The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Tuesday delivered a letter of support in favor of a proposed U.S. Department of Labor rule that could potentially pave the way for the trade group to create an Association Health Plan through which its self-employed Realtor members could receive more affordable medical coverage. The rule, which would modify the legal definition of “employer” to include “working owners” — i.e., self-employed individuals with no employees — including thousands of real estate agents working as independent contractors, was proposed in early January, and Tuesday marked the end of a 60-day comment period. The Labor Department will now give feedback and could make a ruling as early as this summer. “NAR has long documented the challenges of finding affordable health insurance coverage and historically the rate of uninsured members has ranged between 20 and 30 percent,” wrote NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall in a 15-page letter addressed to…
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