Hillsborough County holds virtual pre-proposal meeting for fully insured disability benefits RFP

Hillsborough County procurement staff held a virtual pre-proposal conference for Request for Proposal RFP-25-0033 for fully insured disability benefits and reviewed submission rules, reporting requirements and plan options for county employees.

Kristi Alacino, procurement operations coordinator, opened the session and reminded prospective proposers that only written addenda will change solicitation documents and that questions must be submitted through the Bonfire portal. She said the deadline for questions is Dec. 6, 2024, at 5 p.m., and that online proposals must be submitted through Bonfire by 2 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2024. Alacino also told attendees that the meeting was being recorded and that the recording would be posted after the meeting.

Becky Burley, benefits and retirement manager for Hillsborough County, summarized the plan structure and administrative expectations. She said the county uses a consultant, the Baldwin Group (formerly BKS), to assist with benefits procurement and administration, and noted the county’s desire for an employer portal that provides electronic reporting and online access for the Board of County Commissioners, the county administrator and individual county agencies.

Burley described the county’s current disability structure: about 95% of employees receive both short- and long-term disability as a county-paid benefit; a smaller group of legacy employees do not receive short-term disability and have a lower county-paid long-term benefit. That smaller group is eligible to purchase additional coverage “after evidence of insurability,” and Burley said the buy-up option currently applies to about 50 to 60 employees.

Procurement staff highlighted several vendor requirements included in the solicitation: a monthly self-billing process (with a sample invoice provided in the exhibits), an annual employee census to support auditing, electronic reporting capabilities, and electronic communications that allow the county to view claim status without requiring full employee-targeted communications. The solicitation requests an initial three-year rate guarantee and seeks a maximum-percentage cap for subsequent contract years.

Staff also pointed attendees to the solicitation exhibits, which include the disability benefit plan documents, the disability plan questionnaire (section 1.56 of the solicitation), sample self-billing invoice, current plan premiums and information on workplace programs such as return-to-work or stay-at-work initiatives. Alacino reiterated that the cone-of-silence provision is in effect and instructed prospective proposers to contact only procurement staff or those persons identified in the solicitation’s cone-of-silence clause.

No formal actions or votes occurred during the meeting. Procurement staff closed by inviting attendees to submit any remaining questions through the Bonfire vendor discussions area and to contact Bonfire support for technical upload issues.