2025’s Best Healthcare Providers for Real Estate Agents
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Most real estate agents work as independent contractors or they’re their own bosses. This provides agents with the job flexibility they enjoy. But for many, it means a lack of health insurance.
Major brokerages like Coldwell Banker and REMAX offer insurance plans for their agents. But most brokerages don’t. And if you work for yourself, then getting your own insurance plan is a must.
Finding the right insurance plan can be challenging. It’s important to find one that offers a sufficient amount of coverage at an affordable price. This article will review your options so you can decide which is best suited to your needs.
2024's Best Healthcare Providers for Real Estate Agents
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act was brought into legislation in 2010 when Obama was president. It was created to provide affordable insurance to individuals, families, and businesses. It can be easily accessed through websites and call centers.
The website will show you plans and prices and tell you how much you’ll save by signing up. Once you enter your income and personal information, you can see which ones you are eligible for. Then you can shop around to find the best deal.
The amount you pay for ACA insurance will vary depending on your location and personal situation. Plans typically range from $300 to $700 a month. However, subsidies currently average $500 a month which reduces the expenses considerably.
Association Group Insurance Plans
Another option is an insurance plan specially designed for agents. This comes in the form of the Realtors Insurance Place provided by the National Association of Realtors. It offers a variety of coverages for members of the NAR including dental, vision, health, telemedicine, and wellness solutions at all stages of life. It even offers pet insurance.
The site does not provide quotes directly. You will need to call a representative to find out how much the premium will be.
Terms, conditions, and limitations may apply depending on age, state laws, and other eligibility requirements. But the plan is worth exploring.
Brokerage Insurance Plans
While most brokerages do not offer insurance coverage for their agents, there are a few that do. If you are fortunate enough to find a brokerage that provides insurance, simply choose the plan that works best for you and your family.
Private Market Insurance
If you are not an NAR member and do not work for a brokerage that offers insurance coverage, you may want to consider private insurance plans.
A private insurance plan is beneficial in that it offers you control over your plan. You won’t be locked into a time frame of when you must purchase the insurance such as an open enrolment period.
Private insurance may seem like an expensive option. The base price is not too far off the national average.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a plan costs around $440 a month as compared to the average of $456. A private family plan is around $1168 compared to the national average of $1152,
However, unlike the Affordable Care Act, these plans don’t come with subsidies that can save you money.
What to Know About Getting Real Estate Health Insurance
There are many factors involved when purchasing real estate health insurance. Here are a few to consider.
Deductible: The deductible is the amount you pay before your insurance payments kick in. So if you have a deductible of $500 per year, you will need to pay $500 for your medical needs before your insurance company begins providing coverage. It’s best to get a deductible that’s as low as possible.
Copay: The copay is the amount you’ll pay for medical services and prescriptions after the insurance payments kick in. So, if you haven’t reached your deductible, you may pay $150 for a $150 medical visit. After you reach your deductible, you will pay the copay only. So if your copay is $25, you’ll pay $25 for the visit. The insurance company will pay the rest.
Co-insurance: Coinsurance is similar to a copay, but it works on percentages instead of a fixed rate. So, if your deductible is met, you will begin paying only a percentage of your medical bill. For example, if your co-insurance is set at 20% you will pay $20 of a $100 medical bill. The insurance will pay the rest.
Out of Pocket Maximum: An out-of-pocket maximum is the most your can pay for your health insurance plan every month. This will include your deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. After you reach this maximum, your insurance will pay 100% of your medical costs for the rest of the month.
Premium: The premium is the amount you pay for health insurance every month. It does not include copays, coinsurance, or deductibles. If you have a market plan, your premium may be reduced by tax credits.
PPO: PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization. It’s a type of plan that contracts with certain medical providers to create a network of participating providers. You will pay less if you use providers within your PPO network, but some PPOs provide coverage for out of network providers as well.
Methodology
Our in-house real estate experts spent hundreds of hours researching, scoring, and ranking the top health insurance providers on the market. We looked at everything from pricing and ease of use to the specific real estate industry features that are available. We’ve ranked and rated each health insurance company on 4 different factors to come up with the very best healthcare providers. The short version of factors considered are:
- Cost and value: Not all real estate healthcare providers are created equal, so it’s important to look at what’s included with your purchase. While opting for affordable health insurance will always be important, you’ll want to strike the right balance between value and coverage, ensuring you’ve got the ideal plan to suit. Our experts take into account the upfront costs, while also looking at what copay costs will be.
- Coverage: Real estate agents want to be able to access healthcare without paying a ton of fees out of pocket. The coverage is arguably the most important consideration of all. You’ll need to think about whether you want a full-service plan or something on the lighter end of the scale, which may depend on whether you’ve got separate vision insurance or dental insurance plans elsewhere. This is why the available coverage is a major factor in our recommendations.
- Customer support: Many real estate agents don’t have the time to research or see what offices are in network, so customer support is very important. It’s one of the biggest downfalls in customer reviews. Whether you might need help seeing what’s covered or what your HSA budget is, customer support plays a big role in finding your ideal healthcare provider—especially when it comes to an insurance company that you’ll be paying for regularly.
- Overall performance: At the end of the day, all health insurance need to have a good ROI. Our experts looked for how the coverage meets the specific needs of real estate agents and teams. Being able to easily communicate with providers is a must, so our experts took that into consideration when coming up with the above recommendations.
