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Leaders of the Nevada Realtors and Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors did something special this month when they met with federal government officials in the White House to support association health plans as a way to improve the cost and availability of health insurance for their members in Nevada.
Nevada Realtors CEO Teresa McKee and GLVAR CEO Wendy DiVecchio joined Angela Shields, CEO of the Tennessee Realtors, and Shelia Dodson, CEO of the Baldwin County, Alabama Realtors Association, at the May 8 meeting at the White House arranged by the National Association of Realtors. The association leaders discussed with federal officials how they have recently developed their own unique AHP programs and how important it is for members of their associations to continue to have access to these health plans.
To date, the association leaders said, more than 3,000 Realtors and their families in their states have found cost-effective health insur
REALTORS
ance solutions through these local AHP options.
McKee and DiVecchio explained that the GLVAR and the statewide Nevada Realtors began offering their own AHP coverage in December 2018, with nearly 1,000 Nevada Realtors from all 17 counties in the state now being covered by these plans.
“There are currently eight association health plans being offered in Nevada, according to the Department of Labor,” McKee said. “That’s more than any other state in the country.”
She added that the “collective public-sector interest representatives at the White House meeting emphasized with the Department of Labor that the plans that are offered are full-coverage plans, offering significant savings to association members, without regard to their level of health, therefore having a very minimal impact on the Affordable Care Act.”
DiVecchio noted that many GLVAR members signing up for the plan it is offering in Southern Nevada had never had health insurance before enrolling in its plan.
“About 27 percent of our members signing up now have never been able to afford health insurance and now have full coverage and are getting the health care they need,” DiVecchio said.
McKee added that “individual insurance was so costly for some people and families that it was out of reach. Now, even people with significant health problems and large families in rural areas that had minimal quality providers now have greater access to local quality providers.”
The NAR was represented at the meeting by Christie DeSanctis, director of federal policy for the trade association and its senior health policy expert. She previously worked on AHP issues for House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline.
The May 8 meeting followed the NAR’s call for the Justice Department to defend the Department of Labor’s regulatory authority to support AHPs.
DeSanctis said the Affordable Care Act brought regulatory changes, and some significant price increases, to the individual and small group insurance markets where self-employed professionals who typically lack access to more affordable, employer-provided coverage are forced to shop. As a result, Realtors have identified AHPs as an attractive alternative through which they can pursue quality health insurance coverage. Self-employed Realtors have a nationwide median individual gross income of $42,500, meaning many can only absorb modest price increases before foregoing health insurance coverage altogether.
“The National Association of Realtors is actively engaging with White House officials in order to ensure the Justice Department protects working owners’ access to group health plan coverage under an AHP,” said NAR President John Smaby, a second-generation Realtor and broker at Edina Realty in Edina, Minnesota.
“As independent contractors, Realtors have long struggled to find and secure affordable health insurance options,” Smaby said after District Court of Columbia Judge John Bates struck down a DOL attempt to expand association health plans earlier this year. “As these discussions progress in Washington, we will continue to fight for more affordable, quality health insurance options for all of our members.”
The National Association of Realtors represents more than 1.3 million members involved in residential and commercial real estate.
GLVAR was founded in 1947 and has 14,000 local members. For more information, visit www.LasVegasRealtor.com.