ESBD_358356_1716402469592_SBA-24-202 Addendum 1.pdf

THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

Office of Procurement & HUB Program

ADDENDUM NO. 1

Date: May 22, 2024

RFP Due Date: June 4, 2024

RE: RFP01 SBA-24-202 – Long Term Disability

Respondents shall acknowledge receipt of addendum(s) on the Execution of Offer (Exhibit A).

Questions/Responses:

1. What platform is currently used to implement LTD benefits (i.e. ENAV, Selerix, etc)?

Response: New York Life is the current LTD vendor. The platform is through the vendor and we are not aware of the platform they are using.

2. Please provide a census file that includes Gender, Date of birth, Salary, Occupation, Zip code, Voluntary LTD election amounts, class, years of service or dates of hire for each member.

Response: We will provide a file containing gender, date of birth, salary, faculty/staff/Grad student, zip code, date of hire, part time/full time, and tobacco status of those enrolled in our current LTD plan. We only have one level of LTD, which is 65% of their salary. There is not a voluntary election amount.

3. Please provide Updated LTD Experience which includes an individual claim listing for the covered years.

Response: We have provided the information we have available for the LTD plan.

4. Please confirm that the current rate is a composite rate? If not and they are step rates, please provide those step rates.

Response: An employee can only enroll as a tobacco user or non-tobacco user. There is only one rate. Please refer to the plan information in the booklet on the website referenced in Section 1.3.

5. What are the minimum hours worked by the part time employees that are eligible to participate in the Voluntary LTD plan?

Response: The minimum number of hours worked is 20 hours per week or 50% effort if the employee is not working on an hourly basis.

6. Please confirm what (if any) state retirement plan the group participates in.

Response: Benefit eligible employees who are not in a position that requires student status must participate in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) unless they make a one time irrevocable decision to participate in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP). The ORP is a 403(b) defined contribution plan. The ORP does not require distributions at termination unless the participant has reached the required minimum distribution age.

7. Do all eligible State employees contribute to Social Security?

Response: Texas A&M System employees participate in Social Security.

8. What is the original effective date for the Long-Term Disability plans with the current carrier?

Response: The effective date for the current vendor was September 1, 2011.

9. Has NY Life/Cigna provided the State with the 9/1/2024 renewal yet? If so, is this available?

Response: The Texas A&M System has not received a renewal rate from the current vendor.

10. Please describe any plan changes, rate changes, or true open enrollments that may have occurred between 9/1/2019 – 4/1/2024 for the voluntary LTD coverage.

Response: There have been no changes during this time period.

11. What has been the average annual payroll/compensation increase historically? What percentage do you expect payroll/compensation ($) to increase for eligible Active Members going forward on an annual basis?

Response: This is not information we would disclose.

12. Can you confirm there are no retirees participating in the voluntary long term liability plan? If they do, please explain.

Response: There are no A&M System retirees participating in the plan.

13. Is the Texas A&M looking for a dedicated 800 customer service number?

Response: No, the customer service number is not required to be a dedicated line.

14. Are there any other services that are being outsourced administratively that we would need to provide if awarded the business?

Response: No.

15. Are there any Benefit Administration feed services needed?

Response: No.

16. What is the current Performance Guarantee’s in place? Are there any specifically that need to be addressed?

Response: We do not disclose our vendor’s performance guarantee information.

17. Is the Voluntary Long Term Disability plan exempt from state premium taxes?

Response: The state of Texas does not have a state premium tax.

18. Are the employees that work outside of the United States paid with US dollars and on your United States payroll?

Response: Yes.

19. Are the employees that work outside of the United States US citizens? If not, what are they considered?

Response: Some of these employees are US citizens and some of these employees are not. The ones that are not US citizens are foreign citizens. They should still qualify for the plan if enrolled.

20. For the employees (551) that waive A&M System medical coverage and have alternate medical coverage a portion of the state/employer contribution for health coverage may be used to pay for the optional LTD insurance. Are these employer paid funds tax free to the employee? Is there a formula that is used to figure out this amount or the hard numbers provided ($445.02/$222.51)?

Are the classed out in the census?

Response: We can identify the employees with employer paid premiums in the new file. Benefits with employer paid premiums would require taxation if a benefit was paid. Please refer to the LTD booklet on the website included in Section 1.3.

21. Of the less than 200 individuals that work outside the United States how many of those individuals have elected the voluntary LTD plan?

Response: There are currently 58 employees in Qatar participating in LTD.

22. How many claims have been requested by the 200 individuals that work outside the United States?

Response: We do not track this information.

23. Can you please provide a new census as the census provided does not include the required information? Please include DOB/Age, Gender, Earnings, Earnings Frequency, Occupations (if available), benefit election indicator (LTD), and Class indicators

Response: See response to question 2.

24. Please provide an excel report with monthly lives, volume, and premium for the LTD coverage

Response: This information was provided in a pdf file for FY21, FY22, and FY23 under the name Historical Enrollment, Demographics & Premiums.

25. The experience provided runs through 12/23. It is possible to receive experience with a more current valuation date (5/1/24?)

Response: A file with experience for FY24 from September 2023 through March 2024 has been added in the ESBD posting.

26. Please provide a copy of the bill for the most recent month?

Response: A file with experience for FY24 from September 2023 through March 2024 has been added in the ESBD posting. March 2024 is the most recent file we can provide. The file includes the billing amount.

27. Updated LTD experience. The experience on page 14 of the RFP is not sufficient. Please provide a detailed claim listing with Age/DOB, Gender, Date of Disability, Gross Benefit, Net Benefit, Offsets, Total paid, and reserves by claim.

Response: A file with Birth Date, Gender, Date of Disability, Gross Benefit, Net Benefit, and Total Paid has been added in the ESBD posting.

28. Are HUB subcontractors currently utilized on the LTD program? If so, please specify the contractors used, services performed and amount of the contract that is subcontracted.

Response: Yes, the current provider utilizes subcontractors for some enrollment benefits education support services. No additional information is available.

29. Please confirm if short form or long form EOI is utilized today.

Response: We do not use evidence of insurability for Long Term Disability. The LTD plan has a pre-existing condition exclusion. Please refer to the plan booklet referenced on the website in Section 1.3

30. Please describe your current EOI process . paper, batch, SSO, API?

Response: See response to question 29.

31. Please describe the format (length, numeric, alpha numeric) of the UIN you plan to pass on the eligibility file in addition to SSN.

Response: The UIN is a 9-digit number with zeroes as the 4th and 5th digits.

32. How are claims submitted today?

Response: Claims are submitted by the employee through a form or by phone.

33. While not part of this RFP, please explain how absences are administered during the Elimination Period (e.g., is there a sick bank, internally managed STD, etc.)

Response: Employees can use sick leave, sick leave pool, or leave without pay.

34. The RFP file makes mention of a supplemental file named “LTD Claims Experience. Exhibit E” that should be on the ESBD site. We did not see that file on the site. Please provide.

Response: See response to question 27.

35. We need a census via Excel inclusive of gender, date of birth/age, salary, and smoker status.

Response: See response to question 2.

36. We need an open/closed claim list inclusive of date of birth/age, date of disability, gross benefit, net benefit, individual reserves, offset detail, total paid to date, and claim close date.

Response: See response to question 27.

37. Does Texas A&M participate in any state retirement plans (STRS)?

Response: See response to question 6.

38. Please provide historic lives corresponding with the paid and incurred exhibit provided.

Response: See response to question 27.

END OF ADDENDUM NO. 1