On January 25, 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 Zoom.
Meeting recap
Highlights are listed below. See the briefing book for all presentation materials.
A panel discussion led by Dr. Heather Schultz, associate medical director at HCA, focused on equity in health care access and outcomes. The panelists included Lan Nguyen, MD, Premera; Tracy Muday, MD, Regence BlueShield; Geoffrey Ankeney, MD, Kaiser Permanente of Washington; and Quyen Huynh of HCA.
HCA staff provided presentations on the following:
- The SEBB Program’s Equitable Access to Health Care Workgroup
- Behavioral health network adequacy
- Fall 2023 open enrollment summary, including enrollment numbers, in-person and online benefits fairs attendance, and customer service results
- Update on the Governor’s budget and 2024 legislative session
- Overview of a study on contracting for administration of UMP
- Information on retail pharmacy trends
- Update and overview of pharmacy provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act
- Update on the Benefits 24/7 online enrollment system launch
- Overview of PEBB Medicare offerings and engagement with retirees
- Overview of the procurement and benefit planning cycles
- Preview and discussion of issues the Board will consider this year
Next meeting
The next public meeting of the SEB Board is scheduled for March 14, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Board members and the public may attend in person (masks are optional) or virtually via Zoom. 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.