In May 2025, the Board of Trustees for the PORAC Retiree Medical Trust made a big decision. We decided to contract with a new company for our third-party administration (TPA) services. This decision came after much discussion and an all-day interview process. We awarded a new service provider contract to Benefit Programs Administration. Its short name is easier to remember — BPA.
BPA operates out of its Los Angeles office on Wilshire Boulevard and will service our account from that location. BPA is owned by WPAS, whose headquarters are in Mercer Island, Washington.
The process to change from one TPA to another is somewhat complicated and will take some time to complete. In fact, as you read this article, the process will have already been underway for several months. We anticipate the transition will be completed in time for BPA to go live on April 1.
What does this mean to you as a participant of the RMT? Well, we are hoping it means you will experience very little inconvenience as we make the switch. But let’s talk about a few things.
Active Contributors
If you are one of our 9,000-plus monthly contributors, you will notice very little change. However, I do want to make one very important point. One of the primary ways we communicate with our participants is by USPS mail, so it is critical that we have your current mailing address and updated personal email address. The best way to make certain we have this information is to register your account with us. You can do this by going to our website at poracrmt.org and clicking one of the two Member Login buttons. This will take you to a registration page. The process is automated. In addition to answering four challenge questions, you will need to provide a personal email address and the registration code, which is PORAC in all capital letters. Once you are registered, go to your profile and make sure we have your current mailing address. If for some reason you are unable to register, simply call the 877 number on the registration page.
Retired and Separated Participants
You, too, need to make certain we have your correct mailing address. We anticipate there will be a short, two-week period during which you will not be able to file a claim for reimbursement. It’s expected this will occur around the last two weeks of March. As we get closer to the go-live date, we will be able to more definitively identify the time frame. We will post that information on the website. I will also update everyone in this same forum in the March article. Updates will also be available in the PORAC monthly e-newsletter.
Anticipated Changes
- The website will remain substantially the same but will be updated to reflect that BPA has taken over the duties of the TPA.
- The member login portal will change. It’s going to be a bit different (there’s no way around that).
- The forms will change, though I don’t anticipate it being anything major in nature.
Most everything else stays the same. The phone number will remain the same — you will still call (877) 808-5994. Nothing in the plan changes. All of the trustees are still on board, and all other service providers remain the same. The one major change is simply the transition from the prior TPA to the new TPA, Benefit Programs Administration (BPA).
Now, let’s be realistic: we will likely encounter a bump or two along the way. Life happens, and we are prepared to deal with that. If you have an issue you can’t resolve, please contact me or any one of the other four trustees. All of our contact information is on this page. Public safety servants are problem solvers. We will all get through this, and once we cross the finish line, things should soon be running on all cylinders again.
