The South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) was created July 1, 2012, by the South Carolina General Assembly as part of Act No. 278. PEBA is responsible for the administration and management of the state's employee insurance programs and retirement systems, and is governed by an 11-member board of directors.
PEBA consists of the former Employee Insurance Program and South Carolina Retirement Systems divisions of the S.C. Budget and Control Board. While PEBA was created in 2012, the South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS), the largest of the state's pension plans for public employees, was established July 1, 1945. The State Health Plan, which covers most of the state's public employees, was created July 1, 1972.