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Sumner County accepts incumbent life-insurance proposal; staff to remove broker to lower premium and draft carrier letters
Summary
After reviewing bids, presenters recommended and the board approved the incumbent no-broker life-insurance proposal that reduced the county's annual premium from about $103,921 to roughly $86,463; staff said they will prepare letters to carriers and re-bid in two years. A separate motion to remove gender-affirming care from the Evidence of Coverage was proposed but no final vote is recorded in the transcript.
Presenter reviewed the county's procurement for basic group term life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage and said the lowest-cost proposals came as no-broker bids. Presenter reported the current annual premium at roughly $103,921 and said a no-broker incumbent proposal would bring the annual premium to about $86,463, a reduction of roughly 16.8% to 17%.
"It would reduce your cost by 16.8%, or 17%," Presenter said when recommending the incumbent no-broker option. The presenter said proposals were received from the incumbent and from Hartford and Securian/Oaks; MetLife and a proposal tied to a broker were excluded from analysis for not following procurement rules.
The presenter advised the board that the incumbent offered a two-year rate guarantee and that selecting a three-year guarantee from another vendor would lock rates for a longer period but at a higher cost. Presenter noted that Oaks tied employee-assistance program (EAP) costs to disability products, which raised its overall price.
The board voted to accept the incumbent no-broker proposal by voice vote after a motion and second; the transcript records affirmative "Aye" votes. Presenter said staff would prepare a letter removing the broker from the vendor record and that the county would revisit the procurement in two years.
During the same discussion, Presenter said recent legislation and carrier direction prompted attention to the county's Evidence of Coverage (EOC). "Blue Cross Blue Shield has said Thunder County has to make that recommendation or to tell them we need to remove all of the affirming care from the claim document," Presenter said. The Chair moved to strip gender-affirming care from the EOC, but the transcript does not show whether that motion was adopted; the board discussed drafting a letter to carriers to remove broker involvement and to reflect the EOC changes.
The board directed staff to proceed with vendor paperwork and to return for future procurement action as needed.
