CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice announced the retirement of Ted Cheatham, longtime director of the Public Employees Insurance Agency.
“He’s done an incredible job,” Justice said.
Cheatham became PEIA director in 2006, during the Manchin administration. He is a U.S. Army veteran with a masters of business and a law degree.
“He served this state really, really well in a position that a lot of times people probably cast a lot of rocks,” Justice said.
PEIA became a flashpoint during a 2018 statewide teachers strike. Educators said their healthcare costs had soared while their pay remained flat.
That resolved, for the time being, with the Justice administration pledging millions of dollars in funding to stabilize the insurance programs that PEIA administers.
“We had discussions today on how we could even help more as we go forward,” Justice said. “We all expect our medical premiums to go up and go up and go up, and they haven’t — and I’m really proud of all that.”
A financial report from last week showed that PEIA remains on solid financial ground right now, based largely on the performance of its investments.
The administration announced last week that Allan McVey, the administration secretary who served as chairman of PEIA financial board meetings, would be returning to his previous position as insurance commissioner.
McVey’s reappointment to the Insurance Commission follows the resignation of Jim Dodrill. Mary Jane Pickens will serve as acting secretary of the Department of Administration.
“There’s going to be time when people retire and people move on,” Justice said. “You know, our cabinet is functioning really, really well.”
Today, the governor said Jason Haught, the current chief financial officer for PEIA, will be the agency’s interim director.