Hall County Government
FINANCIAL SERVICES
PURCHASING DIVISION
POST OFFICE DRAWER 1435
GAINESVILLE, GA 30503
t: 770.535.8270 | f: 770.531.6711
FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR
Taylor Samples, CPA
ASSISTANT FINANCE DIRECTOR
Elizabeth White
PURCHASING MANAGER
Andrew Youngblood
Request for Qualifications with Cost Proposal
RFQ/P #47-009
For the provision of
Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drugs
Provider
Hall County, Georgia (herein “County”), a municipal entity of the State of
Georgia, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, is
seeking qualified Vendors to administer Medicare Advantage plans with
prescription drug coverage to retirees enrolled in the County’s Group
Retiree Health Insurance Plan (herein “Services”).
Schedule of Events:
Bid Post Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Bidder’s Questions Due Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Response to Bidder Questions Due: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Bid Due Date: Thursday, June 4, 2026, by 2:00pm Eastern Time
Bidding Process: Hall County is now accepting sealed bids from
qualified Vendors (herein “Bidder” or “Vendor”) for the Services in the
County’s Purchasing Division on the fourth (4th) floor of the Hall County
Government Center, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville,
GA 30504 until 2:00pm EST on Thursday, June 4, 2026. All bid packets
must be sealed and be time and date stamped by the Hall County
receptionist located on the 4th floor to be considered.
General Qualifications: Bidders must be in the regular business of
providing similar Services. Bidders must be licensed and insured in the
State of Georgia.
Pre-Bid Meeting: Not required for this solicitation.
Term: It is the County’s intention to award one (1) firm for the Services
listed herein, for an initial one (1) year term, followed by four (4) additional
renewal options. Renewal options are not automatic nor guaranteed.
Questions: All communications must be directed solely to Andrew
Youngblood, Issuing Officer at andrew.youngblood@hallcounty.org for
questions or clarifications of the RFQ/P requirements.
Addenda: If needed and in the best interest of the County, the Purchasing
Division may make an extension of the bidding period by a formal written
addendum and publicly posted on the County’s website. All addenda must
be signed by the Bidder and returned with the bid packet.
Proposal Documents: Bidders may obtain all submittal documents at no cost via the County’s
Website at https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx, then click the link for Medicare Advantage and
Prescription Drugs Provider and download all required documents under “Related Documents”.
Any addenda will also be posted in this same area. Bidders are responsible for checking the
County’s website for addenda.
Bid Response: The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, valid for a period
of one hundred and twenty (120) days from submission. The County reserves the right to reject
all proposals, in full or part, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or other terms with the Bidder(s)
submitting the overall best scored proposal. The County reserves the right to cancel this RFQ/P
in its entirety if in the best interest of the County. The County may waive nonmaterial irregularities,
informalities, and errors and may seek clarification of such.
Cost Proposals: Bidders’ cost shall be fixed and firm for the initial contract term.
Public Reading: Bid openings are open to the public and to Bidders. Bidders are not required to
attend but may do so. The Issuing Officer named herein, or another Purchasing team member,
will open and publicly read all Bidder’s company names, their locations, and proposed costs on
the date, time, and at the address above. Cost will not be read at this time.
Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification or additional
information provided by any Bidder. The County may also request in-person or virtual
presentations, interviews, and may choose to enter into negotiations with potential Bidders as
needed.
Bid Retention: Bidders may not withdraw their bid after the bid opening. Bids must be valid for
one hundred twenty (120) calendar days. All forms, documents, and exhibits attached hereto must
be completed and returned with the bid. The County reserves the right to retain all proposals
submitted and use any idea(s) in a proposal regardless of contract award or not. The County shall
have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation, omissions and clerical
errors in any bid received.
Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the awarded Bidder shall enter into a formal
agreement; substantially in the form of the attached Exhibit B – Contract for Services. Contracts
are only valid if they are signed by the County’s Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, or
his/her designee, and the awarded Bidder. Bidders must sign the Exhibit B – Contract for Services
and submit it with their bid responses. All questions regarding the contract, redlines, and
exceptions must be submitted in writing to the Issuing Officer prior to the Bidders’ Questions Due
Date listed above. If there are no written objections or exceptions, then the County will understand
this as an affirmative acceptance of the Scope of Work as it is presented.
BID EVALUATION
Evaluation and Selection: The County will evaluate all submittals in accordance with the Official
Code of Hall County, Georgia 3.10, and as further detailed herein. The County will evaluate
proposals using a two-step process: The first is the “Technical Qualifications Proposal” that
outlines the bidding firm’s qualifications, experience, and its approach to deliver the services. The
second is the “Cost Proposal”, whereby the evaluation committee will evaluate the proposed cost
for the Services to determine the best value for the County.
Award Process: The County reserves the right to reject any or all bids, in whole or part, or to
select any Bidder, without liability on part of the County to the Bidder, to complete the described
work. The County intends to award the contract to one (1) company that it deems to be the most
responsible and responsive Bidder to perform all the work described herein. Lead times and
length of time to complete the work may also be a factor in award. The County will not make an
award of contract solely based on lowest cost bid, but also on approach, references,
qualifications, and other subjective criteria as the County may deem necessary and determine at
its sole discretion.
Technical Qualifications Evaluation: Bidders must answer all scored questions found on
Exhibit G – Scored Questions, which are weighted and will be scored by the County’s evaluation
committee. The County’s evaluation committee will score and assign point values to the answers.
The total maximum points are set at 1,000. The County has assigned an 80/20 split for scoring
points; eight hundred (800) points (80%) available for Technical Qualifications, and two hundred
(200) points (20%) available for the cost proposal. The Bidder with the highest total point score
closest to 1,000 will be the apparent contract award winner.
Unanswered questions will earn a 0-point score. The Bidder’s response should limit answers
directly to the questions asked. Each answer will be scored on a scale of twenty-five (25)
percentage points as shown:
Excellent = 100%
Good = 75%
Adequate = 50%
Marginal = 25%
Poor = 0%
In addition to the space provided on Exhibit G – Scored Questions, Bidders may expand their
answers to the questions onto separate pages if needed with the question repeated at the top of
each page. Bidders may input “see attached” in the space provided next to each question.
Responses to the questions should be clear and concise. Where appropriate, Bidders should
show statistical information in a tabular chart format and textual information in bullet point format.
Summarize key points at the beginning of each answer. All quantitative material should include
complete assumptions and be supported by detailed schedules evidencing all calculations and
results.
Provide one-sided documents only. Do not include superfluous marketing brochures or
unnecessary promotional materials. These will not be evaluated. Address each specific question
with direct, detailed answers.
BIDDER RESPONSE
Technical Qualifications: Bidders must provide a total of two (2) hard paper copies of their
technical qualifications: one (1) marked “Original” and one (1) marked “Copy”. Submit both hard
paper copies in a sealed envelope(s) separate from the Cost Proposal.
Cost Proposal
Bidders are to also submit one (1) hard paper copy of their Exhibit C – Cost Proposal Worksheet.
Electronic signatures on bid documents are acceptable; however, hard copies of the bid response
are required, as stated above.
Combined Digital Response
Bidders must provide their responses on one (1) USB drive with two (2) folders therein: one (1)
entitled “Technical Qualifications Response” and one (1) entitled “Cost Proposal”. Do not include
the cost proposal in the technical qualifications folder.
Cost Evaluation: This solicitation is heavily focused on a Bidder’s qualifications, experience, and
capabilities. Therefore, award may not be made solely based on the lowest cost bid. Cost will be
given more importance when all other evaluation criteria are relatively equal.
Cost is not the only consideration for award. If, in the County’s sole discretion, qualifications
between two (2) or more Bidders are equal, then the County may make an award to the lowest
cost Bidder among them. The County will evaluate cost as presented on Exhibit C – Cost Proposal
Worksheet. Any and all fees should be detailed in the response.
Validation: Hall County requires that Bidders provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer
of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality.
Mandatory Documents: Bidders must complete and return all forms, documents, and exhibits
attached herein with their bid proposals. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive
and the County may not evaluate it for award.
Non-Collusion Requirement (Cone-of-Silence): Bidders must not have contact of any nature
with other Bidders, County staff members (except for the Issuing Officer), elected officials, nor
County Commissioners during the RFQ/P evaluation process. The County may deem such as
collusion, thus rendering the submission in violation of the Official Code of Hall County, and
therefore the County may deem the proposal as non-responsible and not evaluate the proposal
for an award.
By submitting a proposal, the Bidder represents and warrants that no official or employee of Hall
County Government has, in any manner, an interest, directly or indirectly, in the proposal or in the
contract which may be made under it, or in any expected profits to arise there from.
County Consultants: From time to time, the County may select an outside consultant at its own
discretion who will act under the direction of County’s Project Manager. The consultant will have
full authority to act on behalf of the County; however, the consultant may not solicit goods and
services on behalf of the County without prior written approval from the County. Contractors
MUST follow all specification sections prepared by the County’s consultant, and Contractors
MUST allow the consultant to inspect the work. Hall County’s consultant for this solicitation is
Turner Wood & Smith.
Taxes: The County is exempt from State of Georgia Local Sales and Use Tax. The Bidder
understands and acknowledges that it is responsible for any sales and use taxes it may incur.
The Bidder will not charge or invoice the County any sales and use tax as a separate line item.
The Contractor may request a copy of the County’s Georgia Sales and Use Tax Exemption
Certificate.
Bonds: Not required for this solicitation.
Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 STATEMENT OF NEED
3.0 GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
4.0 SCOPE OF WORK
5.0 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
6.0 RFQ/P RESPONSE PREPARATION
7.0 SELECTION PROCESS
7.0 STEPS TO AWARD
8.0 EXHIBITS AND ATTACHMENTS
This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
