Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Rocio Kiryczun, Human Resources Director
Lisa Okada, Deputy Director, Human Resources
Subject: Agreement with Alliant Insurance Services for Voluntary Benefit Product Brokerage
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution:
A) Accepting the recommendation to continue using AlliantCHOICE Plus as the platform from which the County can offer voluntary benefits to its employees; and
B) Authorizing the Human Resources Director or the Director's designee to negotiate and execute a service agreement with Alliant Insurance Services, Inc for up to a five-year period; and
C) Authorizing the Human Resources Director or the Director's designee to negotiate and execute voluntary benefit policies with providers.
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BACKGROUND:
The County of San Mateo offers a competitive employee benefits program as part of its efforts to attract and retain talented employees who will best serve County residents. The program includes a number of “core” benefits - the most common benefits to which both the County and the employees make contributions. Core benefits include medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance and the employee assistance program.
A recruitment and retention strategy for enhancing the attractiveness of the benefits program at no cost to the County is to offer a suite of voluntary benefits. Voluntary benefits are employee-paid benefits that supplement the core benefits to minimize financial risk in other parts of employees’ lives. The County launched Voluntary Benefits in 2019 after Board Approval on September 4, 2018, using Alliant Insurance Services as the broker via the AlliantCHOICE Plus platform, which offers access to many leading benefit providers. Alliant’s brokerage fees are included as part of the cost of the employee-paid voluntary benefits products and require no financial payments by the County. The voluntary benefit products offered from 2019-2023 were Accident Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Supplemental Life Insurance, Identification Theft Insurance, Pet Insurance, Legal Insurance, and Group Auto/Home Insurance. There are currently 2,833 enrollments in the Voluntary Plans.
DISCUSSION:
The County’s labor-management Benefits Committee designated a selection committee and partnered with the Human Resources Department and the County’s employee benefits broker, Alliant Insurance Services consultant, to conduct a request for proposals (RFP) for voluntary benefits providers. The broker presented proposals from AFLAC, Met Life, Unum, The Hartford and InsureOne. Through the RFP process, the selection committee identified reduced rates, enhancement to our Voluntary Plans, and additional financial programs. The selection committee identified the following voluntary benefit products that will be offered to County employees during the 2024 Open Enrollment period:
• Accident Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance and Hospital Indemnity Insurance, provided by AFLAC;
• Pet Insurance, with two options provided by Nationwide and MetLife;
• Legal Plans provided by MetLife, which will be enhanced from past offerings to allow employees to use this benefit to plan care for their parents, including financial and caregiving planning;
• Auto and Home insurance provided by InsureOne through Life Balance, which is a multi-carrier approach to provide competitive quotes in one place; and
• Employee Loan Program, provided by Kashable.
Announcements, education and enrollments related to voluntary benefits will be incorporated into the County’s annual Open Enrollment period-October 16, 2023, through November 10, 2023. In 2024-25, Human Resources intends to add Long Term Care, Identity Theft Protection and additional Financial Wellness Voluntary programs.
The Benefits Committee recommends retaining Alliant as the County’s broker of record for these voluntary benefit services for the next five years. By working with Alliant, the Benefits Committee can continue to add additional products over the next five years and designate the Human Resources Director to negotiate and sign the policies for each product, at no additional cost to the County.
Upon approval by the Board of Supervisors, the Human Resources Department will finalize the five-year service agreement with Alliant Insurance Services as the broker for the voluntary benefit plans. The Human Resources Department will also execute any subsequent policy agreements with voluntary benefit providers, such as AFLAC and MetLife. These policy agreements will have no additional cost to the County.
County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the resolution as to form,and will approve all other agreements before execution.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
|
2023 Estimate |
2024 Estimate |
2025 Estimate |
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Percentage of eligible employees who complete the enrollment process for the AC+ Portal and Offering Package, regardless of whether the employees elect or waive all offered coverages. |
80% |
80% |
80% |
FISCAL IMPACT:
Voluntary benefits will be fully paid by participating employees. There will be no cost to the County.