City human-resources staff told the council on July 16 that the city issued an RFP to hire a consultant to review its group health and benefits programs and to support procurement of insurance plans.

Human Resources Director said the RFP for a benefits consultant was issued July 3 and responses will be opened Friday, July 28. The consultant — which could be the city’s incumbent broker — would review plan designs, benefit specifications and customer-service arrangements and then help the city issue a second RFP for actual insurance plans and rates if the consultant is retained.

Staff framed the work as a two-step procurement: first secure subject-matter expertise to review current offerings and draft procurement documents; second, with consultant support, solicit competing proposals for health, prescription, dental and other plans. Council members emphasized that strong customer service for employees is a priority and discussed the city’s current practice of covering employee-only health and prescription plans fully while vision coverage has been employee-paid. Staff said any resulting contract under $50,000 would proceed through the procurement process and that the evaluation team would include several stakeholders.

Next steps: Staff will open proposals July 28 and will bring recommended consultant selection forward for council action if required by procurement thresholds. If a consultant is selected, that consultant will help craft and execute the subsequent RFP for insurance carriers and plan design.