PEB Board begins 2025 meeting season

On January 30, 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 Zoom.

Meeting recap

Highlights are listed below. See the briefing book for all presentation materials.

A panel discussion, led by Jean Bui, deputy director for the Employees & Retirees Benefits (ERB) Division, focused on provider networks. The panelists included Denise Corcoran, vice president of Contracting, Regence BlueShield and Ty Terry, director of Provider Contracting, Health Plan Pricing, Operations and Contracts, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington. 

Robyn Williams, interim budget director of the Office of Financial Management (OFM), gave a 2025-27 state operating budget update. 

HCA staff introduced and the Board approved the following resolution:

• PEBB 2025-01 — Automatic deferral - PEBB retiree insurance coverage for subscribers who permanently live in a location outside of the United States and do not respond to HCA: Effective January 30, 2025, retirees and survivors who are not on Medicare and enrolled in PEBB retiree insurance coverage and permanently live outside of the United States, become eligible for Medicare Parts A and B, and do not respond to HCA within the required timeframe will be automatically deferred from PEBB retiree insurance coverage. These subscribers will be exempt from the deferral form requirement.
  • Evidence of continuous enrollment in a qualified coverage is waived while a retiree or survivor enrolled in Medicare lives outside of the United States.
  • A retiree or survivor enrolled in Medicare whose enrollment is deferred while permanently living outside of the United States will have the opportunity to enroll in a PEBB health plan when they return to the United States by submitting the required forms and proof of enrollment in Medicare Parts A and B within the HCA required enrollment timeframe.

HCA staff provided presentations on the following:

• Summary of open enrollment for plan year 2025, including enrollment numbers, in-person and online benefits fairs attendance, and customer service results
• Update on the Benefits 24/7 online enrollment system
• Update on the 2025 legislative session and Governor Inslee’s proposed budget
• Overview of the contracts and benefit planning cycles
• Results of an employee engagement survey
• Update on PEBB Program Medicare enrollment and engagement with retirees

Next meeting

The next public meeting of the PEB Board is scheduled for March 13, 2025, starting at 9 a.m. Board members and the public may attend in person or virtually via Zoom. 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.