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Ballas Adds OEBB Chief to His State Responsibilities

Kelly Ballas, the chief financial officer for the Oregon Health Authority, became the interim administrator for the Oregon Educators Benefit Board Tuesday. He already serves atop the Public Employee Benefits Board. OEBB also has begun serving local employees in Josephine County in addition to teachers across the state.
January 8, 2014

The Oregon Educators Benefit Board has appointed Kelly Ballas, the chief financial officer of the Oregon Health Authority, to become the interim administrator of the health plans for most teachers in the state. The vote Tuesday was unanimous.

Ballas took over for longtime administrator Joan Kapowich atop the Public Employees Benefit Board in November. A month later, Kapowich left OEBB, which went without a chief administrator for December.

“Joan and I are friends and we’ve been very collaborative,” Ballas said, implying a low-key transition. “OEBB and PEBB are both very successful and that’s a lot to do with Joan.”

Ballas is on loan from the health authority at no cost to the benefit boards until they find a replacement for Kapowich. OEBB Chairman Rick Shidaker said after the vote that he and vice-chair Nancy MacMorris-Adix would work with the OEBB staff over the next few months to vet a permanent replacement.

Ballas came to the Oregon Health Authority in 2011 from Kaiser Permanente. He had previously worked for Legacy Health, Care Oregon and Adventist Health. According to his government bio, the state hired Ballas away from Kaiser to work on the transformation of the Oregon Health Plan.

Kapowich came to OEBB in 2007, during the administration of Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Josephine County Joins OEBB

Deputy Administrator Denise Hall announced that the public employees of Josephine County had officially become members of OEBB, adding a few hundred people to the rolls. They are the first to come on board who are not employed by a school district.

Hall said the new employees will be selecting medical plans from Moda Health and dental plans from Willamette Dental.

Gov. John Kitzhaber will be responsible for appointing two new board members to OEBB, one from labor and one from management who hail from local governments. The members do not have to be from Josephine County, which includes Grants Pass.

The move was made possible by House Bill 2279, a measure backed by Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland; Rep. Jim Thompson, R-Dallas; and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The law gives local governments the option of joining either OEBB or PEBB, but no local governments are required to switch to the state-administered plans.

Other local entities, including government employees in Astoria, Klamath Falls and Multnomah County have expressed interest in joining the ranks of either OEBB or PEBB, but only Josephine County finalized their decision in time for 2014 coverage.

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