1) As the majority of real estate agents are self-employed/independent contractors, their costs for health coverage has to be HUGE. Single payer would help get rid of one gigantic expense to the majority in the industry.

2) If they weren’t forced to pay premiums through their employers, as well as huge medical bills when the occur, how much more income would individuals have to spend on other things like, oh, I don’t know… HOUSE PAYMENTS?

The NAOR’s “non-position” position smacks of some incestuous relationship between the large corporate real estate franchises and the insurance industry.

I’m late to the party because I am a chicken. You are brave to dive right into the fray.

The issue is complex, but there are some simple conclusions that can be drawn.

For profit health care is something of an oxymoron. The trouble is that providing good care for the sick is in direct conflict with profit margins. I was

I was in this field as a researcher for 15 years. Many of the physicians that I worked with were from European countries and they were shocked at how bad the situation was over here. They didn’t understand why we had no national program and were shocked at the costs of the for profit system and how many loopholes were available to dump the truly sick.

Enjoying the debate here. I just want to add that many NAR members can get basic coverage from the REALTORS® Core Health Insurance (RCHI) program. You can find out more about that here:
http://www.realtor.org/realtor_benefits/benefits_partners/core_health_insurance

Brian Summerfield
Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Its not like we could ask Jimmy to help us, but let not gather and talk about a Union ~

Add illegal immigrants to the mix – can they be insured?

I believe you should either be a citizen or in this country legally. The burden on the medical community and the penal system is already outrageous. Fix that first.

I’m retired military. When I joined the Navy in 1982 I was promised “Free Health Care for LIFE.”

By 1994 I was paying for Tricare Prime.

By the time I retired in 2003, the cost for this plan had tripled.

Retired now, my premiums are easily 1/3rd lower than most other plans – but that’s not my point.

If you think ANOTHER Government-mandated health plan is not going to also triple in cost in very short order, you need a urinalysis.

KW came out with a somewhat reasonable insurance for agents in February. I’ve not done the research to see how many of our 70K plus agents have taken the plunge – so I don’t know if it’s working or not. At least they’re trying.

My plan – as it is – works for me and my family. I don’t like it but I like the alternatives less. The one thing that does work is that it is set up into regions (four, I believe). This seems to work a lot better than the state exchanges proposal possibly could.

Navy Chief, Navy Pride

I’m past weary of those who hold the post office up as a model of government inefficiency, yet at the same time argue that a government option would magically operate at some cost advantage over private insurers. The USPS delivers 220 billion pieces of mail annually at rates that are less than half that charged by other developed nations. While the postal service reported a loss for its 2007 and 2008 fiscals due to declines in mail volume, it turned a profit in 2006. Its express delivery business competes on a level playing field with its main rivals, UPS and FedEx, who play in a far more profitable market space. The USPS earns customer satisfaction scores across all its lines of business in excess of 90% — on par with its competitors.

The same argument applies to Medicare, which insures a segment of the population largely abandoned by the private sector. Its year-over-year cost increases are primarily a function of the fees it pays providers, not the service it delivers its insureds. This imbalance is one of the issues being addressed in comprehensive health care legislation.

Face it, folks. If we’re going to curtail runaway health care costs and extend affordable coverage options to individuals and small businesses, there are going to have to be changes.

See, we are not that far apart once we start talking about specifics

That, my good friend, may be the poster child for false premise.

Still, your questions are in the minds of many of us. Truth be told, if the gov’t would simply allow the insurance industry to compete opening, across state lines, and more or less unfettered except for what we’d all surely agree would be required minimum regulation, price would indeed head south while efficiency would increase.