1. (1) Any school employee who disagrees with a decision that denies eligibility for, or enrollment in, a benefit offered under the salary reduction plan may appeal that decision by submitting a written request for administrative review to their school employees benefits board (SEBB) organization. The SEBB organization must receive the written request for administrative review no later than 30 days after the date of the decision resulting in denial. The contents of the written request for administrative review are to be provided as described in WAC 182-32-2070.

   1. (a) Upon receiving the written request for administrative review, the SEBB organization must perform a complete review of the denial by one or more staff who did not take part in the decision resulting in the denial.
   2. (b) The SEBB organization must render a written decision within 30 days of receiving the written request for administrative review. The written decision must be sent to the school employee who submitted the written request for review and must include a description of appeal rights. The SEBB organization must also send a copy of the SEBB organization's written decision to the SEBB organization's administrator (or designee) and to the SEBB appeals unit. If the SEBB organization fails to render a written decision within 30 days of receiving the written request for administrative review, the request for administrative review may be considered denied as of the 31st day and the original underlying SEBB organization decision may be appealed to the SEBB appeals unit by following the process in this section.

2. (2) Any school employee who disagrees with the SEBB organization's decision in response to a written request for administrative review, as described in this section, may request a brief adjudicative proceeding to be conducted by the authority by submitting a written request to the SEBB appeals unit.

   1. (a) The SEBB appeals unit must receive the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding no later than 30 days after the date of the SEBB organization's written decision on the request for administrative review. If a SEBB organization fails to render a written decision within 30 days of receiving a written request for administrative review, the SEBB appeals unit must receive the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding no later than 30 days after the date the request for administrative review was deemed denied. The contents of the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding are to be provided as described in WAC 182-32-2070.

      1. (i) The SEBB appeals unit must notify the appellant in writing when the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding has been received.
      2. (ii) Once the SEBB appeals unit receives a request for a brief adjudicative proceeding, the SEBB appeals unit will send a request for documentation and information to the applicable SEBB organization. The SEBB organization will then have two business days to respond to the request and provide the documentation and information requested. The SEBB organization will also send a copy of the documentation and information to the school employee.
      3. (iii) The brief adjudicative proceeding will be conducted by a presiding officer designated by the director.
   2. (b) If a school employee fails to timely request a brief adjudicative proceeding, the SEBB organization's prior written decision becomes the authority's final order without further action.

3. (3) Any school employee aggrieved by a decision regarding a claim for benefits under the flexible spending arrangement or limited purpose flexible spending arrangement (FSA) or dependent care assistance program (DCAP) offered under the salary reduction plan may appeal that decision to the authority's contracted vendor by following the appeal process of that contracted vendor.

   1. (a) Any school employee who disagrees with a decision in response to an appeal filed with the contracted vendor that administers the FSA, limited purpose FSA, and DCAP under the salary reduction plan may request a brief adjudicative proceeding by submitting a written request to the SEBB appeals unit. The SEBB appeals unit must receive the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding no later than 30 days after the date of the contracted vendor's appeal decision. The contents of the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding are to be provided as described in WAC 182-32-2070.

      1. (i) The SEBB appeals unit must notify the appellant in writing when the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding has been received.
      2. (ii) The brief adjudicative proceeding will be conducted by a presiding officer designated by the director.
   2. (b) If a school employee fails to timely request a brief adjudicative proceeding, the contracted vendor's prior written decision becomes the authority's final order without further action.

4. (4) Any school employee aggrieved by a decision regarding the administration of the premium payment plan offered under the salary reduction plan may request a brief adjudicative proceeding to be conducted by the authority by submitting a written request to the SEBB appeals unit for a brief adjudicative proceeding.

   1. (a) The SEBB appeals unit must receive the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding no later than 30 days after the date of the denial notice by the SEBB program. The contents of the request for a brief adjudicative proceeding are to be provided as described in WAC 182-16-2070.

      1. (i) The SEBB appeals unit must notify the appellant in writing when the notice of appeal has been received.
      2. (ii) The brief adjudicative proceeding will be conducted by a presiding officer designated by the director.
   2. (b) If a school employee fails to timely request a brief adjudicative proceeding, the SEBB program's prior written decision becomes the authority's final order without further action.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021, 41.05.160, 41.05.740, 2023 c 13 § 2, and 2023 c 51 § 3. WSR 24-15-107 (Admin #2024-01), § 182-32-2050, filed 7/22/24, effective 1/1/25. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021 and 41.05.160. WSR 22-13-168 (Admin #2022-01), § 182-32-2050, filed 6/21/22, effective 1/1/23. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021, 41.05.160 and 2020 c 231. WSR 20-16-067 (Admin #2020-04), § 182-32-2050, filed 7/28/20, effective 8/28/20. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021, 41.05.160, 2017 3rd sp.s. c 13, 2018 c 260, and SEBB policy resolutions. WSR 19-14-093 (Admin #2019-01), § 182-32-2050, filed 7/1/19, effective 8/1/19. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.05.021, 41.05.160 and SEBB policy resolutions. WSR 19-01-055 (Admin #2018-01), § 182-32-2050, filed 12/14/18, effective 1/14/19.]