DOA HR Medical Plan Admin and Pharmacy Benefit Management for State Employees

The State of Rhode Island's Office of Employee Benefits is issuing a Request for Proposals to procure medical benefits and/or pharmacy benefits administration services for approximately 13,400 enrolled state employees and non-Medicare retirees, representing approximately 29,600 total covered members including dependents. Vendors may submit separate and distinct proposals for medical plan administration, pharmacy benefit management, or both services through the Ocean State Procures system. The solicitation opened on April 24, 2026, at 1:00 PM EDT with a vendor Q&A period extending through May 19, 2026, at 2:00 PM EDT and a proposal submission deadline of June 9, 2026, at 9:00 AM EDT. The initial contract period will commence January 1, 2027, for three years with options to renew for up to two additional 12-month periods contingent upon vendor performance and fund availability. Proposals must include a completed Vendor Certification Questionnaire, Technical Proposal, Supplemental Bidder Attestation Form, Cost Proposal, and ISBE Participation Plan Form, with each document submitted as separate files through the procurement system. Technical proposals will be evaluated on relative merits by a technical evaluation committee, cost proposals will be scored using a lowest-cost comparison formula, and ISBE participation will be scored separately. Pricing must be submitted as firm and fixed costs reflecting hourly rates or alternative fee structures, and all submissions must be made electronically; proposals submitted by mail, email, fax, or hand delivery will not be accepted.

The procurement encourages participation from Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), and Disability Business Enterprises (DisBEs), with ISBE participation credit granted only for entities certified by the State of Rhode Island's Department of Administration or Governor's Commission on Disabilities. Vendors must demonstrate their proposed MBE, WBE, and DisBE participation rates within their proposals. All responding vendors must maintain comprehensive insurance coverage including commercial general liability ($2,000,000), workers compensation ($1,000,000), automobile liability ($1,000,000), crime ($500,000 minimum), professional liability ($2,000,000), environmental liability ($1,000,000), IT cyber/privacy coverage ($20,000,000), directors and officers ($2,000,000), umbrella coverage ($20,000,000), and employment practices liability ($5,000,000). A contract administrative fee of 0.33 percent of the annual contract value will be withheld from vendor invoices. The State reserves the right to award based on cost alone, reject any or all proposals, and cancel the solicitation in its best interest, and no specific incumbent vendor or budget range information has been disclosed in the available solicitation materials.