National Association of Realtors’ Brief
As tensions mount across the nation regarding the “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009” also known as HR3200, unrest is visible at town halls across the nation and feel our readership would be interested to know where the National Association of Realtors stands on the issue.
It is common knowledge that Realtors as independent agents and small businesses suffer from lack of coverage, especially now that a down market slashes agents’ budgets, NAR has long lobbied for legislation to make healthcare more realistically affordable for agents.
This month, NAR Government Affairs published a public brief addressed to the federal political coordinators across the nation and outlines the NAR’s position on HR3200.
In the brief, NAR gives some background to the issue noting that 28% of NAR members are uninsured and 39% of firms are unable to insure administrative staff and reiterating NAR’s long standing support of opening insurance across state lines in an exchange that allows small businesses (Realtors) to band together across state lines and garner affordable insurance plans.
Where does NAR stand?
“NAR has yet to take a position for or against any of the bills as a whole” but outlines how HR3200 could be improved and airs NAR concerns, here are the highlights:
Treatment of the self-employed:
“Given the diverse nature of the self-employed, their business models and individual circumstances, allowing the self-employed to choose whether they participate in reforms as individuals or as small businesses is the right way to determine where the self-employed fit into a health reform framework.”
Exchange:
“NAR has concerns with the bill’s provisions that would allow the creation of state-based Exchanges, which we believe would do little to reduce the higher administrative costs associated with individual and small group policies.” (Note: emphasis is theirs, not ours)
“NAR believes that one national Exchange or a limited number of regional Exchanges would better serve the nation than a system of 50+ mini-Exchanges that replicates the existing dysfunctional state-based insurance markets.”
Rating rules:
“NAR is pleased to see that the proposed AAHCA market reforms include: Uniform federal rating rules for the individual and very small employer markets; Guaranteed issue and guaranteed renewal rules, and A prohibition on health status and pre-existing conditions as underwriting criteria.” (Note: NAR’s 2009 Member Profile Report states that the median age of Realtors is 54 years old.)
Benefit options:
“NAR has concerns with the bill’s procedure for determining what constitutes qualified coverage. Extreme care must be taken to ensure that standards recommended by the Health Benefits Advisory Committee are crafted so that qualified coverage products are affordable and meet the varied needs of the targeted population.”
Fragmentation of small business insurance markets:
“NAR does not support the bill’s provisions that would divide the small group insurance market into a very small employer group (firms with 10 or fewer employees in the first year, 20 or fewer in year two, with administrative discretion in following years) with access to a national Exchange and a second small firm market of larger small firms with no access to the Exchange. Fragmentation would create an uneven playing field for the self-employed and smallest firms vis-à-vis the rest of the small firm universe and create the potential for some participants to “game” the system. NAR strongly urges that all small employers be given access to the national Exchange.” (Note: emphasis is NAR’s, not ours.)
Individual mandate:
“NAR has serious concerns with the bill’s requirement that all individuals have some source of health insurance coverage. The self-employed are a significant portion of the uninsured today and cost is the overwhelming reason cited. NAR survey research confirms that uninsured Realtors® also find cost to be the greatest barrier. Policies that mandate individual coverage will fall on the self-employed in disproportionate numbers and often with unintended consequences.”
Employer mandate:
“NAR is very concerned with Tri-Committee bill provisions that would require employers with annual payrolls in excess of $250,000 to provide and contribute to employee health insurance or pay a penalty ranging from 2 to 8 percent of payroll. The bill’s employer mandate fails to recognize that not all small firms have the revenues necessary to cover premium costs and the large penalties like those envisioned in the bill will have a detrimental impact on small firms that are responsible for significant portions of job growth.”
Public plan option:
“REALTORS® are concerned with the bill’s proposal that would create a new government-run public health coverage option that would compete with the private insurance products offered through the Exchange. REALTORS® believe the market functions best when there is a level playing field between all providers of a given service. REALTORS® believe it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for private firms to compete with the federal government… the bill’s proposed public coverage option would operate at a 10 percent cost advantage over private insurance.”
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with NAR’s assertions? What do you think will happen with HR3200? Are you involved in healthcare reform locally?
