Realtors can take advantage of many benefits associated with being independent contractors. Car allowances and other expenses, including home offices in some cases, take the sting out of taxes, but health care remains a major hurdle for many. As independent proprietors and associates, brokers and agents are often precluded from sharing in group health insurance rates and benefits, which can be much less expensive than purchasing individual policies.

GMAC Real Estate says it has solved the health insurance problem for its agents. The company recently became something of an industry pioneer by introducing an innovative program that provides true group health insurance plans to the company’s 22,000 agents and their families nationwide.

“For a long time, we’ve been dismayed by how health insurance negatively impacts those in our industry and we simply decided we needed to do something about it,” said Lane Barnett, chief executive officer of GMAC Real Estate Franchise Operations. “We designed the GMAC Real Estate program to give our companies access to the benefits of true large-group health insurance coverage and benefits.

“It’s a very innovative way to make competitive group rates and reasonable deductibles available to all of our agents,” Barnett said. “The GMAC Real Estate insurance program gives them access to outstanding, affordable insurance coverage, and it’s a great way for them to protect themselves and their loved ones while maintaining their business freedom and independence.”

It works like this -- through GMAC’s Investment and Insurance Services division, GMAC Real Estate has formed a partnership with HR Trust, one of the nation’s leading insurance brokers. The partnership enables GMAC Real Estate to provide agents and their families access to the kind of comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage normally available only through large group insurance plans.

According to Barnett, what makes the program unique is that it is a true group plan made possible through the use of outsourcing and creating a true group of thousands of independent contractors. Also, the enrollment fee is reduced for the GMAC Real Estate agents, and there will be exclusive plan benefits designed with agents and franchises in mind, which also will be exclusive to GMAC. Open enrollment in the new program is set to begin in February 2007.

Barnett said he wasn’t aware of any other real estate company offering such a comprehensive health insurance program to brokers and agents.

“Our agents and brokers work extraordinarily hard for their money, and to provide for their families’ comfort and security,” he said. “If there is something we can do to ease the financial burden of insurance, we’re going to do it. And that’s the motivating force behind our new GMAC Real Estate insurance program.”

The bottom line is that GMAC Real Estate is able to provide insurance through a single carrier. For others, another choice would be the National Association of Realtors' NARhealth.com , which provides sponsored links to a wide variety of insurance products.

Mary Stark-Hood, NAR's vice president of member benefits, explained to Realty Times that the reason it isn't possible to provide a single carrier is logistics.

"What’s changed is that many years ago it was easier to put in place a program with one carrier," explains Stark-Hood, "but with changes in insurance law and regulation by state insurance departments, it's not possible to do a 50-state program with one carrier, so instead the NAR uses an insurance broker who contracts with a number of carriers to provide the best solution possible in each state."

In similar news, Warrantech, a provider of home warranties, is launching insurance programs for Realtors® who sell the company’s Advantage Home Warranty. One program offers free life insurance, while the second program provides coverage for errors and omissions insurance at a reduced deductible for homes with an Advantage Warranty.

The new life insurance program, underwritten by Jefferson Pilot Financial Insurance Company, begins on Jan. 1, 2007 and is believed to be the first of its kind in the real estate industry, said Evan Rothman, president of Warrantech Home Service Company.

In addition, Warrantech developed a unique Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance program with CalSurance Real Estate E&O Specialists exclusively for Realtors that sell Advantage warranties. Underwritten by NYMAGIC, Inc., an “A” rated insurance carrier, the new program started on Nov. 1, 2006.

Editor's note: For agents who aren't associated with GMAC, the National Association of Realtors provides a variety of health, dental, and life insurance plans at sponsored links which support www.narhealth.com .