PEB Board begins 2026 meeting season
On January 29, the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEB Board) met for the first time this year. Members attended in person at the Health Care Authority (HCA) building in Olympia and remotely. The meeting was open to the public both in person and via Microsoft Teams.
Meeting recap
Highlights are listed below. See the briefing book for all presentation materials.
A panel discussion, led by John Partin, section manager in the Employee & Retirees Benefits (ERB) Division, focused on policy impacts of health care access and costs. The panelists included David Ward, senior medical director, primary care, Kaiser Permanente; Geoffrey Ankeney, senior medical director, Kaiser Permanente; Ty Jones, medical director, Regence BlueShield; Michelle Vollrath, senior vice president, client management, UnitedHealthcare; and Sheela Tallman, vice president, external affairs, UnitedHealthcare.
HCA staff provided presentations on the following:
- Summary of open enrollment for plan year 2026, including enrollment numbers and in-person and online benefits fairs attendance
- Update on the 2026 legislative session and the Governor’s proposed budget
- Overview of the contracts and benefit planning cycles
- Update on the Benefits 24/7 online enrollment system
- Update on the status of the fully insured procurement and the criticality of investing in our IT infrastructure before proceeding with a procurement
- Preview of 2026 PEB Board season
Next meeting
The next public meeting of the PEB Board is scheduled for March 12, 2026, starting at 9 a.m. Board members and the public may attend in person or virtually via Microsoft Teams. A link or call-in number for virtual attendance will be noted on the meeting agenda and posted on the PEB Board Meetings and materials webpage.