From
Lisa Norris, Human Resources Director
Title
Award Deer Oaks a five-year agreement for Employee Assistance Program services (at a Per Employee Per Month (PEPM) cost of $1.37; estimated $26,304 annually; approximately $131,520 for five years; $263,040 for ten years) effective January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2023 with the option to renew annually unless terminated by either party. Additionally, authorize the City Manager to execute up to five annual renewal options for this agreement with aggregate price fluctuations of the lesser of up to $50,000 or 25% of the original contract value so long as sufficient funding is appropriated by the City Council to satisfy the City’s obligation during the renewal terms. Renewal options beyond the five specified can be authorized however will require additional City Council approval.
Presenter
Lisa Norris, Human Resources Director
Recommend Action
Approve
Analysis
The City's current agreement with Magellan Employee Assistance Program expires December 31, 2018. As a result, the City issued Request for Proposal (RFP) 18123 in August 2018 for competitive proposals to become effective January 2019. The RFP was properly advertised in the Star-Telegram as well as on Bidsyn, and viewed by 32 carriers with four carriers submitting proposals for analysis. Of those four, one carrier submitted past the deadline and their response was returned unopened, leaving three for final review. There were no Grand Prairie carriers who submitted proposals. Each proposer was ranked on: 1) Plan Benefits and Services, 2) Network/contract terms, 3) References, and 4) Fees/Renewals with weighting applied to each. Based on the analysis, Deer Oaks received the overall best value ranking and was selected as the EAP service provider beginning January 1, 2019. Our current carrier, Magellan, received the proposal but failed to respond. Deer Oaks provided improved benefits and services, as well as being the only carrier to offer a five-year fixed rate guarantee.
The Deer Oaks proposal offered a lower PEPM rate than the current Magellan service and improved benefits, including:
1. 6 free visits for employees (rather than 5);
2. Twelve additional training hours beyond the current 5-hr/year limit; and
3. Unlimited critical incidents, with no hour limit (as required in our current contract).
This information will be reviewed before the Finance and Government Committee for their consideration prior to Council consideration on the same night. Both items will be on the consent agenda as funding is appropriated in the current Employee Insurance Fund budget.
Financial Consideration
Funding for the City-paid Employee Assistance Program benefits in the amount of $23,712 is available in the FY 2018/2019 Employee Insurance Fund. We estimated a 5-yr estimated employee headcount over the duration of the contract of 1,600 employees in the event we continue to grow. We will only pay for actual headcounts which is estimated at 1,350 for 2019 - calculated at about $22,194 which is under the currently budgeted amount. As we review budgets annually, we will appropriate the correct amount based on headcounts estimated at that time. No additional funding is needed at this time.