No protection plan - any receiver replaced is $19.95 shipping. Any receiver replaced the new receiver is leased. Any dish/switch repairs at the price of a service call, generally $49.95 to $79.95.
With protection plan - any receiver replaced is free shipping. Any receiver replaced the new receiver is leased or owned, matching the receiver that it replaced. Any dish/switch repairs free.
Only you can decide if $72/yr is a good investment for you.
If an owned receiver is replaced under the protection plan, it should be owned as well. BUT, you need to call DirecTV to make sure it is marked on your account as owned. I had to call DirecTV once to fight to get a H23 changed to owned status that replaced a RCA HD DTC-210 under the protection plan.
I have 7 receivers on my account, ( 4 kids

) DirecTV customer since 1994, the protection plan has been worth it for me, once they had to completely re-wire part of my house due to the initial installers using steel cable staples, all of my original owned RCA receivers have been replaced under the protection plan except one, which is still going.
Since you have a "owned" HR24, I'd recommend the protection plan.