County of San Mateo Vision Request for Proposal

The County of San Mateo's Benefits Division is conducting a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure comprehensive vision services coverage for its active employees, retirees, and eligible dependents. The procurement covers approximately 16,140 covered lives across three plan offerings: VSP Actives Core (4,051 enrollees, self-funded), VSP Actives Buy-Up (1,695 enrollees, self-funded), and VSP Retirees Voluntary (1,100 enrollees, fully insured). Proposals were released on February 23, 2026, with a submission deadline of March 13, 2026 at 5:00 pm via the eProcurement portal. The selected vendor must deliver high-quality, accessible, and cost-effective vision care administration; establish and maintain a robust national provider network with 90% or greater geographic access match and at least 60% provider match; provide responsive 24-hour customer service with 95% processing of preferred provider claims within five business days; and achieve performance guarantees including 99% claims financial accuracy and 99% claims processing accuracy. Bidders must demonstrate a minimum of ten years of vision coverage experience, integration capability with Workday and BCC systems, and experience serving public agency clients exceeding 5,000 employees in California with three required references. The evaluation process consists of Phase 1 assessment of financial terms (30 percent weight), provider network capabilities (30 percent), plan offering flexibility (20 percent), and customer service quality (20 percent), followed by Phase 2 application of local business preference points (10 percent). Committee evaluation and finalist selection are scheduled for April 7, 2026, with finalist presentations on April 30, 2026; the anticipated contract award date is July 31, 2026, with implementation beginning September 1, 2026 and plan effective date of January 1, 2027.

The RFP does not specify set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises; however, proposals must comply with San Mateo County Ordinance Code Chapter 2.89 regarding local business preference points in the evaluation phase. The County's incumbent vision carrier is Vision Service Plan (VSP), with the existing fully insured retiree agreement and administrative service organization (ASO) agreement for active employees expiring December 31, 2026. Proposers must demonstrate integration capability with the County's existing Workday and BCC systems. The resulting contract shall have an initial five-year term with one optional two-year extension exercisable at the County's sole discretion, and bidders must guarantee ASO rates for a minimum of three years through January 1, 2030. Pricing proposals must be submitted on a net-of-commission basis with no mandatory participation requirements and must include both 85% UCR and MAC reimbursement options for out-of-network services based on 24 months of claims data provided in the RFP workbook. While specific award values or budget ranges are not disclosed in the RFP documents, the contract will be governed by the County's Standard Contract Template for agreements exceeding $200,000, indicating a procurement of significant value, and the vendor must maintain professional liability insurance of $1,000,000 with the County named as additional insured.