RISMEDIA, July 24, 2007–Realogy has announced today that its CENTURY 21®, Coldwell Banker®, Coldwell Banker Commercial® and ERA® brand affiliates will now have access to major medical and limited benefit medical health insurance. The healthcare program is administered by three insurance carriers offering two major medical plans and three limited benefit medical plans. The plans offer a wide range of services — from basic first-dollar coverage, to full comprehensive major medical, including vision and dental, all at competitive rates. The plans are available to help meet the health insurance needs of more than 250,000 Realogy brand affiliated brokers and sales associates in the U.S. along with their employees and families.
Operating independently of each other, insurance carriers HM Insurance Group, AIM, and AFID LLC are servicing the plans and are running the first open enrollment period through September 14, 2007. After the close of the initial enrollment period, new sales associates or brokers joining any of the participating Realogy brands, or those existing affiliated members experiencing a life change, will have a 30-day window to sign up for one of the plans with guaranteed issue. The open enrollment period affords a guaranteed issue — no medical questions are asked and all applicants are accepted. Program pricing is competitive, ranging from $114 a month for an individual’s limited benefit medical plan to just over $800 a month for comprehensive major medical coverage for a family. The pricing is plan-dependent and is not affected by the age of the participant.
“Access to competitively priced medical coverage is an enormous benefit of membership and enables our affiliates to concentrate more freely on building their businesses,” said Alex Perriello, president & CEO, Realogy Franchise Group. “Our focus group of top brokers from across the country gave us insights on tailoring a flexible program that meets the needs of network members, including multiple plans, administrative simplicity, and the ability for sales associates to independently join a healthcare plan of their choice.”
Realogy’s size and scope enabled the Company to negotiate for the competitive pricing on the health insurance plans, which are available in all 50 states in either major medical or limited benefit medical form based upon applicable state laws. The flexible limited benefit medical plans are designed to meet an individual’s needs and budget, paying a fixed-dollar amount for covered medical services including doctor office visits, emergency room care, hospitalization, outpatient prescription drug insurance, and more. The major medical plans are guaranteed issue high deductible PPO plans paying up to $2,000,000 in covered expenses. Additional benefits available with the major medical plans include first hospital confinement, accident coverage, critical illness, an Rx card, dental, vision, and optional stand alone products such as life insurance, and short-term disability.
“Realogy-affiliated brands have more than 10,000 offices and 250,000 sales associates in the United States; this represents a lot of buying power,” said Chris Sears, senior vice president, procurement, Realogy Corporation. “This health care initiative gives us the perfect opportunity to leverage our size for the benefit of our affiliates. From an industry perspective, the National Association of Realtors® reported that 28 percent of its members lacked health insurance. We believe the healthcare programs we have made available to our brand networks can assist more real estate professionals in securing this important protection for themselves and their families.”
For more information, visit www.realogy.com.
