Employee Benefit Consulting/Broker Services
April 2023

Introduction & Background Information
The City of Prairie Village, Kansas is soliciting proposals for consulting/broker services and professional assistance in a review, placement, and support of the City’s current health, dental, vision, life and accidental death/disability, long term disability, employee assistance program (EAP), and Section 125 programs for 117 full time employees. All employee benefit policies renew on January 1st, 2024.

The City’s employee benefit insurance broker works closely with the Human Resources Manager and the City’s Administrative Team. The selected agency will support the City in selection of programs and carriers, implementation of the approved recommendations, and ongoing support for those benefits. Assistance with other benefits may be requested from time to time.

The City’s current health plan provider is Cigna. Employees have two plan options: Base Plan Open Access Plus and Qualified High Deductible Plan with Health Savings Account. Tier level options are available; employee only, employee plus one, employee plus family. The City provides 100% of premium costs of employee only plans and 80% of premium costs for employee plus one and family plans.

Dental insurance is available through Delta Dental. Two levels of coverage are available under the plan, Delta Low Option and Delta High Option. Tier levels of coverage are available; employee only, employee plus one, and family. The City pays 100% towards the employee only low coverage, this rate is applied towards all other premium plan costs.

Vision insurance is available through Superior Vision by MetLife. Employees may enroll in these tier levels of coverage; employee only, employee and spouse, employee and child(ren), and family. The City pays 100% toward the employee only coverage. This rate is applied to all other premium plan costs.

Life Insurance, Accidental Death/Disability and Long-Term Disability plans are provided by The Standard and premiums are paid 100% by the City. Employees may enroll in dependent coverage for spouse and/or child and short-term disability at their own costs.

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is provided through LifeWorks. The monthly administrative fees to provide this program for all employees and their families is paid 100% by the City.

Section 125 and Flexible Spending Accounts are provided through Wage Works. Employees may enroll in flexible spending accounts for health care expenses and dependent care expenses. This is an annual pre-tax option employees can take advantage of to lower taxable income.

The City intends to issue a contract for one year, with an option for the City to extend the contract for up to four (4) additional one-year periods, however the term of the Agreement is not guaranteed and is subject to annual renewal and termination as provided in the contract document.

Minimum Qualifications
All respondents must meet the following minimum qualifications:
1) The respondent must be an established legal entity, licensed and authorized to do business in the State of Kansas.
2) The respondent must have experience working with municipalities.
3) The respondent must identify an individual who, if selected, will be designated as the primary broker (“Primary Broker”) on the City’s account. The Primary Broker must maintain a Kansas employee benefits agency license.
4) The Primary Broker must have a minimum of five (5) years’ experience in providing the same or similar services as contained in this RFP.
5) The Primary Broker must be based in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Firm History and Operations
Respondents should provide the following information about the firm’s history and operations in the proposal:
1) Provide the number of years the firm has been providing insurance brokerage services.
2) Identify the location of the primary office of the firm and the location of the office that will provide services to Prairie Village.
3) Identify the individual or individuals who have overall responsibility of the firm’s operations.
4) Identify the principal consultant and other representatives employed by the firm who are qualified to perform this work. Please include any professional certifications held by these individuals.
5) Provide the total number of employees and a list of those that will be responsible for services to Prairie Village under this proposal, showing names and professional designations or other credentialing.
Objectives and Scope of Services
The intent of this RFP is to solicit proposals from qualified respondents for employee benefit insurance brokerage services for the City’s current health, dental, vision, life and accidental death/disability, long term disability, employee assistance program (EAP), and Section 125 programs which will include but not be limited to the following specific responsibilities:

A. Plan Design

1. Review and analysis of current City programs, including coverage, conditions, cost, cost containment, administration, insurer stability, provider network, claim process, and other pertinent data.
2. Evaluate loss experience trends, frequency, and severity, as well as possible, with limited information. Review group census to identify employee groups.
3. Work with City staff to develop long-range goals and objectives for provision of all benefits. This may involve meetings with groups of employees and/or facilitating a survey. Goal discussions will include, but not be limited to, benefit levels, loss funding strategies, and flexibility in selection of plans and providers.
4. Use knowledge of and experience with the benefits industry in the Kansas City market to advise the City regarding plan design and funding considerations of alternatives that meet the goals of the City.
5. Provide “hands-on” assistance in the implementation of all new plans or changes to existing plans.
6. Keep apprised of new products and trends in the health insurance industry and the Kansas City marketplace.
7. Evaluate the advisability and feasibility of implementing a self-insured health and/or dental program.

B. Vendor Selection
1. Assist in the development of a list of potential vendors.
2. Develop and distribute a Request for Proposal to vendors.
3. Handle all written and verbal communications with vendors with copies of all correspondence copied to the City.
4. Receive and analyze proposal responses.
• Prepare a comprehensive comparison of the plans proposed.
• Analyze the plans in terms of how well they meet the goals established by the City.
• Report on the quality of customer service and the financial stability of the vendors considered.
• Offer recommendations regarding selection.
5. Negotiate final premiums and renewal rates with selected vendors. Review final plan documents to ensure correctness and consistency with proposal as well as compliance with federal and state requirements (COBRA, HIPPA, and Retirement Coverage).
C. Medical Plan Management: Semi-Annual Plan Review

1. Gather, organize, and analyze health claims data as well as possible and provide a summary to the City.
2. Evaluate Plan Financials: Funding strategy compared to plan expenses.
3. Evaluate Reserve requirements and status.

D. Employee Communication

1. Assist staff in open enrollment process, including holding meetings for employees and assisting in the design and production of employee communication materials.
2. Work with the City’s current program vendors (should there be no change to a program) to coordinate education and administration of the plans.

E. Ongoing Assistance

1. On an ongoing basis, assist Human Resources Manager with analysis of programs and have the capability to provide utilization information on an ongoing basis.
2. Support the Human Resources Manager with plan issues that become a concern. This may involve handling claims problems, reviewing plan documents, and discussing issues with vendors.
Content of Proposals
The proposal for consulting services should include all rates and fees associated with insurance brokerage services. The City of Prairie Village may elect to accept and contract on an individual proposal, multiple proposals separately, or a combination of proposals under a single contract.

Minimum qualifications – please provide information as outlined in the Minimum Qualifications section of this RFP.
1) Firm history and operations – please provide the requested information as outlined in the Firm History and Operations section of this RFP.
2) Deliverables – list and describe anticipated reports and other documentation to be provided to Prairie Village based on the City’s scope of services and other recommended services provided by the consultant. Attach samples of representative deliverables.
3) Timing – provide a description or tentative schedule detailing tasks and services to be completed.
4) Fees and Billing – please provide information as outlined in the Fees and Billing section of this RFP.
5) References – please provide a list of five previous clients as outlined in the References section of this RFP.
6) Supplementary information – respondents are encouraged to provide information relevant to any options, alternatives, or other opportunities not addressed in the RFP that, in the respondent’s opinion, would strengthen Prairie Village’s programs and policies.

References
Please provide a list of at least five (5) clients the firm has provided consulting services to for employee benefits brokerage services. Include municipal clients and clients who are comparable in size and/or structure to Prairie Village for whom the firm has provided consulting services within the last two years. For each reference listed, please include:
1) Name of the client
2) Client’s physical address
3) Contact name and title. If the contact person is no longer at the company, provide a current reference.
4) Contact telephone number
5) Contact email address
6) Services provided
7) Other pertinent information

Fees & Billing
Please include the following information regarding fees and billing:
1) List all costs associated with your proposed service. Proposed fees shall be presented as a flat fee. The respondent should list the fees associated with the different benefit plans listed in the scope of services. No additional charges (such as sales tax, transportation, travel, out of pocket expenses, etc.) will be allowed unless specified on the proposal.
2) Include costs for individual years two (2) through five (5).

Submission of Proposals
Please submit all proposals electronically to Human Resource Manager, Cindy Volanti, cvolanti@pvkansas.com by 5:00pm May 10, 2023.

No exceptions to this deadline will be permitted unless Prairie Village extends the deadline, whereupon it will notify recipients of the RFP.
Any firm that wishes to correct, amend, or supplement their proposal must do so prior to the filing deadline and must do so by withdrawing its proposal in its entirety and submitting a complete, corrected proposal package. Modification in any other manner will not be accepted.
All costs for developing proposals are entirely the responsibility of the firm and shall not be chargeable to the City.
Questions about the RFP must be submitted by email to Cindy Volanti, cvolanti@pvkansas.com by April 26, 5:00pm. All questions and answers provided will be posted to the City’s website for all respondents to view.

Evaluation Criteria
Only proposals received on time and that meet the minimum qualifications will be evaluated. The evaluation will take place in three phases:

Phase 1: This will involve review and evaluation of the written proposals by the evaluation team, also known as the Selection Committee.
Phase 2: This will involve interviews of the top proposals by the Selection Committee. Interviews may be conducted virtually or in-person. Following interviews, the Selection Committee will recommend which firm(s) in their opinion are the best, most qualified and responsive respondent(s) for the RFP.
Phase 3: The Selection Committee will either move forward with the recommendation(s), request additional information from the respondents, or seek alternate consultant(s) among those interviewed. The Selection Committee may then expand the number of respondents to be interviewed.
In all phases of the selection process, the evaluation criteria will include the following:
1) A strong understanding of Prairie Village’s needs
2) Professional staff
3) Firm organizational background and resources
4) References
5) Fees
Final acceptance of a proposal will be determined on best match for the City based on the above criteria and will not solely be based on lowest fees.
The Human Resources Manager will notify all respondents of the decision as soon as possible and no later than June 12, 2023.

Timeline
Key Dates and Times
April 12, 2023 City issues RFP
April 26, 2023 Last date for respondents to submit questions
May 1, 2023 Responses to all questions will be posted on City website
May 10, 2023, 5:00PM Due date for proposals to be submitted
May 11, 2023 Review of proposals will begin
May 17, 2023 Interview schedule will be established
June 20, 2023 Recommended consultant with proposed agreement goes to City Council for approval
July 1, 2023 Consultant/Broker begins services-reviews plans for renewals
September 1, 2023 Consultant and City establish open enrollment process

The City reserves the right to change or modify this timeline, if necessary.

Miscellaneous
The City reserves the right to cancel this RFP at any time and reject any and all proposals submitted in response to this RFP. The City also reserves the right to request clarification on any submission, modify or alter the Scope of Services and solicit new submissions, and waive immaterial irregularities in any submission. Selection by the City staff does not constitute a contract. The firm(s) selected will be expected to enter into a written contract with the City, and it is only upon the mutual execution of the written contract document that a contract will be formed. Prior to execution of a written contract, the selected firm(s) will be required to provide proof of adequate and customary insurance.