HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Health Benefits Consulting Services and Actuarial Valuation Services RESOLUTION NO. 17-443
RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT TO PROVIDE HEALTH BENEFITS
CONSULTING SERVICES AND ACTUARIAL VALUATION SERVICES
FOR THE CITY OF AMES
WHEREAS, The City provides health benefits to full-time and regular part-time employees,
including health insurance, dental insurance, prescription drug coverage, flex spending, an employee
wellness plan, and optional vision coverage; and,
WHEREAS, the health benefit and prescription drug plans are administered by
Welhnark/Blue Cross of Iowa; the dental plan is administered by Delta Dental of Iowa; and the flex
spending plan is administered by WageWorks (OutcomesMTM provides additional prescription drug
services); and,
WHEREAS, the City has three group benefit plans, including Wellmark's Classic Blue
(indemnity plan that is closed to new enrollments), Alliance Select (PPO plan), and Blue Advantage
(HMO plan); and,
WHEREAS, these plans are "grandfathered health plans" under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (ACA; as permitted by the ACA, a grandfathered health plan can preserve
certain basic health coverage that was already in effect when that law was enacted; and,
WHEREAS, being a grandfathered health plan means that the plan may not include certain
consumer protections of the ACA that apply to other plans, such as the requirement for the provision
of preventive health services without any cost sharing; however, grandfathered health plans must
comply with certain other consumer protections in the ACA, such as the elimination of lifetime
limits on benefits; and,
WHEREAS, the City can maintain the grandfathered status by limiting changes to certain
aspects of the plan, including employee contributions; and,
WHEREAS, City staff has managed health benefits internally for several years, however,
with the rollout of the ACA, increased and changing compliance requirements, and the complexity
of analyzing and valuing proposed plan changes, staff has determined that the health plans can be
better managed with the assistance of contracted, qualified professionals; and,
WHEREAS, those same types of professionals have already been providing actuarial
valuation services for several years to comply with reporting requirements for our self-funded health
plan; and,
WHEREAS, on January 31, 2017, the City solicited Request for Proposals (RFPs) for health
benefits consulting and actuarial valuation services for our self-fimded health plan; requested
services included actuarial analysis, Accountable Care Organization (ACO) evaluation and
recommendations, health plan evaluation of grandfathered status, forecasting of health claim costs,
and consultation regarding plan design,rate setting, and compliance with regulations; and,
WHEREAS, additionally, the firm will provide assistance in evaluating our compliance needs
for Cy-Ride's variable hour employees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including possible
solutions or resources for tracking benefit eligibility; and,
WHEREAS, the RFP was issued to 21 firms with responses received from 7 firms; and,
WHEREAS, an evaluation committee comprised of City staff members ranked the proposals,
and the top three consulting teams were next invited in for interviews; and,
WHEREAS, based on a unanimous decision by the evaluation team, it was determined that
Arthur J. Gallagher&Company of Centennial, Colorado,will best serve the City in this capacity.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Ames, Iowa,
that a three-year contract, with an option to renew for two additional one-year periods, with Arthur
J. Gallagher & Company of Centennial, Colorado, for health benefits consulting and actuarial
valuation services beginning July 11, 2017, to June 30, 2020, at a cost of$41,000 (FY 2017/18),
$42,000 (FY 2018/19), and$37,000 (FY 2019/20) is hereby approved.
ADOPTED THIS 11 th day of July, 2017.
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Dane R Voss, City Clerk Ann H. Campbell, Mayor
Introduced by: Gartin
Seconded by: Corrieri
Voting aye: Beatty-Hansen, Betcher, Corrieri, Gartin,Nelson, Orazem
Voting nay: None Absent: None
Resolution declared adopted and signed by the Mayor this 11"day of July, 2017.