I got what my insurance company calls an "Explanation of Benefits" in the mail yesterday. It was what they consider detail for a charge for a routine annual physical. The doctor did the usual stuff which took him several minutes, I got a tetanus shot, a flu shot, and had a vial of blood taken for the usual routine checks. The bill was $648.
My insurance provider's explanation of benefits indicated that they paid the clinic a whopping $98.86, and I will have to pay $48, for a total to satisfy the entire $648 bill of $146.86. Does that sound like a discount, or does it sound like fraud? Charge Joe Stupid with a pocketful of money $648, but charge someone "represented" by an insurance company only $146.68.
I got to thinking how successful the movers in the health care industry have become. They keep building more and more clinics, and insurance companies keep making lots of money. Why not apply health industry business practices to the real estate industry? Perhaps it's just what housing and the entire economy needs to bring things back to the good old days.
If you add a few zeros to my bill and call it a house, you have a house with a price tag of $648,000. That's what you charge the un represented consumer who needs a new place to live. If they have a buyer's agent, the price of the home will immediately drop to $146,800. Although there may not be a 100% parallel here, there are similarities.
Let's go one step further. Have Congress pass the Affordable Housing Act and force everyone who buys a home to have a buyer agreement with a licensed agent. Maybe even force everyone to have a buyer agreement even if they don't need or want to buy a new house. No buyer agreement, you pay a fine. Am I on to something here?
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