PEIA Task Force Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. PEIA Addressing Funding Challenges

After a major financial shortfall, the Public Employees Insurance Agency is working on shoring up its future funding.

After a major financial shortfall, the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) is working on shoring up its future funding. The agency ended the past fiscal year down $93 million.

West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said the shortfall came, in part, from a reduction in projected investment income and an increase in post-pandemic elective surgeries.

“The investment income was less than they projected due to what happened in the stock market,” Lee said. “The number of claims was higher. During the COVID-19 years, people were putting off the elective procedures, and in 2022 people were starting to do those again, so the number of procedures that were being paid for was higher than what they had anticipated.”

Lee said PEIA officials have cost savings measures now in place and believes Gov. Jim Justice will honor his promise to keep PEIA solvent.

“At some point you’re going to have to put money in,” Lee said. “I believe the governor will put the $93 million in so there won’t be any increases for this next year. But where the problem lies is down the road come about 2026.”

Lee said concerns over long term funding go back to a 2019 legislative recommendation from the PEIA task force.

“Put PEIA money into the general fund so that you know that you’re funding it. Provisions that the state shall pay no less than 80 percent of that and the employee shall pay no more than 20 percent,” Lee said. “The cost savings would come under the employee share. It’s a way of ensuring for the long term, the viability of PEIA. At the time, Senate President Craig Blair was the Finance Committee Chair and a member of the task force. He seconded the motion to make this a recommendation that passed. And yet it hasn’t made its way to a committee agenda since 2019.”

PEIA will release its new financial plan at a statewide series of public events in November.

West Virginia Lawmakers Hear PEIA Task Force Update

A small group of West Virginia lawmakers received an update Sunday on the progress of a subcommittee tasked to hear concerns and proposed solutions from public employees regarding their health insurance program.

The West Virginia Legislature’s Select Committee on PEIA, Seniors and Long Term Care heard a presentation from Helen Matheny, who serves as convener of the Legislative and Public Outreach Subcommittee for the PEIA Task Force. She also works as director of collaborative relations and initiatives at West Virginia University’s Health Science Center.

Matheny told the joint committee that her group has met 11 times so far, with 10 more meetings scheduled. She said meeting attendees around the state have expressed concerns about drug costs, access to specialized care and what they see as a decline in quality of the benefits package received as a state employee.

“These individuals, a lot of them indicate that they really love the state of West Virginia,” Matheny told committee members. “They want their children to stay here, they love what they do. But, they say it is a challenge and they are concerned about recruitment and retention of qualified teachers.”

Matheny also said in her presentation that public employees have expressed interest in a long-term, dedicated funding solution for PEIA, or the Public Employees Insurance Agency. Ideas proposed at the outreach meetings include an increased severance tax on natural gas, a soda tax, a food tax and a tax on cannabis.

Gov. Jim Justice established the PEIA Task Force in the midst of a nine-day statewide strike by teachers, who were calling for an increase in pay and a long-term solution to the health insurance program for public employees. The task force was split into three subcommittees — Public Outreach, Coverage & Plan and Cost & Revenue.

Representatives from the Coverage & Plan and Cost & Revenue subcommittees did not present to lawmakers Sunday. Members of the Cost & Revenue group met for the first time last week. The Coverage & Plan subcommittee is scheduled to meet for the first time on Wednesday.

The PEIA Task Force is expected to present a final report — including potential long-term solutions — to Gov. Justice, which will be relayed to lawmakers and the public at large.

Opportunities for Public to Suggest Improvements to PEIA

A subcommittee designed to listen to public concerns and ideas about the Public Employees Insurance Agency will have four more meetings over the next few days, according to Governor Jim Justice.

The public outreach subcommittee for the PEIA Task Force will hold meetings in Wheeling, Weirton, Flatwoods, and Spencer.

Meetings are planned at West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling and at the Thomas E. Millsop Community Center in Weirton — both Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

On Tuesday, the task force will stop at both Braxton County High School and Spencer Middle School at 6:30 p.m.

The Task Force was formed by the governor during West Virginia’s teacher walkouts earlier this year to come up with solutions to fix rising costs and premiums in the state’s public health insurance.

These are four of 21 planned public outreach meetings throughout the state. The goal is to allow West Virginians to voice their experiences with PEIA and suggest ways to improve it.

Venues Set for West Virginia Insurance Funding Hearings

Gov. Jim Justice has announced the venues for hearings on an insurance program for West Virginia teachers and other public employees.

Justice said Monday there will be 21 public hearings statewide, starting Tuesday night at Point Pleasant High School and Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center. Another hearing will be Thursday night at Parkersburg High School.

The final hearing will be June 11 at the state Culture Center in Charleston.

Justice and the Legislature agreed to freeze PEIA premiums, deductibles and co-pays for the coming year and provided $29 million in supplemental funding. Teachers want a more permanent funding fix.

Justice also signed a 5 percent pay raise for teachers to end their nine-day strike in March.

Locations Picked for Hearings on Insurance Funding Solution

A task force subcommittee has chosen 22 locations across West Virginia to hold public hearings on an insurance program for West Virginia teachers and other public employees.

A public outreach subcommittee of the Public Employees Insurance Agency task force met Thursday in Charleston. It chose the communities for the meetings later this spring, and the staff of the governor’s office would schedule dates and meeting places.

Task force members say the meetings would be held either on Saturdays or weekday evenings.

Gov. Jim Justice and the Legislature agreed to freeze PEIA premiums, deductibles and co-pays for the coming year and provided $29 million in supplemental funding. Teachers want a more permanent funding fix.

Justice also signed a 5 percent pay raise for teachers last month to end their nine-day strike.

PEIA Task Force Holds Meeting on Funding Solutions

A task force met for a second time Tuesday as it tries to find a long-term funding solution to an insurance program for West Virginia teachers and other public employees.

Public Employees Insurance Agency Director Ted Cheatham gave a detailed presentation on the agency’s makeup and finances to the 29 task force members at the state Culture Center in Charleston.

Cheatham, whose presentation included more than 100 slides, told the task force, “I don’t want you to get distracted by numbers.”

Cheatham has said that because of medical inflation, about $50 million to $70 million would be needed annually to keep the program functioning as it currently does.

The task force earlier agreed to form three committees to review the coverage plan and its costs and revenues, and for legislative and public outreach.

Justice also signed a 5 percent pay raise for teachers last month to end their nine-day strike.

Justice Chief of Staff Mike Hall, who chairs the task force, said there will be a meeting of the public and legislative outreach committee April 19 at the state Capitol. He said at least 11 public hearings of the task force will be held statewide and that as many as two will be livestreamed from Charleston.

“It’s our responsibility to understand this plan,” Hall said. “As we know has been said by many, ‘fix PEIA.’ Well, you’ve got to know what you’re fixing before you fix it.”