WestEd Health and Welfare Request for Proposals Questions and Answers

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1 Q# Vendor Firm Question WestEd Response 1 Barney and Barney Please confirm the date of May 12, 2011 submission. 2 Barney and Barney We would like to quote a Yes. multi-year contract as an option, would that be agreeable. 3 Barney and Barney What are the current compensation arrangements and approximate value? WestEd encourages responders to propose a compensation arrangement and value that that they feel is appropriate for their suite of 4 Barney and Barney Are there any specific areas you feel could be improved through this process. (ie communication, strategy, actuarial, reporting, account management, etc.) 5 Barney and Barney Retirement services are not listed in the RFP, but the plan is shown in your benefit summary. Should we include this service in our response? 6 Barney and Barney Do you have a benefits communication website on your intranet? Is it supported/paid for by your current broker? 7 Barney and Barney Do you have a Wellness program? If so, can we get a description? 8 Wells Fargo WestEd s current broker is Lockton. How long? What is their current form of compensation? 9 Wells Fargo How does the Agency administer enrollment today? (eg paper, online) 10 Wells Fargo What tools are you using today to address WestEd s widely geographically distributed and increasing mobile workforce? 11 Wells Fargo Is the vision plan bundled with the medical or dental plan? 12 Wells Fargo CareCounsel what is their fee and who pays for this service? 13 Wells Fargo About your 2011 renewal, what was the percentage increase for the medical, dental, and vision plans? Any plan changes? What is your grandfather status following the 2011 renewal decisions? services and our account. WestEd is currently concerned with issues related to cost savings, compliance, strategy, account management, and reporting. No, this RFP is only for Health and Welfare benefits, not including retirement benefits. WestEd does have a benefits site on our intranet, but HR develops and maintains the content. WestEd has a contract with a vendor. We do not have a description. Lockton has been WestEd s broker for 7 years. Please see question 3. Enrollment if done on online through an Aetna-provided employee self-service portal. WestEd has looked to our broker to assist in identifying vendors with national networks. No, our VSP plan is not bundled. CareCounsel s premium is $6 per employee, per quarter. WestEd covers the cost for CareCounsel. WestEd experienced a 12 15% increase in premiums. There were no significant plan changes. WestEd did not retain a grandfathered status.

2 14 Wells Fargo How would you describe your employee benefits philosophy? 15 Liberty Can you provide a list of the broker/consultants to whom the RFP was sent to. 16 Liberty How many finalists will you be choosing? 17 Liberty What precipitated the release of the RFP this year instead of next? 18 Liberty When you do the scoring, what will be more important showing experience with groups your size or showing experience with JPAs? 19 Liberty How much weight will be given to financial review capabilities and cost control acumen? 20 Liberty Who is on the committee that will review the RFPs and make the decision. 21 Liberty Do the 7 hard copies and 1 PDF copy need to be provided if the proposal is e- mailed? 22 EPIC What s happening in 2011 that may have an added impact on your business and benefits strategy? 23 EPIC As a JPA, WestEd may have the option of opting out of compliance with ERISA. Does WestEd currently file F5500? Are there any laws or regulations that you have opted not to comply with? 24 EPIC Based on the unique nature of WestEd, who would you consider you competition? WestEd is committed to providing and maintaining a comprehensive and competitive benefits program for its employees and their families to help ensure it attracts and retains the talent needed to carry out its mission. The RFP was sent to: Aon Hewitt The Arlen Group Barney and Barney EPIC Liberty Lockton Wells Fargo Woodruff-Sawyer In addition the RFP was made public on our website. 3 4 firms will be selected to interview. It is WestEd s general business practice to release an RFP every 3 5 years. An RFP for health and welfare benefits has not been performed in 6 years. Please see Section XI of the RFP for a description of the evaluation criteria. Experience with groups our size falls into the first criterion weighted at 25 points, and experience with JPAs falls into the third criterion also weighted at 25 points. Please see Section XI of the RFP for a description of the evaluation criteria. These two items fall under the first criterion weighted at 25 points. The committee includes members from across WestEd s business office, as well as Human Resources. Firms invited to interview will receive more comprehensive information. Yes. Our benefits strategy has an added emphasis on cost-savings. WestEd did not file F5500 in WestEd has a conservative approach to compliance, and we have opted to comply with regulations even though they may not be mandatory for JPAs. SRI, The California Department of Education, the UC system.

3 Please name 3 organizations that you specifically compete with for qualified candidates. 25 EPIC Do you currently use an online benefits administration system. If yes, please provide the name of the system. Do you currently use employee self service? If, no, please identify the challenges and barriers to using technology to adminster and communicate benefits. 26 EPIC Have you branded your benefits program? If yes, please share information about the impact it has had on the program. If no, how important is it to create a branded program and what positive impact would you expect it to bring to WestEd? Please identify your current approach to communicating the benefits program to employees throughout the organization. How do you currently use technology to deliver information to employees? 27 EPIC When you ask about our technology roadmap, are you referring to the growth of our technology capabilities for our clients benefits programs or our own internal technology road map? 28 AON Hewitt Please share, if available, the current compensation arrangement and levels which are in place with your current benefits broker? How much was paid in the past 3 years or please confirm the desired budget for consulting services under this contract? 29 Please confirm how many inperson meetings are expected within a 12-month period (split between Board, HR staff, and employee meetings) 30 Is there a specific list of proposed services that We currently do not use an online system to administer benefits. We have an employee enrollment system that is provided free of cost by Aetna. It is not an ESS. Our barriers include cost and identifying a system that is compatible with our current HRIS/Accounting system Costpoint. No, our benefits program is not branded. Creating a branded program is of priority. It would help create a larger sense of ownership of the program amongst the employee population, as well as improve the quality of communication regarding benefits. We utilize our intranet to communicate with employees. We are asking about your technology capabilities and growth to support clients. Please see response to question 3. We currently meet with our broker approximately 15 times a year for planning, problem solving, and attendance at open enrollment meetings. We would expect a similar level of meetings, probably more if a new broker is selected. The additional meetings would be necessary for planning the transition. Please propose your standard suite of services.

4 WestEd desires, or would you like AON Hewitt to propose our standard suite of services to your organization? 31 Please describe your expectations with respect to open enrollment employee communication and enrollment meeting support (eg past communication materials, media, number of locations or enrollment meeting, role in enrollment meetings, etc.) 32 When was the last time the benefits plans were competitively marketed? How many times over the next three years do you anticipate a full marketing of the plans? 33 What is your current contribution strategy/philosophy? How has it evolved over time? 34 Are there any known strategy decisions for the upcoming year that will help shape our scope of services. 35 Can you address any significant vendor or contribution changes or benefit modifications that were made last year? 36 How would you describe the reporting you currently receive from your vendor receive from your vendor partners or current broker? Sufficient? Excellent? Timely? What additional information would be helpful? 37 What companies do you consider to be your peers for benchmarking purposes to attract talent? 38 Why is WestEd putting this work out to bid? How satisfied is WestEd with its current employee benefits broker? What is your broker not providing that you want or need? 39 What are WestEd s top three employee health benefit We expect the selected broker to be a full partner in the open enrollment planning, including identifying vendors, helping create communications materials, mitigating any vendor conflict, and being available for questions as necessary. Some presence at meetings will be requested. Approximately 7 meetings are held across the country, but mainly in California. Different elements of our plan have been marketed over the past 5 years. We anticipate a full marketing of the plan next year. Please see response to question 14. Not at the time of composing answers to questions. There were no major changes or modifications made last year. Comprehensive. Please see response to question 24. Please see response to question 17. Please see response to question 4.

5 priorities for 2011/12? 40 Are any of your employees unionized? Do you have part time employees or retirees? 41 Of the 600 benefitted employees, you indicate 407 currently have coverage through Aetna and 173 have Kaiser. Should we assume approximately 20 individuals waive coverage. 41 Is WestEd looking for customer support for their employees (ie Advocacy) or is this proposal purely employer HR support? 42 Please describe your customer support resources, including how many staff provide customer support services, what the normal escalation procedure looks like, and the volume of customer support activities your organization manages. 43 Can you give me an example of services offered in addition to benefits consulting that would expect to be within the scope of a basic fee? No, none of WestEd s benefits are bargained. Yes, we have part time emplyees. Employees must be 50% FTE to qualify for benefits. We do not have retirees on our plans. The demographic data provided was illustrative and based on data reported for the last quarter. Numbers will fluctuate. You can assumer that a small percentage of employees waive coverage. This RFP is for employer HR support, but please include your typical suite of services in the RFP. WestEd has one dedicated position to benefits administration, with other HR team members providing support. The volume can be described as high. Issues are typically escalated with the vendor with the broker informed appropriately. WestEd s preference is for brokers to describe their standard suite of services.