June 7, 2019
Join NAR in Protecting Association Health Plans
As NAR continues to fight for more affordable health insurance options for members and their families, REALTORS® are invited to support and sign on to NAR’s latest amicus brief, or “friend of the court” brief, which will be submitted in defense of the Association Health Plan (AHP) regulation. Read about the ongoing litigation here.
Earlier this year, a Federal court held provisions of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) AHP rule as unlawful, including specific provisions regarding eligibility for working owners (i.e. independent contractors). This ruling has adversely impacted the expansion of AHPs to REALTORS® who seek more cost effective and comprehensive health insurance solutions.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is appealing the ruling and NAR is submitting an amicus brief in support of the DOJ’s appeal. If your association would like to join NAR’s amicus brief (read the working draft here), fill out this Google Form.
By submitting the Google Form, you acknowledge that you have read the Amicus Brief, confirm that the association you represent wishes to join the Amicus Brief as amicus curiae, and represent and warrant that you may properly provide such consent on behalf of the association. If you have questions, contact our NAR Political Representative, Jack Greacen, jgreacen@realtors.org.
Read the working draft amicus brief here.
For more information on the ongoing litigation, see here, and a summary of the Department of Labor’s guidance in response to the litigation, here.
For more information on AHPs and NAR’s health care reform efforts, see here.
NAR Focused on Flood Insurance Extension
Last week was an exciting week here in Washington as NAR worked to get a short-term extension of NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program. Two members of the conservative Freedom Caucus objected to unanimous consent on a two-week extension – NAR’s Federal Political Coordinators (REALTORS® who work directly with legislative representatives to advocate for NAR) played an enormous role in helping get the members of the caucus to weigh in to ensure a lapse did not occur.
As of June 3, NAR expects that Congress will pass H.R. XXXX, Disaster Relief, which includes in it an NFIP extension through the end of the 2019 fiscal year. While this is not the “long term extension” we’ve been pushing for there seems to be a good faith and bipartisan effort going on behind the scenes to find common ground for reforms that would allow for that long-term extension; stay tuned for further details.
IRES MLS: Come Home to Colorado 