The director of the Public Employees’ Benefit Board and the Oregon Educators Benefit Board is quietly stepping down from her dual roles with the state employee health plans.
Administrator Joan Kapowich stepped down from her job at PEBB on Nov. 8, and will leave OEBB on Friday.
The chief financial officer of the Oregon Health Authority, Kelly Ballas, will step in as interim administrator. Ballas also has served as a PEBB board member.
Kapowich oversaw PEBB during a rocky time in the benefits program’s history, during which rising rates forced the plan to become self-insured, cut back on some health benefits, and institute a much-criticized Health Engagement Model that encouraged state workers to take a more active role in their health.
However, those moves paid off – rate increases for the health plans offered by both PEBB and OEBB have become drastically lower than those experienced by Oregon’s other health plans.
For example, in 2014 PEBB’s health plan premiums will actually drop by 0.33 percent, while premiums for the rest of the state will increase an average 7.5 percent.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished,” Kapowich said. “Both boards have done a great job of encouraging value-based design and healthy behaviors among their members. I think those are remarkable accomplishments that are nationally recognized as cutting-edge.”
Kapowich is stepping down at a time when PEBB is putting its health plans out to bid, possibly replacing current insurers Providence Health Plan and Kaiser Permanente. PEBB Chairman Sean Kolmer, a health care policy advisor to Gov. John Kitzhaber, said the timing will help the incoming administrator.
Date: Nov 27, 2013