Title
Contract for General Services, Agreement No. AGR20-49 with AON Risk Insurance Services West, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $345,000.00, over the entire term of the contract, including all possible extensions, plus Applicable Gross Receipts Tax, for the Purpose of enlisting the services of a Benefits Consulting firm.
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve the Contract for General Services, Agreement No. AGR20-49 with AON Risk Insurance Services West, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $345,000.00, over the entire term of the contract, including all possible extensions, plus Applicable Gross Receipts Tax, in the form attached which has been approved by the County Attorney; for the Purpose of providing Benefits Consulting services. I further move that Council authorize the County Manager to execute the Agreement on behalf of the County.
County Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council approve this Contract for General Services as requested.
Body
On January 30, 2020, the County issued Request for Proposal ("RFP") 20-49 for Employee Benefits Consulting Services. The County received seven (7) responses to the RFP. Using the criteria established in the RFP, the response by AON Risk Insurance Services West, Inc., was found to be the most advantageous to the County in providing services.
The County has consistently approached the process of RFP's for employee benefits with two major objectives:
1. Maintain the current level of benefits while providing enhancements wherever possible and economically feasible, and;
2. Provide a duplication of existing services with no increase in cost, if possible, or a reasonable increase if necessary.
These objectives were achieved through a thorough evaluation, of all responses received, by a committee of employees.
The services provided under this Agreement include analysis of financial and claim data and claim reports from the medical and dental plan Claims Administrators; conducting quality control reviews of contracted Claims Administrators; reviewing, analyzing and negotiating annual renewals from insurance carriers; developing funding rates, reserves, and cost projections for the County’s self-funded plans; identifying and communicating trends in cost and funding for the insurance industry; assessing the relative merits of conventionally insured versus alternate funding arrangements; evaluating managed care programs for implementation recommendation to County; conducting renewal review and analysis of retrospective and prospective costs; analyzing utilization patterns to determine areas of potential abuse; comparing the active covered employee data with expected employment levels and salaries; comparing current health care premiums with expected premiums; assisting with the development of corporate philosophy as it relates to its benefit programs; reviewing benefit programs to determine administrative burden and potential process efficiencies and communicating and assisting with federal and state regulatory compliance requirements.
The services under this contract were previously provided by Gibson & Frank Employee Benefit Solutions, LLC. That contract was terminated effective November 30, 2019 and the County has not retained a Benefits Consultant since that time.
If approved, the initial term of the Agreement shall commence June 1, 2020 and continue through December 31, 2023, unless sooner terminated, as provided herein. At County’s sole option the Agreement may be renewed for up to three (3) consecutive one-year periods or one (1) continuous three-year period, unless sooner terminated.
Alternatives
Should Council choose not to approve Services Agreement AGR20-49 with AON Risk Insurance Services West, Inc., possible alternatives would include re-issuing an RFP for the same services or revising the scope of the services identified in the Agreement and reissuing an RFP for the revised scope of services.
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Planned Item
Benefits Consulting Services are included in the County's FY2020 and FY2021 budgets. The budgeted amount for these services in FY2020 is twenty-nine thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($29,250.00) per year. The budgeted amount for these services in FY2021 is fifty-five thousand dollars ($55,000.00) per year.
Attachments
A. AGR20-49 AON Risk Insurance Services West, Inc._Final