Do Realtors® Need Health Insurance?

Do Realtors® Need Health Insurance?

I thought about writing this blog post months ago when I bumped into yet another fellow Realtor® who did not have health insurance.  He was complaining of something health related and I asked what his doctor had told him about it.  He admitted that he hadn't been to the doctor because he didn't have health insurance.  Actually, it turns out that he didn't know that health insurance was even available to California Realtors® through several group plan options.  And of course, there is a limited health insurance option offered through the National Association of Realtors®.

The health insurance question was the first one I had to answer before finally pulling the plug on my law firm job.  Once I found out I could get insurance through the California Association of Realtors® I was free to break the chains of a regular job.  The plan I pay for is not that fantastic and it costs me about $300 a month and functions as little more than an overblown discount plan, but I do have health insurance.  I am wondering though how many Realtors® actually bother to get health insurance.  Overall, Realtors® seem to be a pretty uninsured bunch. 

I'm not here to rah-rah for health insurance.  I have it, I feel I need it, but I don't think it will do me much good unless I get really sick - and maybe not even then given all the restrictions in place in many policies.  But certainly, something seems better than nothing.  And, I wouldn't want not having insurance to keep me from going to the doctor.  I read the reports about the death of Laurie Manny, and though to my knowledge it wasn't confirmed that the reason she didn't go to a doctor was due to the fact that she had no health insurance, it is sad to think it may have been a factor.

I raise this topic today because I received a robo call this morning from someone purporting to know that the California Association of Realtors® group plan rates will be going up a great deal at the next open enrollment period.  I haven't verified that the call is authentic yet.  It was offering gap insurance - so I'm skeptical.  Anyway, I hope it's not true.  I hope that the price of health insurance hasn't jumped up to such a degree that I begin to think it is worth taking the chance of going without it. 

What do you think, do Realtors® need health insurance?

Copyright © 2011 Tni LeBlanc *Do Realtors® Need Health Insurance?*