City of Dearborn Heights - 2025 updated RFP Benefits Broker and Consultant Services.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT BROKER/CONSULTING SERVICES

The City of Dearborn Heights is seeking written proposals for an insurance brokerage firm to provide Employee Benefits Brokerage and Consulting services related to the City's health and welfare plans. Technical questions or requests for clarification shall be directed, in writing to the contact person for this proposal.

CONTACT

Human Resources DuJuan Fisher 6045 Fenton St Dearborn Heights, MI 48127 313-791-3420 defisher@dearnbornheightsmi.gov

KEY DATES

The following table outlines the City's key dates and events in this RFP process.

8/12/2025 RFP is published on Bidnet Direct

8/19/2025 RFP Questions Due (no late questions will be answered) Please send to: defisher@dearbornheightsmi.gov

8/22/2025 Reponses to Questions by Dearborn Heights

8/26/2025 at 2:00 P.M. Deadline for receipt of Proposals/ Bid Opening

The City reserves the right to extend the submission deadline, or any other deadline or date indicated in the RFP if it deems it in the best interest of the City.

RULES GOVERNING PROPOSALS

Confidentiality

The content of all proposals will be kept confidential throughout the selection process and afterward. Copies of any proposal will not be shared with other respondents.

Disposition of Proposals

All materials submitted in response to the RFP shall become the property of the City.

Modification of Proposals

Modifications to proposals will not be accepted by the City.

Late Submissions

Proposals not received prior to the date and time specified will not be considered and will be returned to the proposer.

Acceptance/Rejection of Submittal

The City reserves the right to reject any or all responses to this RFP, to waive minor irregularities in any proposal or in the RFP procedures, and to accept any proposal presented which meets or exceeds these specifications and which is deemed to be in the best interests of the City. However, the requirements for timelines shall not be waived.

Proposal Evaluation

A committee comprised of representatives from the City will evaluate all submitted proposals. Based on this evaluation, the committee may, at its discretion, invite select respondents to participate in an oral interview. These interviews, if conducted, are intended to provide an opportunity for selected firms to further elaborate on and clarify their written responses.

Oral Interviews

Oral interviews may or may not be conducted and are held solely at the discretion of the City. If pursued, the purpose of these interviews is to enhance the City’s understanding of the proposals submitted by selected respondents.

Final Selection

The final selection of the successful respondent(s) will be scheduled at a council meeting proceeding review of qualified candidates

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

All brokerage firms submitting a proposal must:

a. Be licensed to do business in the state of Michigan.

b. Have the expertise, licenses, and resources to provide Employee Benefits broker/consulting services for the City's current and future operations.

c. Consistently maintain and allocate sufficient staffing resources to provide timely service for the City's Employee Benefits broker/consulting service needs and

d. Maintain the proper staff that are qualified and available to provide specialized technical expertise in various disciplines as necessary.

e. Have at least 10 municipal clients in Michigan.

Proposers may not contact the insurance marketplace nor discuss the City's account(s) with underwriters, sales representatives, or other representatives of insurance carriers or third-party administrators until the City has made the final selection.

PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please respond as outlined in this request for proposal and observe the following guidelines:

• Respond to questions as directly as possible along with any supporting information you feel will be pertinent to these questions.

• Written proposals must be delivered to City of Dearborn Heights Comptroller office no later than August 26, 2025, at 2 p.m. EST.

• Our final broker selection will be made based on our evaluation of the criteria outlined in this RFP.

Submission of a proposal will be construed to imply agreement in advance to the services outlined in the enclosed materials. Brochures, photos, annual reports or any other appropriate printed material may be included in your proposal. The proposal package should be kept as brief as possible, however, with the subject areas clearly defined.

CURRENT STATE

The following is a description of the City's current health and welfare plans and service providers, and the services being provided by the current consultant.

Plans and Service Providers

• Online benefits administration and electronic data interchange (EDI) services provided by Ebix Benergy.

• The City currently complies with Public Act 152 using the hard cap methodology.

• City benefits are extended to approximately 240 active employees and 350 retirees.

• Self-insured medical and prescription drug plan administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, including 22 unique division numbers with both PPO and QHDHP options. The quarterly settlement process is currently used for financing purposes. Offered to both active employees and eligible retirees. Commissions are estimated at $25,000 for the calendar year 2019.

• Self-insured dental and vision plan administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, including 6 unique division numbers offered to both active employees and eligible retirees. No commissions are associated with these plans.

• Health Savings Account administration provided by HealthEquity. This arrangement is integrated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan self-insured medical plans.

• Fully insured Medicare Advantage plan insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Offered to Medicare-eligible retirees. Commissions are estimated at 28,000 for calendar year 2019.

• Fully insured life, accidental death, and dismemberment, voluntary life short-term disability insurance as insured by The Hartford. Benefits are determined by pertinent bargaining agreements. No commissions are associated with these plans.

• COBRA administration provided by Discovery Benefits. No commissions associated.

• Flexible Spending Account (medical and dependent care) administration provided by Discovery Benefits. The Medical Flexible Spending Account is not limited use. No commissions associated these services.

CURRENT SERVICES PROVIDED BY CONSULTANT

• Standard renewal and marketing activities for all lines of coverage, including stop-loss insurance.

• Premium equivalent rate development for both active and retiree self-insured plans.

Please note that the City does NOT utilize the rates as presented by BCBSM.

• Day-to-day assistance with claims and eligibility issues. These services routinely include resolution of EDI problems between Ebix Benergy and the impacted carrier/service provider.

• Monthly calculation of premium self-bills for the life, accidental death and dismemberment, and short-term disability plans.

• Maintenance of Ebix Benergy including communication materials, eligibility rules, and management of data items such as Medicare numbers and effective dates.

• Completion, filing, and mailing of Forms 1094-C and 1095-C as required by the Affordable Care Act

• At-the-table support for collective bargaining activities including educational meetings with the City's union partners.

• Coordination with the City's actuary for completion of GASB 74/75 report.

• Payment of the fees associated with the use and maintenance of Ebix Benergy-annual fees are approximately $25,000 per year.

QUESTIONS

General Information

1. List the name, title, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the contact person for this proposal.

2. Provide an overview of your organization, including the following:

• Organization headquarters

• Owner contact information

• Date established

• Organizational History

• Products and services offered

• Percentage of revenue from employee benefits as opposed to other services offered.

3. Provide brief biographies for each team member that would support our relationship, including an outline of the experience and qualifications. Please consider adding a biography for at least one team member focused on the following areas:

• Project Manager

• Day-to-day service for membership, billing and claims

• Analytics and underwriting

• Benefit technology service

• Regulatory and compliance

4. Describe your contractual relationships, if any, with organizations necessary to your proposal's implementation (e.g. actuarial/underwriting services, data information services).

5. For the team that would be assigned to the City, please indicate what percentage of their other clients are self-insured, and what percentage of those self-insured clients utilize BCBSM as their administrator.

6. What makes your organization different than other organizations that may submit proposals for the City's consideration?

7. Is your firm independently owned, publicly traded, or backed by venture capital?

8. Describe how your firm ensures consistent, senior-level involvement in managing municipal accounts.

Account Services

9. How would you structure day-to-day service/support for the City?

10. Describe how you would assist the City's Human Resources team with Open Enrollment?

11. Describe your expertise in the following areas:

• Multi-year strategic planning

• Funding reviews and recommendations (self-funding, insured, hybrid)

• Pharmacy initiatives

• Retiree healthcare

• Ancillary services, including dental, vision, life, disability, FSA, COBRA, FMLA, and voluntary benefits

• Wellness programs

Analytics and Reporting

12. Describe the analytical services you would provide to the City.

13. Do you use benchmarks to compare benefits to industry/region? What benchmark studies are used?

14. Describe your capabilities related to setting annual premium equivalent rates so the rates comply with all aspects of Public Act 152?

15. Outline your ability and resources to analyze claims activity, establish trends and make recommendations in plan design.

16. Describe your firm's experience with cost modeling during collective bargaining.

Strategic Planning/Vendor Selection

17. How will you help us with the competitive marketing and placement of our plans, including development of marketing specifications, identification of market conditions, and evaluation of proposals, negotiation, and placement of insurance contracts for annual renewals?

18. Furnish a list of insurance companies, third party administrators, and other providers for which you or your company is an authorized agent or broker.

19. Describe your experience and the number of your current clients utilizing such strategies as: reference-based pricing, direct primary care, disease management carve-outs, or other innovative ideas.

Communication

20. Provide samples of any published newsletters and other informative publications that you have provided to your clients.

21. Describe how you would educate our employees about employee benefits and trends. Provide examples of communication materials developed and prepared by your organization and used by your clients' for health benefit communication and open enrollment campaigns.

Compliance

22. How does your firm stay current with state regulations that would impact the City?

How does your firm notify the City of changes in these laws?

23. How do you monitor regulatory and legislative developments in such areas as compliance ADA, FMLA, COBRA, and other benefit issues including statutes, rules and regulations on the federal and state level that may impact the benefits the City provides?

24. How do you monitor and assist with: Public Acts 106, 152, 202?

Online Benefits Administration

25. Describe your process, including a detailed timeline and the support you provide for the selection and implementation of a new benefits administration platform.

26. Indicate the years of experience working with benefit administration systems, any recommendations and cost efficiencies.

27. How would you handle resolving EDI problems between the City's benefit administration system and insurance carriers and service providers?

28. Describe the process and systems you would use to complete, file, and mail the City's Forms 1094-C and 1095-C.

Fees/Compensation

29. Please complete this chart below with your proposed fees for the services outlined herein.

Compensation Type Proposed Fee

BCBSM Stop-Loss commissions $39,100

BCBSM Medicare Advantage commissions $30,600

Broker Consulting/Service fee

1094-C/1095-C Filing and Mailing fee

Total Compensation

30. How long do you guarantee the consulting/service fees quoted above? How will you modify your consulting/services fees should the carrier-paid commissions change?

31. How frequently will you invoice the City?

32. Please acknowledge that your quoted consulting/service fees above include the cost of a benefit administration system- approximately $25,000 per year.

33. Describe how your method of compensation will be transparent and reported to our team.

References

34. Please provide a list of three current municipal clients in Michigan for whom you deliver benefits consulting services. For each client, include the following: client size, types of benefits administered, length of the business relationship, and a contact name with phone number and email address.

Forms and Statements to be included:

A. Provide a confirmation statement as to whether you serve as an independent consultant/broker. Disclose any affiliation with any insurance company, third party administrator, or provider network.

B. Provide a statement of any pending claims, suits, legal or administrative action against your agency.

C. Include a copy of your agency’s health and life insurance license and errors and omissions insurance.

Company Name

Authorized Signature

Print Name

Title

Date