STATE OF ALASKA

Department of Administration Division of Retirement and Benefits

Pharmacy Benefit Manager Services

RFP 2025-0200-0177 / 02-101-25

Amendment One November 4, 2025

This amendment is being issued to provide questions and answers, and changes to the RFP.

Important Note to Offerors: You must sign and return this page of the amendment document with your proposal.

Failure to do so may result in the rejection of your proposal. Only the RFP terms and conditions referenced in this amendment are being changed. All other terms and conditions of the RFP remain the same.

Lisa Trombi Contracting Officer COMPANY SUBMITTING PROPOSAL Email: doa.oppm.procurement@alaska.gov

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

DATE

mailto:doa.oppm.procurement@alaska.gov

Questions submitted by potential offerors and answers from the State:

Question 1:

Upon initial analysis of the provided claims data, we are seeing Per Member Per Year costs that are significantly higher than average. As a result we would like to confirm that the provided claims data is correct and/or the provided population estimates are correct as either of these could contribute to the disparity we are seeing. Below is a summary of the provided data. Can you confirm lives count of each of these populations and if there are supposed to be any reversals in the RFP data?

• Active employee Plan:

o 16,000 total lives o PMPY of $2,719

• Commercial Retiree Plan (non-EGWP):

o 23,500 total lives o PMPY of $4,684

• EGWP Retiree Plan:

o 50,000 total lives o PMPY of $7,484

Answer:

The total life count and the plan paid PMPY do fall in line with the data request calculations. The data file is void of all reversals.

Question 2:

Please clarify the intent to have the Commercial non-EGWP plan match the same formulary as the EGWP Retiree plan as noted on Tab 8 on Submittal Form L – Cost Proposal “*Note that the NonEGWP and EGWP formularies must be the same”. Additionally, after reviewing the current 2025 formularies posted on the DRB website, it appears the DB, DC and Commercial formularies are all different today.

Answer:

State statute requires Medicare and non-Medicare retirees in the DB plan to have the same coverage (AS

39.35.535 (b) and AS 14.25168 (b)).

Question 3:

Please clarify if bidders can provide a formulary with exclusions for the EGWP Retiree plan. On Tab 13 of Submittal Form L – Cost Proposal, rows 18 and 19 references, “…a Broad Formulary with Exclusions”.

Answer:

Offerors may provide a formulary with exclusions for the EGWP plan, as long as it is identical to the formulary for the non-EGWP and is the broadest formulary the offeror can provide. This applies to both the DB and the DCR plans.

Question 4:

Please clarify the Prior Authorization and Appeals process for EGWP members. The proposal states members have rights to both the federal-mandated Medicare process along with the AlaskaCare appeals rights. For example, if a member is denied under Medicare but approved by AlaskaCare, does the medication become covered under an enhanced benefit?

Any medications not covered by Medicare but covered by the Retiree Plan will be covered under the enhanced benefit.

Question 5:

a) Could the State provide more information around the facilitation of IRMAA penalties being credited back to the applicable members?

b) Does the incumbent currently use a vendor to facilitate this process?

Answer:

a) Retirees that pay a Part D IRMAA surcharge may apply for reimbursement with proof that the surcharge applies. The State is interested in options from offerors responding to this RFP. For more information, please reference www.alaskacare.gov/IRMAA.

b) Currently, the State utilizes Optum Bank via the Optum contract.

Question 6:

Please provide the Incumbent Medical Carrier.

Answer:

Aetna. All relevant vendors can be found by reviewing the AlaskaCare website https://drb.alaska.gov/alaskacare/

Question 7:

What is your ERISA status?

Answer:

AlaskaCare is a non-federal governmental plan and therefore not subject to ERISA.

Question 8:

Who are the competing bidders?

Answer:

The names of firms that have submitted or intend to submit proposals will not be disclosed during the solicitation process. This information is treated as confidential until the completion of the evaluation process and the posting of the Notice of Intent to Award.

Question 9:

What are your areas of current satisfaction/dissatisfaction with current vendor(s)?

Answer: See RFP Section 2. Background Information and Sec 3.01 Scope of Work for the State’s priorities.

Question 10:

Please confirm both the Intent to Propose and Non-Disclosure Agreement are due no later than 2:00pm AK Time on November 6, 2025. Asking since Attachment 16 – ITP document cites submission deadline of October 29, 2025.

Answer: Confirmed. See change number one below.

http://www.alaskacare.gov/IRMAA https://drb.alaska.gov/alaskacare/

Question 11:

In reference to Sec 6.16, Standard Contract Provisions, the first sentence states that the contractor "shall be required to sign" the Standard Agreement Form (Attachment 13). Is the State requesting an executed signature with the RFP submission (accepting all terms) or are Offeror's permitted to redline the document and return with RFP submission?

Answer:

No, the State is not requesting an executed copy of this document with an offeror’s proposal. It is being provided for your reference only at this time. Please follow the instructions set forth in Section 6.16 for any requests to modify language in this document.

Question 12:

Sec 4.09, the Special Notes section states that Offeror's shall not disclose costs in Submittal Form G (Part 1 of 2);

however, Guaranteed Minimum AWP Discounts, Cost & Cost Basis for Clinical Programs, and Clinical ROI and Projected Saving $000s, are all requested. Please advise how Offerors are to supply the information requested and remain in compliance with the RFP instructions.

Answer:

See change number two below.

Question 13:

Offerors should include full client details as requested. These details will be redacted by the managing procurement officer prior to distribution to any evaluators.

Question 14:

You may list subcontractor names and addresses on this form.

Question 15:

Section 1.08 Return Instructions, (page 5) states that offerors must submit separate and clearly labeled attachments for the technical and cost proposals. Please specify if all documents and attachments must be included in one pdf document for submission or if we can zip individual files (i.e. separate attachments) to meet the 20mb email requirement. As an example, should the Submittal Form G (Part 1 of 2) Excel workbook stay in its native form, or be included as part of the single file titled as “Vendor A – Technical Proposal.pdf”.

Answer:

Yes, you may zip individual files to meet the 20 mb email requirement. Excel workbooks should stay in their native form and not be combined into a single file.

Sec 4.02 outlines anonymity of submittal forms requested but does not address the Client Reference Forms.

Should Offerors consider this document anonymous, or can we include full client details as requested?

Sec 4.02 identifies Submittal Form K - Subcontractors is an anonymous document, are Offerors permitted to list subcontractor names and addresses as requested or should we follow the anonymity guidelines?

Question 16:

Beginning on January 1, 2026, GLP-1 prescriptions for weight loss will require the patient to participate in the Virta weight loss management program. This is available via our contract with Optum Rx and applies only to the Employee Plan. The State is interested in proposed solutions for the employee plan from all offerors.

Question 17:

Scope of Work Submission - We noticed that while the Scope of Work is included in the main RFP document (tagged with #1 in Teams), it is not listed among the required submission items or forms. Could you please confirm whether the Scope of Work should be directly addressed and included in our proposal response, even though it is not explicitly called out in the submission forms?

Answer: Confirmed. Offerors are required to address the full scope of work in their proposal response demonstrating how all requirements in the scope of work will be fulfilled.

Question 18:

State Policies for Agreement Confirmation - Our team would like to confirm whether the relevant state policies referenced in the RFP are available for review?

Answer:

Yes, per RFP Sec. 3.01 Scope of Work, “State policies are available upon request.”

Question 19:

Please provide the member month data for the claims data provided.

Answer:

Member month data will be distributed via email to firms who have submitted the required Intent to Propose (ITP) form and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) as detailed in RFP Section 3.18 Nondisclosure and Confidentiality.

Question 20:

Please provide an additional two years of claims data and member months for the PMPM guarantee analysis.

Answer:

Additional claims data will be distributed via email to firms who have submitted the required Intent to Propose (ITP) form and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) as detailed in RFP Section 3.18 Nondisclosure and Confidentiality.

Question 21:

Per section 2.04, "Both retiree pharmacy plans include an EGWP component for eligible members, but the enhanced wrap of benefits in each plan functions to ensure that from a member perspective, the EGWP benefits mirror the non-EGWP benefits". Please confirm that all retiree plans (EGWP and Non- EGWP) must have the same formulary and utilization management criteria.

Please provide additional information regarding the weight loss management program that is currently in place (i.e. GLP-1 coverages).

Confirmed.

Question 22:

Regarding the NDA, will the state accept redline changes to the document?

No. The NDA and ITB forms must be submitted exactly as provided, without any edit or redlines.

Question 23:

Regarding the BAA, will the state accept redline changes to the document?

Answer:

The BAA is included as an attachment to the RFP as a reference document. Any requested revisions or redlines to that agreement can be discussed during the negotiation or clarification phase with the offeror(s) determined to be most susceptible for award.

Question 24:

Can you clarify whether the EGWP population is currently self-funded or fully insured?

Answer:

The EGWP and commercial populations are all part of the self-funded retiree plans.

Question 25:

Would AlaskaCare allow bids for the commercial employee population only?

Answer:

No. Proposals must address the full scope of work as advertised.

Question 26:

Is Alaska open to international sourcing for cost savings?

Answer:

No. Per RFP Sec. 3.11 Location of Work, the contract shall be performed, completed, and managed in the United States.

Question 27:

Do services have to be provided within the U.S.?

Answer:

Yes, but some retirees live abroad and must be served. Per RFP Sec. 3.11 Location of Work, the contract shall be performed, completed, and managed in the United States.

Changes to the RFP:

Change 1: RFP Attachment 16 – Intent to Propose Form (ITP):

REMOVE:

Intent to Propose Form and Non-Disclosure Agreement must be received by the State by October 29, 2025 by 2:00 PM Alaska Time (RFP Sec 1.12 RFP Schedule)

Submit via email to: doa.oppm.procurement@alaska.gov

REPLACE:

Intent to Propose Form and Non-Disclosure Agreement must be received by the State by November 6, 2025, by 2:00 PM Alaska Time (RFP Sec 1.12 RFP Schedule)

Submit via email to: doa.oppm.procurement@alaska.gov

Change 2: RFP Section 4.09 Contractual Requirements (Submittal Form G), first paragraph on page 92:

REMOVE:

SPECIAL NOTE: The offeror shall not disclose their costs in this Submittal Form. This form shall be kept anonymous and must not contain any names that can be used to identify who the offeror is (described in Section 4.02).

REPLACE:

SPECIAL NOTE: This form shall be kept anonymous and must not contain any names that can be used to identify who the offeror is (described in Section 4.02).

End of Amendment