Annual Contract to Provide Benefits Consulting and Actuarial Services

Chatham County Board of Commissioners is soliciting proposals for an annual contract to provide comprehensive employee benefit consulting and actuarial services through Request for Proposals 26-0029-5, with a deadline of 5:00 P.M. on March 31, 2026, submitted via the County's online procurement portal. The initial contract term is one year with four optional one-year renewal periods. The County seeks to support its self-funded health and pharmacy plans covering approximately 1,700 full-time employees and dependents, plus 1,036 retirees (260 pre-65 and 776 age 65+ with Medicare Advantage), totaling around 4,000 members. Required services include comprehensive benefits analysis and reporting, liaison with insurance carriers, compliance assistance, annual renewal process management, wellness program evaluation, and actuarial valuations for the County's health plans, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment coverage, long-term disability insurance, and defined benefit pension plan with a Section 115 Trust for other post-employment benefits valued at $142.4 million as of June 30, 2025. Proposers must be independent consultants with at least ten consecutive years of experience providing benefits consulting services to public entities in Georgia, and they are prohibited from being affiliated with insurance companies or third-party administrators. A mandatory pre-proposal conference is scheduled for March 11, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. via WebEx. Evaluation criteria include qualifications and experience (25 points), service plan (25 points), locations and accessibility (5 points), MBE/WBE participation (15 points), references (5 points), and fee proposal (25 points), with potential interviews worth an additional 30 points for a total of 130 possible points. The compensation structure must be all-inclusive, firm fixed cost on a zero-commission basis with full disclosure of all compensation from any source, and subcontracting is limited to no more than 49 percent of total services.

The RFP includes a minority and women-owned business enterprise (MBE/WBE) participation component worth 15 evaluation points, encouraging qualified firms to identify MBE/WBE subcontractors and demonstrate good faith efforts in meeting participation goals. All proposers must comply with mandatory certifications including Drug-Free Workplace Certification, Promise of Non-Discrimination Statements, E-Verify compliance under Georgia law, Bidder's Certifications regarding debarment and suspension status, SAVE Affidavits verifying immigration status, and Affidavits Regarding Lobbying, with false statements subject to penalties under federal law and Georgia statutes. The contract template requires professional liability insurance with minimum limits of $1 million per claim, commercial general liability of $1 million per occurrence, and worker's compensation coverage, with all policies endorsed for 30-day cancellation notice naming Chatham County. Chatham County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and waive technicalities at its discretion, and the County may terminate the contract for cause with a seven-day cure period, for convenience with 30 days' notice, or due to lack of funding in subsequent fiscal periods. No specific budget or award value range is disclosed in the RFP documentation provided, as compensation is negotiated on a project basis and submitted by invoice for work satisfactorily completed.