Group Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance

The Texas A&M University System Office of Procurement and Business Services has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP SBA-26-280) seeking qualified vendors to provide claims administration and fully-insured group life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance services. The procurement encompasses group life insurance and group AD&D coverage for approximately 42,285 employees and retirees in Basic Life coverage and 18,066 in AD&D coverage across the A&M System, which serves 175,000 students across 12 universities, a health science center, eight state agencies, and other member institutions with an annual budget of $8.1 billion. Deliverables include benefit contract administration, claims management and processing, monthly and quarterly management reports, representation at approximately 20 to 25 open enrollment meetings throughout Texas in July, actuarial analysis and rate recommendations, and assessment of Waiver of Premium eligibility cases. All pricing must be based on the current plan design and guaranteed for the initial three-year contract term on a fully-insured basis, with pricing covering Basic Life, Optional Life, Dependent Life, Supplemental AD&D, and Basic AD&D plans. The initial contract term commences September 1, 2026, and runs through August 31, 2029, with potential renewal for up to three additional one-year periods not to exceed August 31, 2032. The proposal submission deadline is May 4, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Central Time, with questions due by April 17, 2026, addendum release scheduled for April 24, 2026, presentations or interviews on May 18, 2026, and respondent selection by May 22, 2026. Respondents must demonstrate financial stability by submitting audited financial statements for the past two years and must maintain minimum insurance coverage including Workers' Compensation, Commercial General Liability ($1,000,000 per occurrence), Cyber Liability ($2,000,000), and Professional Liability/Errors & Omissions ($2,000,000 each occurrence).

Respondents must submit a HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) Subcontracting Plan with a 2% VetHUB goal. The incumbent vendor is The Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, currently providing coverage under policy numbers 681794G and 681835G, effective September 1, 2020, with annual policy anniversaries on September 1. Basic Life and Basic AD&D coverage is funded through statutory contributions by the State of Texas, while Optional Life, Dependent Life, and Supplemental AD&D plans are paid entirely by participants through payroll deduction or accounts receivable basis. The A&M System currently operates on a self-bill arrangement with a 40 to 50-day premium lag due to payroll system limitations. Financial experience reports provided by The Hartford covering the five-year period from September 2020 through August 2025 demonstrate a combined loss ratio of 85.7% on total billed premiums of $108,220,432, with total incurred claims of $92,739,491, and indicate varying performance across product lines. No specific contract award value is listed in the RFP documents; however, the solicitation requires detailed questionnaires and specific premium quotes based on current benefit design and alternative benefit level scenarios to enable accurate cost assessment during the proposal evaluation process.