RFP: Employee Benefits Broker/Consultant

The County of San Mateo Human Resources Department is requesting proposals for Employee Benefits Broker/Consultant services covering its 8,400 full- and part-time employees, with proposals due September 4, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. and an anticipated award date of December 1, 2026. Local Business and Local Non-Profit preferences apply: a 5 percent preference for qualifying local entities and up to 10 percent additional preference for Micro Businesses or Micro Non-Profits.

The scope encompasses comprehensive broker-consultant services across medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, life and accident, disability, employee assistance programs, wellness plans, voluntary benefit plans, and administrative plans including Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, COBRA, and commuter/transit benefits. Key deliverables include strategy development, financial and renewal management (with 2 to 4 RFPs anticipated annually), vendor management with monthly carrier meetings, compliance support on ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, and ACA matters, communications including approximately four benefit guides and fourteen Benefits-at-a-Glance summaries annually, and quarterly Benefits Committee participation. The broker-consultant must provide quarterly financial reporting with claim experience analysis, pre-renewal strategy development 6–8 months prior, and weekly meetings with third-party administrators.

Minimum qualifications require ten years of experience providing similar services and an account manager with ten years of account-services experience. Proposers must register with SAM.gov and provide references from three current clients and two former clients whose contracts were terminated within the past five years.

The contract term is five years with equal billing for each year. The County requests all-inclusive pricing for the standard scope of services with optional hourly consulting rates for ad hoc services outside that scope. Evaluation emphasizes Project Approach (30 points), Firm Qualifications (20 points), Team Qualifications (20 points), and Price (30 points). Questions are due August 21, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for October 6, 2026. The standard contract template indicates potential contract value over $200,000, requiring professional liability insurance of $1,000,000 and compliance with HIPAA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, and San Mateo County's Living Wage Ordinance.