SCC Receives Federal Approval to Establish Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program

RICHMOND – The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has received approval of a federal waiver to establish the Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program (CHRP). The SCC will be responsible for implementing and operating that program, which is scheduled to begin January 1, 2023.

The SCC was directed under Virginia Code Section §38.2-6606 to submit an application for a State Innovation Waiver to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) to establish the CHRP. Under the waiver, insurance carriers are reimbursed a percentage of the claims of covered individuals with high annual costs.

House Bill 2332 was passed in the 2021 Special Session I of the Virginia General Assembly and signed into law on March 31, 2021, creating the CHRP and directing the SCC to seek the waiver application. The SCC submitted an application for the waiver to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of HHS, and the Treasury Department on December 30, 2021. The approval is for an initial period of up to five years.

Information about the CHRP is available on the SCC website at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Reinsurance-Waiver

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Contact: Katha Treanor, 804-371-9141