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Nov 2005
Index of all
messages
from the Association President
Three Clicks of YOUR Mouse…
By Kim Enomoto
I had a mouse in my house. I went and bought some traps. Click, click, click… that was it. The mouse was gone and I was happy!
Hopefully you don’t have mice, but I know you all have a computer mouse and I know you know how to click, click, click. That’s all it takes to give the greatest gift of all this year.
Click, click, click…
That gift is the gift of affordable health insurance to the one in four REALTORS® who currently goes without it. When the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) asks for your help in expressing the urgent need many in our industry have for affordable coverage, you can click, click, click and make your voice heard to senators and congressional leaders who will consider the Small Business Health Fairness Act HR525/S406.
Going without
Look around you. Understand that even if you have health insurance, according to a recent NAR survey, 28 percent of our members are without it…meaning that more than 330,000 practitioners have NO health insurance. Other colleagues are struggling to pay a monthly premium and/or medical bills because their insurance is extremely expensive or inadequate.
Many of us know fellow colleagues, friends and acquaintances who are dramatically affected by the inability to obtain affordable health insurance. What are the alternatives? Pay high priced premiums or go without health insurance at all. Neither of these options is acceptable.
State and local associations are following NAR’s lead in turning up the pressure on their congressional representatives to support HR525/S406. This legislation would give REALTORS® access to affordable group health insurance.
Call to action
The progress we are making in achieving this goal has been in the form of a grassroots action campaign. If you are a REALTOR®, your e-mail address has already been put into the system. You may want to go online at www.Realtor.org and check to make sure NAR has accurate information. (Or, check out the easiest way to get this and other information at AAR’s website, www.AuroraRealtors.org. Click on the “Political Pulse” link. If you haven’t been aware of this resource in the past, make sure you “bookmark” it for the future. AAR’s staff has done an outstanding job of putting lots of links, classes, updates and other information on this site that will help you everyday.)
The great news is the next time you receive a “call to action” from NAR, all you have to do is click, click, click and your request is automatically sent to the appropriate senator and congressman. The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to personalize any letters or worry that your response won’t go to the appropriate place. Technology has simplified this for us and the end result is the e-mail you send turns into a fax to senators and congressmen…and it’s the number of faxes that make a difference, not specifically what you write. I saw this effect personally when I was in Washington D.C. and met with many of our senators and congressmen. It is amazing.
Help your colleagues
If passed as proposed, Bill HR525/S406 Small Business Health Fairness Act could affect group health plans to be offered by any trade association, national or regional, that can meet the legislation’s criteria for a sponsoring organization. This means you won’t be helping only your colleagues, but other trade organizations also.
As part of the NAR’s call to action, you will receive requests only when NAR believes the issue warrants your attention. Don’t you think affordable health insurance for everyone should warrant our attention? With the challenges ahead for 2006, we need your help. Please don’t opt out, but do your part to make is a great new year for everyone!
To all, I wish you wonderful holidays and only one mouse in your house…the one attached to your computer….remember click, click, click your way to an outstanding 2006!
Please send thoughts, comments and concerns to
Kim.Enomoto@ColoradoHomes.com.
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