Addendum 1 RFP HR-25-558 QA.pdf

Department of Financial Management 411 West Ocean Boulevard, 6th Floor

Long Beach, CA 90802

(562) 570-6425

April 10, 2025

NOTICE TO PROPOSERS

ADDENDUM NO. 1: Questions & Answers

RFP No. HR-25-558 Life and Disability Insurance

This addendum changes and supersedes the language in the original RFP.

Please acknowledge receipt of this addendum by signing and submitting with your proposal. Any proposer who fails to submit this addendum may be disqualified.

The City would like to remind Proposers that pursuant to Section 5.2.27 of the RFP, the City will not be responsible for or bound by any oral communication or any other information or contact that occurs outside the official communication process specified herein, unless confirmed in writing by the City Contact.

The City would like to provide additional exhibits upon request to answer some of the questions below:

• If you wish to gain access to the OneDrive file containing Exhibits 1-4 please e-mail your request to William Reyes at RFPPurchasing@longbeach.gov. In the e-mail, please provide the e-mail addresses for each person you would like to have access to these Exhibits.

The questions and answers are as follows:

1. Q: The RFP on page 20 states that “The Cost Proposal should be prepared using

Excel documents provided and in accordance with the plan documents and the City’s Audit Report provided in the attachments, However, the City of Long Beach website, does not have a Cost Proposal excel document for us to download. Can you please make this available for us?

A: There is not a cost proposal excel document, only a plan deviation excel document under the Cost Proposal section 4.2. It is mentioned in section 4.2 Cost Proposal that the cost proposal can be submitted in the Bidders preferred format as a PDF document.

2. Q: LTD: Can you please provide paid claims, paid premium, lives and volume by incurred year with a current valuation date? (I can furnish an example of this, if it would help.)

mailto:RFPPurchasing@longbeach.gov

RFP HR-25-558

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A: Please see Exhibits 1-4 available upon request see instructions above.

3. Q: LTD: Can you please provide an Open/Closed claim listing with status indicator, Class Indicator, Core/Buyup indicator as necessary, Gender, DOB, DOD, Net

Benefit, Gross Benefit, SS Status, Individual Reserves? (I am happy to share an example of this if it would help.)

4. Q: STD: Can you please provide 24-36 months of paid premium, paid claims, volumes, and average lives?

5. Q: “Attachment C – Local Vendor Preference” form is referenced on Page 21 of the

RFP. This form was not provided with the proposal request. Can you please provide this?

A: In Long Beach Buys under the Bid Solicitation main page, you will find under File

Attachments the file titled “Attachment C”.

6. Q: Can we please request a current copy of a monthly bill that shows rates, volumes and premium for each line of coverage?

A: A copy of the incumbent's bill will not be released but Exhibit 2 (available upon request see instructions above) should have all the necessary information needed to develop a quote.

7. Q: Can you please provide rate history for the Life and Disability coverages? The last

3-5 years would be ideal, if possible.

A: There has been no change in rates for all Standard products since 2019.

8. Q: Life Insurance: Can we please request the most recent month’s billing invoice with rates, volume, and premium for each line?

A: A copy of the incumbent's bill will not be released but Exhibit 2 (available upon

9. Q: Life Insurance: Can we please request experience, with 3-5 years of paid claims, paid premium, volume, and lives by policy year and coverage type?

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10. Q: Can you please provide rate history over the last 5 years?

A: See answer to Q7. There has been no change in rates for all Standard products since 2019.

11. Q: Can you please provide a copy of the most recent invoice?

A: A copy of the incumbent’s bill will not be released but Exhibit 2 (available upon

12. Q: Can you confirm if any employees participate in CASDI (state disability program)?

A: The City of Long Beach does not contract with the California State Disability Insurance.

13. Q: Can you request the following from Standard?

• LTD claims list with the following data:

o DOB o Gender o Claim status o LTD class o Date of Disability o Gross Benefit o Net Benefit o Social Security Offset Indicator o Total Paid o Reserve

• 5 years of monthly lives, volume, and premium history

• 5 years of monthly paid claims for Life, STD and LTD

14. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Experience/Rates): Please provide a volume, premium, rate and a detailed claims history listing for the last five years for all Basic, Voluntary/Supplemental, and Dependent Life coverages separately.

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15. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Experience/Rates): Please provide a copy of a recent monthly billing statement/premium remittance statement to compare census volumes to reported volumes.

A: A copy of the incumbent’s bill will not be released but Exhibit 2 (available upon

16. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Experience/Rates): Please provide a list of open Waiver of Premium claims, including gender, date of birth, date of disability, and amounts of life coverage for all current disabled insureds.

A: Please see Exhibit 3 (available upon request see instructions above). Coverage code in column C TPD2 identifies any Waiver of Premium claims.

17. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Experience/Rates): Please provide current rates and a premium rate history for each line of Life and AD&D coverage.

A: See answer to Q7. There has been no change in rates for all Standard products since 2019.

18. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Experience/Rates): Please provide a detailed listing of all death claims incurred during the experience period.

A: Please see Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3 (available upon request see instructions above).

19. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Plan Design): Have there been any significant plan design changes in the last several years (i.e. change in benefit schedules, acquisitions, mergers)?

A: There have been no plan design changes to Life and AD&D benefits since before 2020.

20. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only (Life Underwriting Plan Design): Have there been any open or special enrollments during, or just prior to, the experience period?

If so, please provide details.

A: No, there have been no special enrollment periods outside of what is allowed annually during open enrollment. This information can be found in the benefits guide provided with the RFP. See below as a recap:

Coverage and EOI Rules If currently enrolled in Voluntary Life Insurance, employee can increase coverage by one increment of $25K every year, up to the remaining maximum GI amount.

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If not currently enrolled, you can opt to enroll for $25K. Any additional amount would require EOI to be submitted.

If an employee previously received an EOI decline, the employee is not eligible for any GI amounts unless EOI is resubmitted and approved.

Any increase to spouse life coverage after the initial enrollment period will require an

EOI – even if the GI amount has not been met.

21. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only: Please describe any established file transfers you have in place today.

A: The City of Long Beach has an established file transfer protocol (FTP) with the current benefit provider.

22. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only: Please describe your Evidence of Insurability process, including such things as submission, follow-up and notification.

A: Evidence of Insurability (EOI) is completed through Standard’s proprietary platform Ready Enroll. The member clicks on the EOI link within the enrollment portal to submit EOI. The line provides a member with the ability to complete the EOI application and submit EOI.

23. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only: Please provide a description of your claim’s submission process; including such items as information gathering, submission, follow up and resolution.

A: Upon learning of an employee’s passing, the City of Long Beach employee’s department completes a Death Notification form to document the employee’s death.

A copy of this form is sent to the Human Resource Employee Benefits Division with the information necessary to complete the Proof of Death Claim Form to be sent to the benefit provider via email to initiate the claim. The Standard will send out the beneficiary packet to the beneficiary on file. If additional information is needed, the benefit provider will reach out to the City’s point contact.

24. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only: Please provide the details of your current portability/conversion administration process.

A: Information about portability/conversion is given to the employee when separating from the City. If the separated employee decides to pursue it, they ask the Human Resources Employee Benefits Division staff to complete the employer portion of the application.

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25. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only: What’s the best way to communicate with your employees during enrollment and throughout the year?

A: The City of Long Beach collaborates with each benefit provider individually to determine the most appropriate communications strategy based on the specific benefit offered. Generally, the City disseminates benefit information via Citywide email and mailers. Based on the benefit, communications can include the entire employee population, or a targeted audience, and are sent periodically throughout the year.

Due to the different lines of Life and AD&D coverage, the City of Long Beach would meet with the awarded Contractor to determine the communications strategy for implementation and would re-evaluate on an annual basis if any changes/updates in communications strategy are needed for the remaining length of the contract.

26. Q: Life and AD&D Coverages Only: Are current beneficiary designations held electronically or on paper?

a. Who holds current beneficiary designations?

b. What is the process to share beneficiary information with the current carrier?

c. Are designation details (e.g. name, class, share) stored as system data, images or both?

A: Currently, beneficiary designations are managed by the benefit provider and submitted electronically on their proprietary enrollment portal, Ready Enroll. City of Long Beach Human Resources Employee Benefits staff have access to an administrative portal that provides access to beneficiary information. The designation details are stored as system data.

27. Q: Disability: Please confirm whether the group participates in Social Security and if so, if any occupations are exempt.

A: Yes, most full-time City of Long Beach employees contribute to Social Security.

Exempt from Social Security contributions are employees in the Police Officers Association, Firefighters Association, and Lifeguards Association.

28. Q: Disability: Please confirm whether the group prepares W-2s for STD claimants, or if the group requires the carrier to do so.

A: City of Long Beach requires the carrier to prepare W-2 statements for STD claims.

This is the current process and will remain the process with the future administrator.

29. Q: Disability: Please confirm whether the group requires the carrier to pay the FICA match for STD claimants or if the group intends to pay the FICA match.

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A: City of Long Beach requires the carrier to pay employer FICA match for STD claims.

This is the current process and will remain the process with the future administrator.

30. Q: Disability: Please confirm whether the group currently has telephonic claims service on the STD.

A: While claims can be started via phone through the Call Center, supporting documentation to substantiate the claim must be submitted electronically via the portal or by fax. Employees can check their claim status by calling the Call Center or by sending a text message via Text Alert.

31. Q: Disability: Please clarify if the group offers other STD plans to employees or if there are any other short-term disability plans with payroll deductions.

a. If so, please indicate whether the group will eliminate these additional policies if a new STD carrier is selected.

A: The City of Long Beach does not offer or host any supplemental STD benefits via a third-party arrangement beyond those noted in this RFP. Departments do have the autonomy to offer supplemental benefits to their participants, but that is independent of the City’s group policy.

32. Q: Disability: Please confirm what (if any) state retirement plan the group participates in, and which classes participate.

A: The City of Long Beach contracts with the California Public Employee’s Retirement System (CalPERS). All listed classes participate.

33. Q: Disability: Please confirm “Self-Paid Long Term Disability” elections are employees in LTD classes 02 and 03 that are those who choose to contribute toward the cost of insurance and please confirm that those costs are contributed by the employee on a post-tax basis.

A: Yes, only employees in Disability Class 2 and Disability Class 3 have the option of choosing between City-Paid Long Term Disability and Self-Paid Long Term Disability.

If an employee elects to the Self-Pay Long-Term Disability Benefit, the deductions are taken on a post-tax basis.

34. Q: Disability: If “self-paid” indicates employees who choose to contribute toward the cost of insurance, please confirm no employees are choosing to contribute towards the cost of STD coverage.

A: Employees who elect Self-Paid Short-Term Disability are paying the STD premiums through post-tax payroll deductions. Currently, twelve employees are in the Self-Paid Short Term Disability plan.

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35. Q: Disability: Please provide names or unique identifiers on the census

A: This information will not be provided and is not pertinent to the development of a quote.

36. Q: Disability: Please provide the following LTD experience information:

a. Earned Premium and number of insured lives by year

b. Rate History

c. Paid Claims by Incurred Year

d. List of open claims including date of loss, date of birth, gender, salary, gross benefit, offset amounts, net benefit, and reserve

e. List of closed claims including date of loss, date of birth, gender and total amount paid

37. Q: Disability: Please provide the following STD experience information:

a. Earned Premium and number of insured lives by year

b. Rate History

c. Paid Claims by Incurred Year

d. List of closed claims including date of loss, date of birth, gender and total amount paid

38. Q: Will we be able to change our EIN for this application at a later date?

A: Yes, you can change your EIN for this application at a later date, you can just reach out to City staff to make the change in the system.

PREPARED BY: William Reyes, Buyer I

ACKNOWLEDGED BY:

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