LES Life QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.pdf

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

FORMAL

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

REQUEST 19C02023R0001

LIFE INSURANCE FOR LOCALLY EMPLOYED STAFF

The U.S. Embassy Bogota convened a pre-proposal conference on Tuesday, June 8, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. for the above referenced solicitation for Local Employed Staff life insurance benefits, for local employees of the Embassy, for official residence employees (ORE), and for the Peace Corps employees and the Employee Association staff, if they elect, as a rider to this life insurance benefit program. Three firms participated in this pre-proposal conference: Brigs corredora de seguros, Pan American Life and E-broker corredora de seguros. Also questions from firms such

International Services and Liberty Seguros, and Samuel Afriyie from Equitable Inc which did not participate in the preproposal conference were received. The questions and answers below are responsive to the inquiries received at this meeting and via e-mail.

Question #1: 1. Please clarify if the following coverages are included.

C.2.1. Group Life Insurance Coverage

C.2.1.1 Amount of Employee Life Insurance.

C.2.1.2 Amount of Accidental Death and Dismemberment Coverage

The above, by how much in section B2 Collective insurance rates

Includes : Life insurance, Accidental death and dismemberment, and partial and total disability coverage..

Answer:

The solicitation does not include a requirement for dismemberment, and partial and total disability coverage. See Amendment 1

Embassy of the United States of America

Bogotá, D.C., Colombia

Question #2: Please indicate how these fees are reflected in section B.2 Collective insurance rates Every time that the information is given biweekly and by 26 payments?

Answer: Premium (per $COP 1,000) of salary.

Question #3: Please grant the provider’s information where the insurance carrier can acquire the insurance of the Defense Base Act (DBA) that covers their employees that work on the contract. Which are listed in section L.

Answer: The offeror shall obtain DBA insurance directly from any Department of Labor approved providers at the DOL website at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm

Question #4: . Clarification is required if on the requirement number K.13:

“K.13 AUTHORIZED CONTRACT ADMINISTRATOR

If the offeror does not fill-in the blanks below, the official who signed the offer will be deemed to be the offeror's representative for Contract Administration, which includes all matters pertaining to payments. Applies for the legal representative of the company or can other people who are in charge of it be included ?

Answer: It can be the legal representative or the contract administrator appointed by the offeror.

Question #5: 5. We request confirmation of whether the deliverable of the offer must be made virtually or physically ? In the event of it being virtual, please indicate the parameters that should be taken into account.

Answer: Your proposal must be submitted electronically to the following email addresses bogotagsocompras@state.gov . agudeloey@state.gov , riversa@state.gov

It is important to make sure the submission is made in specific size and format; in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file format. The file size must not exceed

30MB. If the file size should exceed the 30MB, the submission must be made in separate files and attached to separate emails with less than 30MB each.

Question #6: For life insurance, it is customary to fill out the declaration of insurability in which the person records the state of health that is analyzed by the insurance company; In this sense, in the cases that the insured registers a pre-existing condition, the company informs whether or not it grants the insurance and under what conditions, that is, charging an additional premium, therefore, we appreciate clarifying in these cases, what is the process for the collection of said amount, since it is impossible to determine the value to be able to be taken into account in the price that must be set in the offer.

Answer: This information will not be disclosed.

Question #7: We appreciate informing the name of the insurance company and name of the current broker for the life policy.

Answer: Panamerican Life de Colombia.

Question #8: In the case of the reported accident rate, please confirm the protection affected and if the reported values correspond to one or more claims.

Answer: The solicitation does not include a requirement for dismemberment and partial and total disability coverage. See Amendment 1

Question #9: As the invitation is open to both insurance companies, intermediaries and insurance agencies, we appreciate confirming what the evaluation criteria to be mailto:bogotagsocompras@state.gov mailto:agudeloey@state.gov mailto:riversa@state.gov taken into account will be, given that in aspects as relevant as financial statements, legal and organizational structure and in With similar experience in service of accounts, we are totally different due to the corporate purpose that we develop, since financially speaking insurance intermediaries are much smaller than an insurance company, which will make it difficult to compare and participate in the process. In this sense, normally the criteria in the tenders for the selection of insurance companies are very different from the criteria for choosing an insurance intermediary and both parties have specific functions and responsibilities that complement each other to serve the end customer.

Answer: Please refer to SECTION M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

Question #10: In the current death coverage there is some exclusion that temporarily limits it, such as excluding suicide in the first year of insurance.

Answer: See Amendment 1 and C.2.2 Life Insurance Benefits Conditions and

Limitations

Question #11: The final price of an insurance is defined by the insurance company and this can eventually revoke the insurance or not renew it at the end of its annual validity, in this instance when a second company must be sought and it cannot maintain the initially agreed costs, this situation can be considered as reasonable to modify the prices under the terms of the tender.

Answer: Prospective vendors must consider this scenario when calculating their premiums. Also refer to section B, numeral B.4. ECONOMIC PRICE

ADJUSTMENT (EPA)-LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS

Question #12: We ask you to confirm how the calculation of the rate should be applied with respect to the insured value; since the document indicates that it must be carried out according to a certain number times the salary of each insured person

Answer: Premium (per $COP 1,000) of salary

Question #13: Given the information of the possible validities to contract please inform if during these periods and depending on the result of the account is viable the revision of terms before each renewal.

Answer: Not possible. Refer to section B, numeral B.4. ECONOMIC PRICE

ADJUSTMENT (EPA)-LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS

Question #14: With respect to section B. 2 it is indicated that total and partial disability coverage must be granted, please clarify if this protection will be contracted under accidental death coverage, if so please inform what is the insured value for such coverage

Answer: See the Answer provided to Question 1.

Question #15: Please clarify whether to report the rate per employee or the rate applicable to the total value of the payroll, since the table reports the total annual value of the payroll, but asks to indicate the biweekly rate per employee.

Answer: Please refer to the Estimated Payroll (biweekly, $COP) third column in the charts of numerals B.2.1, B.2.2, B.2.3, B.S.4. B.2.5, B.2.6 in section B.

Question #16: We request a detailed list of the current insured where gender, date of birth and insured value are indicated.

Answer: This information will not be disclosed in detail, but you can refer to

SECTION J LIST OF EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS.

Question #17: Detailed list of the reported accident rate that reports affected protection, date of the accident and date of notice to the company, value paid and status of the claim:

open, closed or pending accident.

SECTION J LIST OF EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS.

Question #18: In case of having a current contract with the Embassy of the United Estates of

America, is a new DBA insurance required for this contract? Or is it possible to have one for both contracts.

Answer: DBA is required for formal contracts, The Offeror shall include Defense Base

Act (DBA) insurance premium costs covering their employees working on the contract to include American citizens, Individuals hired in the United States or its possessions, regardless of citizenship, Host Country Nationals (HCNs) and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) working overseas. The offeror shall obtain DBA insurance directly from any Department of Labor approved providers at the DOL website at

Question #19: Is it possible that the detail of claims includes the reason and if the cause was due to the covid-19 virus?

SECTION J LIST OF EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS

Question #20: Should the rates for future periods be indexed to future costs and expenses, however, is it possible to evaluate the rates in the event of externalities such as pandemics or higher than estimated inflation?

Answer: This is a base year plus four option year contract. The contract will be initially awarded for a base year. Option years are exercised at the sole discretion of the USG contracting officer. Prospective vendors must consider this scenario when calculating their premiums. Also refer to section B, numeral B.4. ECONOMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENT (EPA)-LIFE

INSURANCE PREMIUMS

Question #21: Is it possible to have the detailed texts of each one of the protections that you currently have in coverage in order to compare with those of each company and evaluate possible approvals?

Answer: . The solicitation reflects the USG's current requirement.

Question #22: What does partial disability coverage refer to and between what rating loss ranges does it apply?

Answer: See the Answer provided to Question 1 .

Question #23: Will the life policy have insurability process and, therefore, medical qualification of possible new admissions? If so, are the insurability requirements defined by the insurer? Is it feasible to qualify Risks as Uninsurable? Is it feasible to extra-premium the Health Risks?

Answer: No.

Question #24: Is it feasible to grant partial coverages, or must all the requested coverages be granted?

Answer: See the Answer provided to Question 1

Question #25: What is the Service Agreement for cases susceptible to medical qualification?

Answer: The solicitation does not include a requirement for dismemberment, partial and total disability coverage. See Amendment 1

Question #26: The insured value is the equivalent of 23 salaries, in cases where the salary increases due to promotions and therefore the value changes?

Answer: The contractor will propose based upon the estimated payroll provided. The

USG will place a task order for the required services each quarter based upon actual payroll.

Question #27: In cases where due to promotions the salary increases and therefore the insured value changes, is it viable to carry out a new medical qualification process?

Answer: No.

Question #28: With respect to what is indicated in section C.2.1.2 where the scope of accidental death coverage is described, reference is made to the dismemberment protection, please clarify if this protection will be contracted under accidental death coverage, if so please inform what is the insured value for such coverage.

Answer: The solicitation does not include a requirement for dismemberment coverage

Question #29: We kindly request to provide the profile of the ages or current average age of the insured group for each of the policies indicating age range and number of people in each range, the above in order to determine the total number of insured that will be in each of the policies and calculate the insured value and premium per insured.

Answer: Please refer to SECTION J LIST OF EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS

Question #30: We kindly request to provide the individual monthly payroll value for each of the policies in order to determine at the time of a possible loss the value to be compensated per insured, given that the information being provided is a global payroll value

Answer: Estimated biweekly Payroll is $1,991,313,053.54 COP, prospective vendors must calculate their premiums (per $COP 1,000) of salary based on this figure.

Question #31: We ask you to confirm if the contracting of this program will be directly between the insurance company and the American Embassy or if there is an appointment of an intermediary or insurance agency.

Answer: This contract will be handled directly by the Embassy and the selected contractor, no intermediaries.

Question #32: We kindly request to confirm if the Embassy has any budget per policy and per year for the payment of insurance object of the process.

Answer: This information will not be disclosed

Question #33: With respect to section B.3.2, please allow to indicate the value of the premium per employee on the totalidad of the amparos contracted (natural death and accidental death) but not discriminate the rate per amparo since a single fee is charged for the total of the amparos contracted.

Answer: Prospective vendors must submit their offers based on the pricing format stated in the solicitation.

Question #34: We kindly ask to confirm whether the value of the individual insurance premium is assumed by the policyholder or by each of the employees.

Answer: The embassy pays 100% of the monthly invoice.

Question #35: As requested in Chapter C.2.7.1 is it possible to supply the brochure (written document) and supply it virtually? The foregoing given that acerdo with what is requested in L.2 indicates the number of copies that must be entered by volume, Additionally we appreciate extending the deadline for the delivery of the same we suggest a period of 30 days in order to have the necessary time for the preparation of the same after the contract award.

Answer: Prospective vendors must abide to that the solicitation states.

Question #36: Given that it is currently required by rule to send electronic invoice to the policyholder, please indicate the email address to which the electronic invoice must be sent.

Answer: To comply local regulation related to invoicing, the designated email for receiving invoices is BogotaFactura@state.gov

However, we encourage our vendors register on our vendor portal site as the actual means for sending invoices.

Question #37: In accordance with section H.4. It relates the procedure for medical insurance claims, since the object of this process is life insurance, we Remove from that section everything that refers to payments and settlements of medical insurance.

Answer: See H.4 Contractor Responsibility in Claims at Amendment 1

Question #38: Section H.4 We appreciate clarifying if the compensation payments should be by check, we appreciate considering the ease that allows electronic transfer.

Answer: Payments to our vendors are made by electronic transfer or Check.

Question #39: Section H4, we appreciate eliminating the following numeral since this requirement does not apply to life insurance. (5) The Contractor will accept the mailto:BogotaFactura@state.gov choice of the employee or dependent to go to surgery at the hospitals designated by the Contractor so that the Contractor pays the expenses directly to the hospital.

Question #40: We want to confirm if the life insurance be for children under 65 years, in the list of employees of Annex B you can see an insured of 69 years, also for the case of the table that relates employees by sex within the age ranges appear 5 over 66;

also. Section G5 states "If at any time during the performance of the contract the government finds that the contractor has been overpaid because the number of employees and their dependents covered has decreased, the contracting officer may either allow such overpayment to be credited to the Government account or require the contractor to reimburse the overpayment" given the above please confirm whether the target group of the insurance in addition to the employees includes their dependents, if so favor indicate that coverages, and insured values and number of dependents for each insured.

Answer: Only employees of the Embassy or the rider’s are covered under this solicitation, please also refer to SECTION J LIST OF

EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS

Question #41: Section H3; We kindly ask to confirm what coverage each insured will have, since in this section it is indicated that they will inform us which coverage has been chosen by each employee including their dependents. It should be clarified that the mandatory coverage for each employee under this insurance is natural death.

Answer: See H.3 Ordering Procedures at Amendment 1

Question #42: Section H.4, please indicate if the completion of individual insurance application which contains the designation of beneficiaries is allowed, if so please inform how long after the award the application will be sent to the insurance company.

Question #43 L.4.3.2.2 license information; We kindly request to eliminate the requirement to present the certificates of existence and legal representation in notarized copy, given that the current Anti-Formalities Law allows the presentation of the same in simple copy

Answer: The USG requires a notarized copy.

Question #44: We kindly request to inform within the evaluation that weighting or weight will have the economic factor and what weighting or weight will have the technical factor.

Answer: Please refer to SECTION M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

Question #45: The template of the solicitation indicates in several places that the solicitation is for both health and life insurance however Sections B.1 through B.4 indicate the

Health Insurance Services part of the solicitation is Reserved. Please indicate when the Health Insurance solicitation will be posted and available for bidding.

Answer: This Solicitation is only for Life insurance coverage.