On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee became the fifth and final committee in Congress to approve a health care reform bill. The committee vote was 14-9 in favor of the bill with Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (ME) joining all of the panel's Democrats to vote in "aye". Amended over the course of two weeks, the reform package would cost $829 billion over 10 years, reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion over that same ten year period and allow 29 million people who otherwise would be uninsured to obtain private coverage. It has been estimated that 17 million U.S. citizens or legal residents would still remain uninsured.

The self-employed and small employers, such as REALTORS® and realty firms, would benefit from the significant changes that the amended bill makes to traditional insurance underwriting and rating practices, including requiring all policies to be guaranteed issue and bans on the use of pre-existing conditions or health status as rating factors for setting premiums. Self-employed individuals with no employees would be given an added advantage in that they could choose to purchase private health insurance as an individual or as a small business through the new health insurance exchanges.

Significant differences remain between the Finance bill and the bill passed in July by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senate leaders now have to meld the two bills into one before debate can begin in the full Senate. Major decisions have to be made on whether or not to include a government run public option, an explicit employer mandate, and at what level of income individuals would be allowed to access subsidies to buy insurance, or conversely, not subject to an individual coverage requirement. There are also significant omissions in both bills at the present time, including allowing non-profits and trade associations to access affordability credits to provide insurance to employees. These are all topics NAR continues to discuss with Senate and House negotiators.

Given the need to finalize multiple bills before any formal debate of a final bill can begin, NAR has not taken a position on any of the health reform bills as a whole at this time. However, NAR has continued to weigh in throughout the legislative process with both Senate and House members to make sure that the health insurance challenges facing the REALTOR® community are fully understood. NAR has also been both visible and vocal about its opposition to any proposal that would limit the mortgage interest deduction (MID) as a means of "paying for" health reforms. To date, NAR has succeeded in keeping a reduction in itemized deduction out of all of the bills being considered in both the House and Senate. NAR remains vigilant as the health legislation moves toward full consideration by both Chambers. With hundreds of amendments expected to be filed and the cost estimates constantly shifting, it will be very tempting for someone to use itemized deductions to pay for a modification. Stay tuned to www.realtor.org/healthreform for updates.