The Virginia REALTORS® Health Insurance Bill passed the Virginia General Assembly with almost unanimous support from both Democrats and Republicans, due in no small part to the efforts you, our members, took to communicate with your legislators. The bill was signed into law this past spring by Governor Youngkin. Virginia REALTORS® has always been forthright to our members in communicating that this was only the first of many hurdles we would need to clear before being able to offer health insurance to our members. An additional hurdle we now face comes from the federal government.
Unfortunately, the federal government, through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), recently signaled their opposition to our plan and indicated this opposition could ultimately result in CMS assuming enforcement authority and issuing penalties to any plan provider working with Virginia REALTORS® to issue health insurance to our members.
Our position that this is a state plan under state law remains firm. However, in offering us a plan, potential partners are vulnerable to federal interpretations that could result in enforcement action. We are frustrated and disappointed about the position CMS appears to be taking and are working with our legal consultant and other interested parties to identify any possible remedies.
This is the time of year that many of our members are making decisions regarding their current health insurance purchases. We want to make sure our members are fully informed and understand that we do not have a health insurance plan as an option for consideration at this time.
Please continue to check back as we update our Virginia REALTORS® Health Insurance Resource page. https://virginiarealtors.org/health-insurance-resources/
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