RFP TC FY25-26-013 Fully Insured life & Disability Coverage

TC FY25-26-013 / 07.10.2026
TORRANCE COUNTY
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
FULLY INSURED LIFE AND DISABILITY COVERAGE
RFP#
TC FY25-26-013
RFP Release Date: July 10, 2026
Proposal Due Date: August 10, 2026
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TC FY25-26-013 / 07.10.2026
Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1
A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ............................................................................... 1
B. SUMMARY SCOPE OF WORK .............................................................................................................. 1
C. SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT .................................................................................................................. 2
D. PROCUREMENT MANAGER ................................................................................................................. 2
E. PROPOSAL DELIVERY .......................................................................................................................... 3
F. DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 3
G. PROCUREMENT LIBRARY ................................................................................................................... 6
II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT ................................................................................ 7
A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS .............................................................................................................................. 7
B. EXPLANATION OF EVENTS ....................................................................................................................... 7
C. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 10
1. Acceptance of Conditions Governing the Procurement ........................................................................... 10
2. Incurring Cost .......................................................................................................................................... 10
3. Prime Contractor Responsibility .............................................................................................................. 10
4. Subcontractors/Consent ........................................................................................................................... 10
5. Amended Proposals ................................................................................................................................. 10
6. Offeror's Rights to Withdraw Proposal ................................................................................................... 10
7. Proposal Offer Firm ................................................................................................................................. 11
8. Disclosure of Proposal Contents .............................................................................................................. 11
9. No Obligation .......................................................................................................................................... 11
10. Termination .............................................................................................................................................. 11
11. Sufficient Appropriation .......................................................................................................................... 11
12. Legal Review ........................................................................................................................................... 12
13. Governing Law ........................................................................................................................................ 12
14. Basis for Proposal .................................................................................................................................... 12
15. Contract Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................................... 12
16. Offeror's Terms and Conditions .............................................................................................................. 13
17. Contract Deviations ................................................................................................................................. 13
18. Offeror Qualifications .............................................................................................................................. 13
19. Right to Waive Minor Irregularities ......................................................................................................... 13
20. Change in Contractor Representatives ..................................................................................................... 13
21. Notice of Penalties ................................................................................................................................... 13
22. County Rights .......................................................................................................................................... 13
23. Right to Publish ....................................................................................................................................... 13
24. Ownership of Proposals ........................................................................................................................... 14
25. Confidentiality ......................................................................................................................................... 14
26. Electronic mail address required .............................................................................................................. 14
27. Use of Electronic Versions of this RFP ................................................................................................... 14
28. Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form ................................................................................................ 14
29. Letter of Transmittal ................................................................................................................................ 14
30. Disclosure Regarding Responsibility ....................................................................................................... 15
31. New Mexico/Native American Resident Preferences .............................................................................. 16
III. RESPONSE FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION ......................................................................................... 17
A. NUMBER OF RESPONSES ......................................................................................................................... 17
B. NUMBER OF COPIES ................................................................................................................................. 17
C. PROPOSAL FORMAT ................................................................................................................................. 17
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IV. SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 19
A. INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................................... 19
B. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................. 19
C. BUSINESS SPECIFICATIONS .................................................................................................................... 20
D. DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................................. 20
V. EVALUATION................................................................................................................................................. 21
A. EVALUATION POINT SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 21
APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................................................. 22
APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................................................. 24
APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................................................. 27
APPENDIX D .............................................................................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX F ............................................................................................................................................................. 43
Background Attachments:
Attachment 1_RFP Background Information
Attachment 2_Basic Life and AD&D Coverage Cert
Attachment 3_LTD Certificate of Coverage
Attachment 4_Supplemental Life Certificate of Coverage
Attachment 5_Life Claims Data
Attachment 6_ Attachment 6_Torrance County Census20220725
Exhibits for Offeror Response:
Exhibits 1A through 1H
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TC FY25-26-013 / 07.10.2026
I. INTRODUCTION
A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The purpose of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit sealed proposals to establish a contract
through competitive negotiations for the procurement of The County of Torrance, State of New
Mexico, on behalf of the Torrance County Board of County Commissioners, seeks sealed
proposals from qualified and approved Insurance Carriers to provide fully insured life and
disability benefits effective January 1, 2027.
B. SUMMARY SCOPE OF WORK
Torrance County (County) has been fully insured with Met Life for its life and disability benefits
since separating from the State of New Mexico's employee benefit program in 2016. Current
census includes 138 eligible and 136 enrolled in Basic Life & AD&D, 135 enrolled in LTD and
22 enrolled in Supplemental Life.
The County is soliciting proposals from qualified insurers interested in entering into an
agreement for insured life and disability benefits coverage as described herein, to ensure they are
offering competitive, comprehensive benefits to their employees.
The County has contracted with Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. (GBS) to provide consulting
services including the solicitation and evaluation process, the evaluation and implementation
process, as well as ongoing benefits consulting. Proposals should be submitted concurrently to
the County and GBS as outlined later in this solicitation.
Offerors shall carefully read all information contained in this Request for Proposal (RFP)
and respond accordingly. Offerors must complete exhibits in the format originally
provided (i.e., Word and/or Excel). Do NOT alter the forms. You must complete them as
provided. Do not convert the exhibits to PDF format.
Offerors must complete and submit all Exhibits as outlined in the RFP.
The County is seeking firms which offer the greatest flexibility regarding network, claim
systems, plan designs, and contract terms.
The County wishes to partner with firms who demonstrate a commitment to outstanding
customer service.
The County wishes to partner with firms who offer a comprehensive suite of state-of-the-art
online tools for both the Employer and the Employee.
The County wishes to maintain current benefit levels as closely as possible. Benefit deviations
from current must be clearly identified.
Provide your proposal based on your broadest, most comprehensive network.
As an alternative, provide a proposal based on your narrow, "best in class" provider network.
Identify any plan design requirements which differ from your broad network proposal.
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Plan year - January 1 through December 31
Effective Date of Coverage - January 1, 2027
Commissions - Proposals must be quoted NET of commissions or fees. If rates are filed such
that commissions cannot be extracted from rates, clearly identify percentage or dollar amount
included.
C. SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT
The duration of the professional services contract resulting from this RFP shall be for one (1)
year from the date of award. The County reserves the right, by mutual agreement of the parties,
to extend the contract on an annual basis at the same price, terms, and conditions for up to an
additional three (3) years. Under no circumstances shall the term of this contract, including all
extensions and renewals, exceed four (4) years. This procurement will result in a multiple source
award.
This RFP will be a multiple award.
This procurement will result in a contractual agreement between two parties; the procurement
may ONLY be used by those two parties exclusively.
D. PROCUREMENT MANAGER
The County of Torrance has designated a Procurement Manager who is responsible for this
procurement and whose name, address, and telephone number are listed below. Any inquiries or
requests regarding this procurement should be submitted to the Procurement Manager with
electronic copies to Gallagher Benefit Services (GBS) as noted below in writing. Offerors may
contact ONLY the Procurement Manager regarding the procurement. Other County employees
do not have the authority to respond on behalf of the County of Torrance.
The County has contracted with Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. (GBS) to provide consulting
services including the solicitation and evaluation process, the evaluation and implementation
process, as well as ongoing benefits consulting. Proposals should be submitted concurrently to
the County and GBS as outlined later in this solicitation.
Proposals should be submitted concurrently to Theresa A. Schenck, Client Service Executive
and Patrick W. Dittman, Area Vice President, Gallagher Benefit Services at
theresa_schenck@ajg.com and john_hatz@ajg.com respectively. By submitting a proposal
for the requested coverages, each Offeror is certifying that it is a qualified firm and its
proposal complies with regulations and requirements stated within the Request for Proposals.
1. Protests of the solicitation or award must be submitted in writing to the Protest Manager
identified in Section II.B.13. As a Protest Manager has been named in this Request for
Proposals, pursuant to 13-1-172, NMSA 1978 and 1.4.1.82 NMAC, ONLY protests
delivered directly to the Protest Manager in writing and in a timely fashion will be
considered to have been submitted properly and in accordance with statute, rule and this
Request for Proposals. Protests submitted or delivered to the Procurement Manager will NOT
be considered properly submitted.
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E. PROPOSAL DELIVERY
All deliveries of proposals via express carrier, courier, or hand delivery, must be addressed
and submitted as follows:
Name: Kathryn Dillon
Reference RFP Name: TC FY25-26-013 Fully Insured Life and Disability Coverage
Address: 205 S. Ninth St., Estancia, NM 87016
F. DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGY
This section contains definitions of terms used throughout this procurement document, including
appropriate abbreviations:
1. "Award" means the final execution of the contract document.
2. "Board of County Commissioners" (also "BCC") means the elected board in whom all
powers of the County are vested and who are responsible for the proper and efficient
administration of County government.
3. "Business Hours" means weekdays (Monday - Thursday) 7:30 AM thru 5:30 PM MST/MDT,
whichever is in effect on the date given.
4. "Chief Procurement Officer/Procurement Officer/CPO" means any person or designee
authorized by a state agency or local public body with the responsibility, authority, and
resources to conduct the RFP procurement, make written determinations regarding the RFP
procurement, and/or enter into or administer contracts as a result of the RFP procurement.
5. "Close of Business" means weekdays (Monday - Thursday) 5:30 PM MST/MDT, whichever
is in effect on the date given.
6. "Confidential" means confidential financial information concerning Offeror's organization
and data that qualifies as a trade secret in accordance with the Uniform Trade Secrets Act 57-
3-A-1 through 57-3A-7, NMSA 1978, See also NMAC 1.4.1.45. The following items may
not be labelled as confidential: Offeror's submitted Cost response, Staff/Personnel
Resumes/Bios (excluding personal information such as personal telephone numbers and/or
home addresses), and other submitted data that is not confidential financial information or that
qualifies under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
7. "Contract" means any agreement for the procurement of items of tangible personal property,
services or construction.
8. "Contractor" means any business having a contract with a state agency or local public body.
9. "County" means the County of Torrance, State of New Mexico
10. "Determination" means the written documentation of a decision of a procurement officer
including findings of fact required to support a decision. A determination becomes part of the
procurement file to which it pertains.
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11. "Desirable" - the terms "may," "can," "should," "preferably," or "prefers" identify a desirable
or discretionary item or factor.
12. "Electronic Version/Copy" means a digital form consisting of text, images, or both readable
on computers or other electronic devices that includes all content that the Original and Hard
Copy proposals contain. The digital form may be submitted using a compact disc (CD) or USB
flash drive. The electronic version/copy can NOT be emailed.
13. "Evaluation Committee" means a body appointed to perform the evaluation of Offerors'
proposals.
14. "Evaluation Committee Report" means a report prepared by the Procurement Manager and
the Evaluation Committee to support the Committee's recommendation for contract award. It
will contain scores and written evaluations of all responsive Offeror proposals.
15. "Final Award" means, in the context of this Request for Proposals and all its attendant
documents, that point at which the final required signature on the contract(s) resulting from the
procurement has been affixed to the contract(s) thus making it fully executed.
16. "Finalist" means an Offeror who meets all the mandatory specifications of this Request for
Proposals and whose score on evaluation factors is sufficiently high to merit further
consideration by the Evaluation Committee, as explained in Section II.B.8.
17. "Hourly Rate" means the proposed fully loaded maximum hourly rates that include travel, per
diem, fringe benefits and any overhead costs for contractor personnel, as well as subcontractor
personnel if appropriate.
18. "IT" means Information Technology.
19. "Mandatory" - the terms "must," "shall" "will," "is required," or "are required," identify a
mandatory item or factor. Failure to meet a mandatory item or factor may result in the rejection
of the Offeror's proposal.
20. "Minor Irregularities" means anything in the proposal that does not affect the price, quality
and/or quantity, or any other mandatory requirement.
21. "Multiple Source Award" means an award of a contract for one or more items of tangible
personal property, services or construction to more than one Offeror.
22. "Offeror" is any person, corporation, or partnership who chooses to submit a proposal.
23. "Price Agreement" means a definite quantity contract or indefinite quantity contract which
requires the contractor to furnish items of tangible personal property, services or construction
to a state agency or a local public body which issues a purchase order, if the purchase order is
within the quantity limitations of the contract, if any.
24. "Procurement Manager" means any person or designee authorized by a state agency or local
public body with the responsibility, authority, and resources to conduct the RFP procurement,
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make written determinations regarding the RFP procurement, and/or enter into or administer
contracts as a result of the RFP procurement.
25. "Procuring Agency" means the department or other subdivision of the County of Torrance
that is requesting the procurement of services or items of tangible personal property.
26. "Project" means a temporary process undertaken to solve a well-defined goal or objective with
clearly defined start and end times, a set of clearly defined tasks, and a budget. The project
terminates once the project scope is achieved and project acceptance is given by the project
executive sponsor.
27. "Purchasing" means the County of Torrance Purchasing Office or the Torrance County
Purchasing Officer.
28. "Purchase Order" or "PO" means the document which directs a contractor to deliver items
of tangible personal property or services pursuant to an existing, valid contract.
29. "Redacted" means a version/copy of the Offeror's proposal with the information considered
proprietary or confidential (as defined by 57-3A-1 to 57-3A-7 NMSA 1978 and NMAC
1.4.1.45 and summarized herein and outlined in Section II.C.8 of this RFP) blacked-out BUT
NOT omitted or removed.
30. "Request for Proposals (RFP)" means all documents, including those attached or
incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals.
31. "Responsible Offeror" means an Offeror who submits a responsive proposal and who has
furnished, when required, information and data to prove that his financial resources, production
or service facilities, personnel, service reputation and experience are adequate to make
satisfactory delivery of the services, or items of tangible personal property described in the
proposal.
32. "Responsive Offer" or means an offer which conforms in all material respects to the
requirements set forth in the request for proposals. Material respects of a request for proposals
include, but are not limited to price, quality, quantity or delivery requirements.
33. "Sealed" means, in terms of a non-electronic submission, that the proposal is enclosed in a
package which is completely fastened in such a way that nothing can be added or removed.
Open packages submitted will not be accepted except for packages that may have been
damaged by the delivery service itself. The State reserves the right, however, to accept or reject
packages where there may have been damage done by the delivery service itself. Whether a
package has been damaged by the delivery service or left unfastened and should or should not
be accepted is a determination to be made by the Procurement Manager. By submitting a
proposal, the Offeror agrees to and concurs with this process and accepts the determination of
the Procurement Manager in such cases.
34. "Staff" means any individual who is a full-time, part-time, or an independently contracted
employee with the Offerors' company.
35. "State (the State)" means the State of New Mexico.
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36. "Statement of Concurrence" means an affirmative statement from the Offeror indicating its
response to a required Section IV specification agreeing to comply and concur with the stated
requirement(s). This statement shall be included in Offerors proposal, pursuant to Section
III.C.1. (E.g. "We concur," "Understands and Complies," "Comply," "Will Comply if
Applicable," etc.)
37. "Unredacted" means a version/copy of the proposal containing all complete information;
including any that the Offeror would otherwise consider confidential, such copy for use only
for the purposes of evaluation.
38. "Written" means typewritten on standard 8 12 x 11-inch paper. Larger paper is permissible
for charts, spreadsheets, etc.
G. PROCUREMENT LIBRARY
A procurement library has been established. Offerors are encouraged to review the material
contained in the Procurement Library by selecting the link provided in this document through
your own internet connection. The library contains information listed below:
RFP, Questions & Answers, RFP Amendments, etc.
https://www.torrancecountynm.org/rfb-rfp
Other relevant links:
- New Mexico Procurement Code
https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4378/index.do#!fragment//BQCwhgziBcwMYg
K4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoByCgSgBpltTCIBFRQ3AT0otojlzYANkIDCSNNACEyP
oTC4EbDtypyFCAMp5SAIW4AlAKIAZIwDUAggDlRR2qTAAjaKWxxq1IA
- County Procurement Policy
https://www.torrancecountynm.org/departments/finance-department
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II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT
This section of the RFP contains the schedule of events, the descriptions of each event, and the
conditions governing this procurement.
A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
The Procurement Manager will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:
Action Responsible Party D ue Dates
1. Issue RFP County July 10, 2026
2. Acknowledgement of Potential Offerors July 20, 2026
Receipt Form
3. Deadline to submit Potential Offerors July 22, 2026
Written Questions
4. Response to Written Procurement Manager July 27, 2026
Questions
5. Submission of Proposal Potential Offerors August 10, 2026 by 2:00 pm
6.*Proposal Evaluation Evaluation Committee August 13, 2026
7.*Selection of Finalists Evaluation Committee August 17, 2026
8. *Oral Presentation(s) Finalist Offerors August 18, 2026
9. *Finalize Contractual County/Finalist August 24, 2026
Agreements Offerors
10.*Contract Awards County/ Finalist September 1, 2026
Offerors
11.* Protest Deadline Offerors September 16, 2026
*Dates indicated in Events 6 through 11 are estimates only and may be subject to change/cancellation
without necessitating an amendment to the RFP.
**Contract award is subject to approval of the Board of County Commissioners or Designee.
B. EXPLANATION OF EVENTS
The following paragraphs describe the activities listed in the Sequence of Events shown in
Section II.A., above.
1. Issue RFP
This RFP is being issued on behalf of the County of Torrance and the Torrance County Board
of Commissioners on the date indicated in Section II.A, Sequence of Events.
2. Acknowledgement of Receipt Form
Potential Offerors may e-mail the Acknowledgement of Receipt Form (APPENDIX A) to the
County buyer, Kathryn Dillon at kdillon@tcnm.us, to have their organization placed on the
procurement Distribution List. The form must be returned to the Procurement Manager by
2:00 pm MST/ MDT on the date indicated in Section II.A, Sequence of Events.
The procurement distribution list will be used for the distribution of written responses to
questions, and/or any amendments to the RFP. Failure to return the Acknowledgement of
Receipt Form does not prohibit potential Offerors from submitting a response to this RFP.
However, by not returning the Acknowledgement of Receipt Form, the potential Offeror's
representative shall not be included on the distribution list and will be solely responsible for
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