Dental benefits administration

The State of New Hampshire Department of Administrative Services, Division of Risk and Benefits, is issuing Request for Proposal #490-27 for dental benefits administration services for the state's employee dental plan serving approximately 10,280 active employees and COBRA participants, plus an additional 560 subscribers from a legislatively offered "Special Group." The procurement seeks qualified vendors to provide comprehensive dental plan administration including claims processing, network management, member services, and benefits administration for a five-year contract period from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2031, with options to extend for up to two additional years by mutual agreement. The current dental plan is a passive network plan utilizing Delta Dental PPO and Delta Dental Premier National networks, offering four benefit categories: Diagnostic & Preventive services at 100% coverage, Basic services at 80% coverage, Major services at 50% coverage, and Orthodontic services at 50% coverage with a $1,200 lifetime maximum. Required deliverables include network discount schedules, claims repricing analysis based on actual claims data from February 1, 2025, through January 31, 2026, network access documentation by county, network disruption analysis, and detailed technical responses to RFP requirements. Minimum qualifications require bidders to demonstrate financial stability, at-risk performance guarantees of at least $100,000 annually, experience administering dental plans for at least three states or large municipalities with 5,000+ subscribers, and prior experience with clients having at least 10,000 subscribers. Proposals will be scored using a combined methodology: 50 points for financial proposals (total projected costs on a Per Employee Per Month basis guaranteed for the entire five-year period), 10 points for network access, 15 points for disruption analysis, 5 points for performance guarantees, and 20 points for technical questionnaire responses. The bidder inquiry deadline is May 7, 2026, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time with responses posted by May 14, 2026, and all proposals must be submitted electronically by May 27, 2026, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time; implementation activities must commence within seven days of Governor and Executive Council approval or September 1, 2026, whichever is later.

The RFP does not identify any set-aside designations or restrictions limiting responses to specific types of organizations such as disadvantaged enterprises, women-owned businesses, or minority-owned firms. The incumbent vendor, Northeast Delta Dental, has provided dental benefits administration to the State since 1993 and currently manages the plan utilizing Delta Dental's contracted provider networks serving Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont; bidders must address how their proposed networks will transition existing members while minimizing service disruption. The current dental plan operates with established infrastructure including electronic claims processing with clean electronic claims processed within 15 days and clean written claims within 30 days, member identification cards issued through the nedelta.com Benefit Lookup site and mobile app, and comprehensive language assistance services in multiple languages. Claims repricing submissions must reflect actual billed charges totaling $26,380,662.31 and account separately for in-network and out-of-network claims with contracted provider discounts effective as of May 1, 2026, across five designated zip code areas (030, 031, 032, 033, and 038). The RFP does not specify an explicit award value or budget range; instead, administrative fees must be provided on a Per Employee Per Month basis and guaranteed for the entire five-year contract period with no additional charges for the 12-month run-out period following contract termination. The State reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and may pursue contract discussions with lower-ranked bidders if unable to reach agreement with the highest-scoring vendor.