The Picture of Health (Reform) NAR's Officer's Blog

It is the 13th of October and I am writing from the 13th State. Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee voted to forward a health care plan. The vote was 14 to 9 with Olympia Snow, Republican from Maine, voting with the Democratic majority.

The self-employed and small employers, such as REALTORS® and realty firms, would benefit from the significant changes that the amended Finance bill makes to traditional insurance underwriting and rating practices, including bans on the use of pre-existing conditions, health status and a number of other rating factors that have made coverage costly or unavailable. Self-employed individuals would be given an added advantage in that they could choose to purchase private health insurance as an individual or as a small business through the new health insurance exchanges.

Before the Finance measure goes to the Senate floor, it will be melded with the Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill, which passed earlier this year. The melding will be done by the Senate and committee leadership. Once melded, the combined bill will go to the Senate for a vote. Then, the House has three committee versions of its bill, HR 3200, that are also going through the melding process so that a single House bill will emerge for approval by the entire House.

In short, the legislation is moving forward, but has many steep hurdles to clear before it becomes law. It is important to remember that we are still in the early innings of health reform, which means the actual language that will be in any final bill is very fluid right now. Because of this, your National Association has not taken a position on the bill.

What your Leadership Team and staff have done is to work through the entire process, without a respite, to make sure that any legislative proposal includes provisions that take into account the unique challenges of the self-employed and independent contractors. Moreover, NAR has also been both visible and vocal about its opposition to any proposal that would limit the mortgage interest deduction (MID) as a means of "paying for" health reforms. You can be sure that we continue to be vigilant in that commitment.

We understand how important this issue is to the members. Last week, I traveled to the Maine Annual Convention in Rockport. Much of the conversation focused on health care. What was striking is the calmness of the conversation and the desire to understand and be understood. Over 20,000 people in Maine have lost their jobs over the past year. Its economy is a mirror of much of the country. Generally, the perspective was one of value. If we are going to have a national health insurance program it should have cost controls, be portable, be available to people with pre-existing conditions, and provide quality care. It should have ‘common sense.’ Does this sound familiar? It should. These are the National Association of REALTORS® priorities on health care reform.

All of this was in contrast to my personal experience in Rhode Island. Our small office obtains health insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island. This month’s premium is $3,600. Over the past two years we have cut our overhead by 50 percent, but our costs of health care have increased by 25 percent. This has been necessary and I am confident you have been engaged in the same process. It is frustrating to see my premiums increase in part to fund a beautiful new glass skyscraper in Providence.

Nevertheless, please know that NAR is actively engaged in bringing common sense to the conversation. As Brokers, agents, support staff and Americans, this is a critical debate. -- Ron Phipps, 2009 NAR First Vice President

Fixing Health Care for REALTORS®

NAR Officers' Blog Entry:

Last Thursday, July 9th, Senator Mary Landrieu, chair of the Senate Small Business Committee held a roundtable on health reform and its impact on Small Businesses. Senators Olympia Snowe, Chris Bond, Ron Wyden, Jeanne Sheehan, and Kay Hagan attendaned for a conversation with 9 ‘stakeholders.’ I was honored to represent REALTOR® stakeholders. This was my second visit in the past two weeks to Washington, DC to meet with health reform decision makers. The process of government is very ‘deliberate.' Two general observations, first, people in Washington are generally well intentioned and are trying to do right by their constituents and the country. Second, it is amazing that anything gets done given the first observation.

In real estate, we have an industry specific vocabulary: PITI, FISBO, HUD-1s, CMAs, BPOs, etc. Washington also has its own vocabulary and the health reform conversation its own vocabulary. (Our Washington Staff does an exceptional job with preparation for each of the meetings. Jerry, Jamie, Marcia, and Ken all met with me to review our policies and to teach me the ‘nuances.’ There is a lot to absorb. In my case they give me a list of vocabulary words to use AND a list of words to avoid). Among the recommendations that I shared with the Senators is the need to use plain speak, understandable language, in the deliberations on health reform, but more importantly with the actual program. It is important for Americans to be able to understand the choices they have in language that they can understand. When I am involved in the conversation, I find it necessary to listen with a very precise ear to actually understand what is being said.

The main message I delivered was the nature of REALTORS® and our business models. The demographics are telling: The average REALTOR® is 54 years old, up 2 years over the past two years, 60 percent of REALTORS® are female. The average REALTOR® earned just over $36,000 before $5,800 of business expenses. More than 300,000 of our 1.2 million members have NO insurance. A significant portion of the remainder have limited, non-comprehensive insurance. Over lay the fact that most REALTORS® are independent contractors. As REALTORS®, we have a need for affordable, portable, comprehensive insurance. You can review the balance of our ‘principles in the health care reform conversation at www.realtors.org/healthreform.

One of the other messages that we have delivered is that health care reform should be funded and paid for from insurance reforms, and cost savings. It should not be funded from any housing related taxes. Our comments are clear: “Do not ask us to choose between health care and home ownership.”

I concluded my comments with the observation that REALTORS® are making economic ‘triage’ decisions right now. Many REALTORS® are forced to make choices between paying their mortgages or health insurance. Obviously, many forgo comprehensive health insurance and rely on the HOPE Insurance program: Hope I do not get sick.”

Among the industrialized countries, the United States spends more of its Gross Domestic Product on health care than any other country, and yet the outcome of that investment is an inferior medical delivery system. REALTORS® want what is good for Americans, but they are pragmatic. Make sure that what is spent has value. Make sure that the costs reflect rather than belie the value. -- Ron Phipps, 2009 NAR First Vice President