the contribution rate by 2% over the term of the MBA and to increase the overall deal caps by $25,000. These gains were projected at the time to generate an additional $66 million in contributions over three years. The 2026 negotiated gains will shore up the Health Fund and put it on a path to sustainability.

The Guild negotiated the right to divert up to 0.5% from various minimum increases in each of the third and fourth years of the agreement to the Pension Plan if the Plan is projected to fall below certain funding thresholds over a 10-year projection period.

We also agreed to expand the current discounted pension contribution rate for pilots and one-hour series in their first season of 9.75% (instead of 11.25%) to half-hour series in their first season. This change will not impact individual writers’ pension accruals because pension contributions above 6% are decoupled from the calculation of writers’ pension benefits.

Like all American health plans, ours has seen skyrocketing healthcare costs, which have driven up our in-network plan costs 13% per year since 2019. In recent years, the Health Fund has been strained further by the combination of the industry contraction, which has both reduced the number of jobs and increased the number of writers relying on Extended Coverage Points.

The Fund has taken a number of steps to manage costs, such as directing participants to generic drugs, negotiating lower rates for out-of-network services, and, most recently, introducing no-cost surgical procedures through a curated network of providers called Lantern. While each of these measures has saved money, they have not been enough to address the Fund’s deficits in the face of exorbitant medical cost inflation. The companies proposed to make other benefit changes prior to negotiations, but the WGA insisted that further changes needed to happen in conjunction with increased employer contributions to the Fund.

As explained above, we negotiated hundreds of millions of dollars for the Fund. But increased funding alone is not sufficient to ensure the plan’s survival. The Guild agreed to implement a number of cost-saving measures starting in 2027, including increases in the monthly premiums that Active participants pay for health coverage—which have been frozen for 23 years—and some increased amounts in out-of-pocket expenses related to deductibles, co-insurance and out-of-pocket maximums in the Anthem PPO plan. These changes are intended to make the Fund more sustainable, generating savings while preserving member choice and access to high-quality benefits, and limiting out-of-pocket costs as much as possible.

Eligibility

Since 2003, the eligibility qualifying threshold for coverage has been set at the one-hour network primetime story and teleplay minimum, which increases each year with MBA minimums; that amount is currently $46,759, roughly one-quarter of the cost of coverage under the Plan. In July 2027, the earnings threshold to qualify for coverage will increase to 110% of the one-hour network primetime story and teleplay minimum, or $53,773, and thereafter will continue to increase with MBA minimums.

What is the new Centivo plan option?

As an alternative to the Anthem PPO, starting in 2027 the Health Fund will offer a new plan option for active participants and pre-Medicare retirees through a network called Centivo, which includes all of the UCLA health system in Los Angeles and Mount Sinai in NY as well as providers in other parts of the country. This plan will offer lower premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for participants. This targeted network option, which is able to negotiate lower rates with providers and requires referrals for specialists, will help the Plan keep healthcare costs lower. Writers will have the option to enroll in Centivo when they become eligible for coverage, during an open enrollment period once a year, or after major life events.

More details about the Centivo offering and how to sign up for it will be available later in 2026.

What if I stay on the PPO?

Participants will have to pay some increased amounts in out of pocket expenses related to premiums, deductibles, co-insurance and their out of pocket maximums in the Anthem PPO plan. To address rising out-of-network expenses, the Plan will be adjusting its reimbursement of out-of-network behavioral health care to be in line with reimbursement for all other out-of-network care.

I am a retiree, what will change for me?

Pre-65 retirees will have the same changes as Active participants.

Medicare-primary post-65 retirees will see the same increased deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and coinsurance changes as Active participants, but will continue to pay the existing premiums of $50 for any dependents. The Plan will also make changes to the drug benefit that will cause minimal disruption while saving the Plan and many participants money on their prescriptions.

How will Extended Coverage Points change?

Writers who do not reach the eligibility threshold can continue their coverage through use of Extended Coverage Points they have banked from prior years to maintain coverage. Extended coverage currently costs 2.5 points per quarter.

Since 2014, writers have been able to earn up to three Extended Coverage Points per year, with the first point accrued upon qualifying for coverage, the second point earned at $125,000 in covered compensation, and the third at $250,000. The current system of Extended Coverage Points is unsustainable and the bargaining parties have agreed to certain changes.

Starting January 1, 2027, the first Extended Coverage Point will be earned at $200,000 in annual earnings, and the second point once earnings reach the compensation cap for screen, which will be $325,000 on January 1, 2027 and will increase along with the negotiated increases to screen caps. Additionally, Extended Coverage under the Anthem PPO plan will cost 4 points per quarter, while Extended Coverage under the new Centivo plan option will cost 2.5 points per quarter. Consistent with the current rule, these points can be used once a participant has accrued 10 points. This will set the Extended Coverage program on a more sustainable path going forward.

The 2026 Agreement does not change the Fund’s Excess Earnings rule.
 

The Negotiating Committee agreed to four years in order to get the historically high contribution and cap increases we needed to preserve our Health Fund.

“Page one” rewrites—where the writer is hired to replace all or substantially all of an existing screenplay, with a contract specifying a “page-one rewrite”—will have a higher minimum than standard rewrites, of $57,500 for a high-budget feature and $31,500 for low budget in the first year and then increasing with minimums. This minimum will be effective for contracts entered into on or after May 2, 2026.

The 2026 MBA expands the 2023 MBA’s mandatory second step protection for writers hired for a first draft screenplay at 225% or less of the applicable minimum, up from 200%.

The companies agree to instruct any producer engaged on a covered theatrical project that only the named individual in the writer’s contract can request rewrites or accept delivery. This new language is intended to address the issues of unpaid producer passes and producers impeding delivery of a draft to the employer.

The 2026 MBA preserves all protections negotiated in 2023. New in the 2026 MBA is that companies must give the Guild written notice if they license writers’ work to train a commercial Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) system in order to create outputs, and the Guild can request discussion with the company about the license, including any remuneration for writers.

Starting with deals made January 1, 2027, if/come deals are non-exclusive and “no position” until the company has paid the writer for the first step of the pilot (i.e., 10% commencement fee).

Effective May 2, 2026, the minimum fee for a format fee increases 42% to better reflect the amount of work required to write a format, from $14,118 to $20,000; the higher minimum will then increase with MBA minimums over the remaining MBA term.

The requirement to employ two writers in production (in addition to the Showrunner) will be extended to Pay TV and High-Budget Subscription Video On Demand programs filming in the US or Canada where the writers room overlaps with production for up to 3 weeks, effective for projects with rooms for new seasons commencing January 1, 2027 or after.

Span protections will be expanded to cover more writers paid per episode on short order series, by increasing the cap on earnings from $450,000 to $475,000 (Basic Cable remaining at $375,000) effective for new contracts starting May 2, 2027.

The residual base for domestic and foreign HBSVOD residuals will increase by 2.5% effective for projects written starting May 2, 2027, and by another 2.5% on May 2, 2029.

Foreign streaming residuals for projects on subscription streaming services with more than 75 million foreign subscribers (including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+) will also increase by 6% in Year 1 before increasing an additional 2.5% in Years 2 and 4 as noted above. Combining the higher foreign tier with the 2.5% base increases, the 3-year residuals for domestic and foreign streaming will be:

The residual for projects reaching a viewership metric of 20% of a service’s domestic subscribers will increase from 50% of the applicable domestic and foreign residual to 75% of the applicable domestic and foreign residual for projects released after January 1, 2027.

For projects written during the term of the 2023 MBA but released after January 1, 2027, the bonus will be 75% of the 2023 HBSVOD residual formula. For projects written during the term of the 2026 MBA, the bonus will be 75% of the 2026 HBSVOD residual formula.

Currently, a writer receives a “Teleplay by” or “Written for Television by” credit because their episode is based on source material, and they receive a fixed residual that is about two-thirds of what the full "Written by" residual would be. Under the 2026 MBA, when a writer receives “Teleplay by” or “Written for Television by” credit on an episode with no “Story by” credit, that writer will get 100% of any fixed residual rather than only the teleplay portion, resulting in a 44-54% increase in the residual amount, depending on the episode length. The table below provides an example of the increased amounts for HBSVOD episodes written for Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ or Hulu.

The companies had proposed to eliminate the existing 35% of the other than network primetime rate fixed residual for episodes licensed to foreign free TV under any new license and pay only the revenue-based residual of 1.2%. We agreed to a modified residuals formula only for dramatic programs made for High Budget SVOD that are newly licensed to foreign free television, where the existing fixed residual of up to 35% is adjusted up or down depending on the ratio between the foreign revenues received and 75% of the applicable foreign revenue threshold. For instance, a half-hour program’s adjustment ratio would be foreign revenues received divided by $281,962.50 (75% of $375,950). The 1.2% residual above the applicable foreign revenue threshold will continue to apply.

Under the 2026 MBA, a credited writer of a television episode can request a digitally watermarked electronic copy of their episode from the company.

WGAW members should call (323-782-4501) or email our Contracts Department. WGAE members should contact Mack Harden, mharden@wgaeast.org.

Over the remainder of 2026, the WGA and the fund administrators will dedicate resources to informing and educating members about coming changes.

WGAW members should call (323-782-4501) or email our Contracts Department. WGAE members should contact Mack Harden, mharden@wgaeast.org.