19BH2026Q0028_ Questions and Answers.pdf

Solicitation No_19BH2026Q0028

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Health and Life Insurance Services

Q1: Group Life Insurance - Sum Insured - Kindly advise the sum insured amount for the Group

Life coverage if all listed individuals will be provided with the same coverage amount.

A1: Group Life coverage is not a flat amount. Per Section B.1.1 of the Statement of

Work, each employee's sum insured is a multiple of his or her monthly basic salary:

24 times for natural death, 30 times for accidental death, and 12 to 24 times for disability, as specified in B.1.1.3. "Salary" is defined in B.1.8 as one-twelfth of annual basic salary, excluding premium pay, allowances and bonuses.

Q2: Individual Sum Insured Amounts - If each individual will require a different sum insured amount, kindly provide a list of the individuals’ dates of birth along with the corresponding sum insured for each person.

A2: Anonymized employee census information is attached. The U.S. Government is not permitted to disclose any personally identifiable information (PII) (See

Attachment 1 – Anonymized Employee Census )

Q3: Group Personal Accident Coverage - If medical coverage is not provided, would the

Embassy be interested in Group Personal Accident coverage as an alternative. If so, we would require the job position and sum insured amount for each listed individual in order to provide the appropriate quotation.

A3: No. The Government is not seeking Group Personal Accident coverage as an alternative to the medical coverage required by the solicitation. A quote that proposes Group Personal Accident coverage in place of the required medical coverage may adversely affect the quote's evaluation. Accidental death is already covered under B.1.1.2 and B.1.1.3 in the Solicitation document under Attachment 1-

Description/Specifications/Performance Work Statement

Q4: Please provide the employee census rather than summary employee statistics

A4: Anonymized employee census information is attached. The U.S. Government is not permitted to disclose any personally identifiable information (PII) (See

Attachment 1 – Anonymized Employee Census)

Q5: Current Benefits: Could the Embassy provide a copy of its current Schedule of Benefits?

(Combination of existing schedule of benefit and the minimum benefit requirements established in the solicitation).

A5: The Statement of Work for contract No: 19BH2022D0001 is attached (See

Attachment 2 – Statement of Work)

Q6: Claims Experience: Could the Embassy provide the premiums billed for each of the last three reporting periods, corresponding to the claims data submitted, to facilitate an assessment of the historical loss ratios?

A6: Below is the premium amount paid in the last 3 contract years:

Q7: For individual coverage, please provide number of staff members

A7: Please refer to Attachment 1 for the employee census. It identifies 19 employees with single coverage.

Q8: Kindly explain how to 2% tax will be charged. As part of the premium?

A8: The 2% tax is an excise tax imposed under 26 U.S.C. 5000C on certain U.S.

Government procurements from foreign entities and persons. Unless a waiver or exception applies (No waiver applies for Belize), the U.S. Government will withhold

2% from each payment made under the resulting contract. Under this requirement, the tax may not be included in the contract price and will not be reimbursed to the contractor under any circumstances.

Total Paid for Health and Life Insurance Services

Employer and Employee

Year Amount (BZ$)

2023 (March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024) $489,234.43

2024 (March 1, 2024 – February 28, 2025) $506,928.81

2025 (March 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026) $484,968.22

A quoter that believes it qualifies for an exemption may seek relief by completing and submitting IRS Form W-14, Certificate of Foreign Contracting Party Receiving

Federal Procurement Payments, including the parts related to exemptions. These exemptions cover international agreements or qualified income tax treaties, international procurement agreements, and goods or services produced or performed in the United States. A copy of Form W-14 with instructions are available at https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw14. Submit the completed Form W-14 with your quote.

Q9: For the excess coverage, must it be requested at the effective date? Or at any point during the contract year?

A9: Employee’s enrollment to the Excess Coverage depends on post’s practice, i.e., during the annual Open Season or within a specific timeframe after experiencing a

"Qualifying Life Event."

Q10. How is a “new born” classified, at the hospitalization? At discharge?

A10: A newborn is considered a covered dependent from the date of birth.

Q11: Contractual Terms: If awarded the tender, would the Embassy be willing to execute a quoter’s standard Group Insurance Contract? This is a standard contract for group life & Health

Insurance - separate contract from the USG contract.

A11: No. The U.S. Government will not sign the quoter's standard Group Insurance

Contract or any other separate agreement proposed by a quoter. Any contract resulting from this solicitation will be issued on the U.S. Government's contract document. That document will contain the terms, conditions, provisions, and clauses found in this solicitation and its amendments. Quoters should prepare their quote on the basis of the solicitation's terms and conditions.

Quoters may submit their standard policy documents, such as the schedule of benefits or policy wording, for informational purposes only. These documents will not be signed by the Government, will not form part of the contract, and will not modify the contract's terms and conditions.

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw14

Q12: Benefit Limits: Would the Embassy consider allowing a quoter to propose reasonable monetary limits for individual benefits, while maintaining the requested coinsurance percentages, to support plan sustainability and effective claims cost management?

A12: No. Quoters must propose the benefits as described in the solicitation document, Attachment 1 – Description/Specifications/Performance Work

Statement, of the solicitation without introducing alternative benefit limits that would deviate from those requirements or adding monetary limits on individual benefits that are not specified in the solicitation.

Quoters must clearly identify in their quote any exceptions to, or deviations from, the solicitation's terms, conditions, and requirements. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and awards without discussion, so each quoter’s initial quote should contain its best terms. The Government reserves the right to reject any quote when doing so is in its interest. Quotes that add benefit limits not provided for in the solicitation may adversely affect the quote's evaluation.

Q13: Contract Award: Can the group Life and Group Health contracts be awarded separately to different insurers or must both be awarded to the same insurer?

Q13: No, the Government intends to make a single award to one quoter for both

Health and Life insurance services. Quotes that do not include both health and life insurance will not be considered to meet the solicitation requirements.

A quoter may arrange for another insurer to provide part of the coverage, subject to the solicitation's terms and conditions. However, the Government will contract only with the prime quoter, and the prime quoter remains fully responsible for performance of the entire contract.

Q14: While reviewing the solicitation document, we noticed that the parity between dental and vision is large, would it be possible to submit a proposal that creates a more balance coverage for both dental and vision?

A14: No. The dental and vision benefits described in the solicitation document, Attachment 1 – Description/Specifications/Performance Work Statement reflect the

Government's requirements. Quoters must propose dental and vision coverage as stated in the solicitation. Quotes will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria in SECTION 4 – EVALUATION FACTORS.

Quoters must clearly identify in their quote any exceptions to, or deviations from, the solicitation's terms, conditions, and requirements. Quotes that do not meet the stated dental and vision requirements may adversely affect the quoter's evaluation.