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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Oral Argument Information

Oral argument for the appeal pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (In Re: Senior Health Ins. Co. of PA 71 MAP 2021) was heard on September 15, 2022, in Philadelphia City Hall, Room 456, at 9:00 am (Eastern Time).
 
You may listen to the audio of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s September 2022 Oral Argument Session via livestream at 
www.youtube.com/c/supremectofpaofficial.

About Rehabilitation

On January 29, 2020, Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania ("SHIP") was placed in rehabilitation by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (the "Court") with the consent of SHIP’s board of directors and of the trustees of the Senior Health Care Oversight Trust, which owns SHIP.  The Court appointed Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica K. Altman (the "Commissioner") as Rehabilitator, and she has appointed Patrick H. Cantilo as Special Deputy Rehabilitator ("SDR"). ​

Rehabilitation is a court supervised process intended to remedy the company’s financial deterioration for the benefit of policyholders and creditors.

On April 22, 2020, the Commissioner, as statutory Rehabilitator of SHIP, filed a proposed Plan of Rehabilitation ("Proposed Plan"), along with an application seeking Approval of the Proposed Plan and an application for the Approval of Form and Distribution of Notice. On June 12, 2020, the Court issued a Case Management Order establishing deadlines and procedures for Comments and a Hearing on the Proposed Plan of Rehabilitation and approved a form of notice of the filing of the application seeking Approval of the Proposed Plan. On October 21, 2020, the Commissioner, as statutory Rehabilitator of SHIP, filed a proposed Amended Rehabilitation Plan (“Amended Plan”) and on May 3, 2021, a proposed Second Amended Rehabilitation Plan (the “Second Amended Plan”) was filed.  

 

A hearing on the Second Amended Plan was held the week of May 17, 2021 in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.  On August 25, 2021, the Court entered a Memorandum Opinion and Order approving the Second Amended Plan, and, on September 13, 2021, the Court entered a Memorandum Opinion and Order approving a Settlement Agreement related to the Second Amended Plan. 

As requested by the Court, the Rehabilitator then filed her Approved Rehabilitation Plan (the "Approved Plan" or "Plan"). The final Approved Rehabilitation Plan was filed on September 30, 2021; redlines showing the differences between the Approved Rehabilitation Plan and the Second Amended Plan were filed on September 24, 2021 and September 30, 2021. 

On September 21, 2021, the Regulator Intervenors appealed the Approved Rehabilitation Plan to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and asked that the Commonwealth Court suspend implementation of the Plan pending that appeal. The Court rejected that request ruling that delay would hurt the Plan and the policyholders. The Regulator Intervenors then made a similar “stay” request to the Supreme Court, which also concluded it should be rejected. The Plan is therefore in the process of implementation, but it remains subject to a pending appeal.

On February 25, 2022, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica K. Altman officially resigned her position with the Commonwealth. Michael Humphreys was appointed Acting Insurance Commissioner effective February 28, 2022. Prior to being appointed, Humphreys served as the Chief of Staff for the Insurance Department since September 2019.

On March 8, 2022, Acting Commissioner Humphreys informed fellow regulators that he has directed the Rehabilitation Team to delay implementation of Plan modifications until the earlier of October 1, 2022, or the date of the final order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. This delay will apply to all states and provides a uniform, national implementation date. In the meantime, the Rehabilitation Team will continue to prepare for Plan modifications, including the collection of policyholder election information. Policyholders and agents will receive letters via the U.S. mail regarding the delay in implementation in the near future.

 

Please continue to visit the Court Documents page to obtain further updates as they arise. 

Rehabilitation General Questions

Rehabilitation Plan Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

SHIP reinsured and currently administers certain Transamerica Life Insurance Company (“Transamerica”) long-term care insurance policies. Transamerica recaptured their long-term care policies effective October 1, 2020. SHIP currently reinsures and administers certain Primerica Life Insurance Company (“Primerica”) and American Health & Life Insurance Company (“American Health & Life”) long-term care insurance policies. The proposed Rehabilitation Plan filed in April 2020 contains language that indicates that reinsured policies were going to be treated the same as policies issued by SHIP.  The Commissioner and SDR have since determined that the Plan should provide that all reinsured policies will be excluded from the provisions of the Plan dealing with SHIP’s policies. It is possible that SHIP, or its subsidiary Fuzion Analytics, Inc., will continue administering those policies under agreements with Transamerica, Primerica, and American Health & Life, which would not have a material effect on policyholders’ rights under the policies. In addition to the expansive treatment in the first Amended Plan, the Second Amended Plan approved on August 25, 2021 further provides clarity on the treatment of reinsured policies. The Approved Plan did not make any changes to the reinsured policies material set forth in the Second Amended Plan.

​The details and consequences of this change are more fully described in the Changes to the Proposed Rehabilitation Plan for Reinsured Policies section of the Other Information page.

Portions of this website (the "Website") are provided as required by Rule 3779 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure and the June 12, 2020, Case Management Order of the Court in the SHIP Rehabilitation Proceeding, Docket No. 1 SHP 2020 (the "Rehabilitation Proceeding"). Absent further Order of the Court, updates to this Website shall serve as official notice of filings, orders, deadlines, and hearings.

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