Retired Public Employees Council of WA Working to protect and enhance the pension and health care benefits of Washington retired state, county and local government employees
Health Care Authority Listening Sessions and Public Forums begin in March
The Health Care Authority (HCA) will be hosting virtual listening sessions and public forums via Zoom to hear from public sector retirees who receive their healthcare benefits from the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB). These stakeholder engagements are being held to glean insights to improve HCA service to retirees and to help inform future healthcare plan decisions and features.
The listening sessions will be held weekly, beginning March 14. Each will include 12 participants who subscribe to each of the healthcare plans offered by PEBB.
The virtual listening sessions will function like virtual focus groups – they are guided discussions based on a handful of general questions. Participants will receive the questions in advance via email, along with backgrounding materials.
Currently, HCA’s proposed dates for the virtual listening sessions include March 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, and 30, April 4, 6, 11, 12, 18, 20, 25, and 27, and May 2, 4, 9, 10, 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30. Sign-up information will be available soon.
HCA also plans to host virtual public forums via Zoom on March 22, April 26, and May 24. Each forum will accommodate up to 30 participants. Attendees will have 3 minutes to share information or concerns. Sign-up information will be available soon.
These stakeholder engagements resulted from RPEC’s opposition effort last summer to stop the elimination of the UMP Classic Medicare plan. Since July, RPEC has been leading the PEBB Stakeholders’ Medicare Coalition in coordinating these stakeholder engagements with HCA staff.
