RFP_31786-00186_Amendment_Three.pdf

This is Amendment Three to Request for Proposals #31786-00186, issued by the State of Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, Benefits Administration, for fully-insured short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD-N) insurance benefits for eligible employees of central state government and state higher education agencies. The amendment updates the RFP schedule of events with revised dates for key procurement milestones. The pre-response conference is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on September 10, 2025, with the written questions and comments deadline set for 2:00 p.m. on September 17, 2025. Round 2 written questions (limited to five questions per respondent) are due by 2:00 p.m. on October 29, 2025, with the state's response provided on November 14, 2025. The response deadline for proposals is 2:00 p.m. on November 21, 2025. The state will complete technical evaluations by January 6, 2026, and will open and score cost proposals at 2:00 p.m. on January 7, 2026. Negotiations are scheduled for January 12–14, 2026, with the state's notice of intent to award and public inspection of RFP files released at 2:00 p.m. on January 22, 2026. The protest period ends on January 29, 2026, and the contractor signature deadline is 2:00 p.m. on February 6, 2026. The contract term is 70 months total, consisting of 10 months of implementation activities from March 2026 through December 2026 and 60 months of benefit delivery from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2031.

The solicitation will be evaluated on technical qualifications (40 points), general qualifications and experience (10 points), and cost proposals (50 points). Respondents must demonstrate six years of disability insurance administration experience, including at least five employer accounts with one account having 10,000 or more members, and must hold a current Tennessee Certificate of Authority for group disability benefits. The incumbent contractor is Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), whose current contract expires December 31, 2026. The contract will provide voluntary STD coverage with 100% employee-paid premiums and mandatory LTD-N coverage with 100% employer-paid premiums for approximately 10,000 or more members, with contractor compensation structured as per-member monthly premiums. All current plan members will be automatically transferred to the new contractor on January 1, 2027, with guaranteed issue coverage and pre-existing condition limitation credits based on prior enrollment length. The contract includes performance requirements with at-risk payments tied to service level agreements and potential liquidated damages for failures to meet implementation milestones, plan design accuracy, and data security standards. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises are mentioned.