As the Walt Disney Co. enjoys another banner summer — its Toy Story franchise returned to bring in $1.1 billion globally — staff across the brand and its subsidiaries received unprecedented news last week announcing changes to their spouses’ health benefits eligibility, in a move that may signal a wider corporate trend as costs rise.
Employees at Disney and its portfolio of brands — including Marvel, ABC News, ESPN and Searchlight Pictures — learned this week that the company will no longer allow spouses or domestic partners to join Disney-sponsored health plans if they have access to coverage through their own employer. The change was announced last week and takes effect in 2027.
“Like a growing number of large employers, we’re making measured adjustments to our employee benefits in response to rising healthcare costs nationwide,” a Disney representative said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “We will be communicating these changes in more detail with our employees over the next few months. As always, we remain committed to providing our employees with a comprehensive package of high-quality coverage and other benefits that support their total health and well-being.”
Disney noted that other elements of its Total Rewards package are unchanged: Employees’ children will remain eligible for coverage, and no changes are planned to spousal access to vision and dental plans. Still, the shift creates a new decision point for tens of thousands of the company’s roughly 160,000 employees, known internally as Cast Members.
