SEB Board begins 2026 meeting season

On January 22, the School Employees Benefits Board (SEB 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; and Ian Corbridge, director, Office of Community Health Systems, Washington State Department of Health.

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
• Update on the Benefits 24/7 online enrollment system
• Overview of the contracts and benefit planning cycles
• 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 SEB Board season

Next meeting

The next public meeting of the SEB Board is scheduled for March 5, 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 SEB Board Meetings and materials webpage.