NIGP 94971: Self Insured Program, Admin Cobra

NIGP 94971 Self Insured Program, Admin Cobra (Item) covers third-party administration of COBRA and continuation-coverage programs for state and local employee benefit plans, including eligibility processing, premium billing and collection, carrier coordination, regulatory compliance, and participant communications. State and local governments procure under this code when they self-administer health benefit plans and need specialized vendors to handle the statutory compliance and operational complexity of COBRA and CAL-COBRA programs. The buyer mix includes county human resources departments and municipal benefits offices; issuing bodies in the recent record include Solano County, California and the City of Pflugerville, Texas. Scope of work encompasses full COBRA administration, qualification event processing, enrollment and premium management, trust account administration, integration with medical, dental, vision, and other carriers, HIPAA compliance, and multi-channel customer service including bilingual support and online self-service portals.

Recent opportunities reflect county and city-level demand across California and Texas. The County of Solano Department of Human Resources issued RFP 949081127 for Comprehensive COBRA and CAL-COBRA Administration with response due October 5, 2026, covering up to 3,300 benefit-eligible employees and approximately 120 active COBRA participants per month, estimated at $48,000 over an initial two-year term (January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029) with three optional one-year renewals; the incumbent is Navia Benefit Solutions Inc. The City of Pflugerville, Texas posted RFP 2026-028 for fully insured medical, dental, vision, FSA, HRA, HSA, and COBRA administration for 422 full-time active employees, with responses due September 22, 2026, covering a five-year initial term with multiple renewal structures. Both procurements weight technical capability, regulatory compliance, and cost heavily; Solano County requires minimum five years of comparable public-sector experience and audited financial statements, while Pflugerville emphasizes claims processing and integrated systems capability. Geographic activity concentrates in California and Texas, with California showing recent CAL-COBRA-specific requirements.