Employee Benefit Plan Consulting Services

The City of Portland, Oregon is requesting proposals for Employee Benefit Plan Consulting Services, with proposals due November 22, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The City values and encourages subcontracting with Oregon COBID-certified firms, with evaluation points awarded based on the relative value of work performed by certified subcontractors.

The City seeks qualified consultants with demonstrated public sector health and welfare plan experience to provide comprehensive benefit consulting services for approximately 7,300 active employees and 2,000 former employees covering approximately 19,000 lives. Core services include rate projections, trend analysis, compliance monitoring, vendor contract management, annual renewals, labor-management committee support, and strategic planning. Proposers must develop five-year rate projections, deliver quarterly loss ratio reporting, and support the Labor Management Benefits Committee and Portland Police Association. All work product becomes the exclusive property of the City. Proposals are limited to 20 pages and must address compliance with federal, state, and local laws.

The initial contract term is five years from the effective date, with the City retaining renewal options for additional periods. The RFP requires detailed pricing proposals including hourly rates and estimated hours for each staff member assigned to tasks; no specific budget ceiling is identified. Evaluation is weighted as follows: technical capabilities (15 points), proposer team and capabilities (20 points), project approach (20 points), contract deviations (10 points), pricing (10 points), references (5 points), and corporate responsibility factors including state certification, COBID participation, workforce diversity, and sustainable business practices (20 points total). The evaluation process includes Phase 1 written scoring and may include Phase 2 interviews and demonstrations. The City projected a Notice of Intent to Award by December 31, 2024. Submissions are electronic through the City's Online Procurement Center; no pre-proposal meeting was scheduled. The sample contract requires the contractor to maintain commercial general liability insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence, professional liability insurance of $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate, and workers' compensation coverage.