Exhibit 1 - Agenda Information SheetCity of Denton
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AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET
DEPARTMENT: Procurement
ACM: Cassey Ogden
DATE: September 17, 2024
SUBJECT
Consider adoption of an ordinance of the City of Denton, a Texas home-rule municipal corporation,
authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with United Healthcare Services, Inc., to provide
Medical Network, Claims Administrative Services, and Pharmacy Benefit Management Services for the
City of Denton’s self-funded health plans; providing for the expenditure of funds therefor; and providing
an effective date of January 1, 2025 (RFP 8577 – awarded to United Healthcare Services, Inc., for three (3)
years, with the option for two (2) additional one (1) year extensions, in the total five (5) year not-to-exceed
amount of $4,787,000.00).
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
This action supports Key Focus Area: Pursue Organizational Excellence and Collaborative and Respectful
Leadership.
INFORMATION/BACKGROUND
The City of Denton has a self-funded health plan meaning the City is responsible for funding medical and
prescription claims rather than a fully insured option. Being self-funded, the City has control of designing
its benefits plans and employee contribution structure and implements programs to control costs and
promote employee wellbeing.
To administer the self-funded health plan, the City contracts with a vendor to administer a provider network,
pay covered claims, and secure the most fiscally responsible prescription pricing. United Healthcare has
been providing these services for the City of Denton’s self-funded health plan since January 1, 2009. While
the current contract will not expire until December 30, 2027, the City decided to conduct an RFP to secure
additional pharmacy savings and improved contract terms.
The City submitted RFP #8577 to the market and received six (6) responses from:
• Aetna Inc.
• BlueCross BlueShield of Texas (BCBS)
• Cigna
• Marpai Health
• SlateRx LLC
• United Healthcare
City Hall
215 E. McKinney Street
Denton, Texas
www.cityofdenton.com
The six (6) proposals were reviewed and scored by an evaluation team that included representatives from
the City Manager’s office, Accounting, Human Resources, and the City’s broker of record.
As part of the evaluation process, the bidders were requested to complete a detailed “re-pricing exercise”
related to paid health and pharmacy claims. The re-pricing exercise is a key factor in evaluating the overall
cost of services. The monthly per employee per month (PEPM) administrative fee accounts for
approximately 3% of the total cost of the health plan, so the vast majority of costs come from medical and
pharmacy claims. Because of this, the level of contracted discounts with the medical providers, the provider
network, and the pharmacy rebates must be tested. To test this, each provider was asked to “re-price” the
actual medical and pharmacy claims that the City paid between May 2021 through April 2024, to determine
what the City would have paid had each company’s current discount structure and provider network been
in place at that time.
United Healthcare had the lowest projected total claim cost for medical and prescription drugs, based on
the repricing exercise, saving the City an estimated $3.4M in pharmacy spend over the next 3 years while
also adding the ability to do a market check of pharmacy pricing every 18 months. Additionally, United
Healthcare is the incumbent carrier, so there will be no disruption to our employees, retirees, and
dependents. United Healthcare also was competitive in its employee wellness programs, resources and
tools, customer service metrics, claims processing, disease, and case management services, reporting and
data management, Centers of Excellence offerings, network access, health plan compliance, and formulary
drug management. Finally, United Healthcare has been a good partner for the City since 2009 in helping
manage the City’s self-funded health plan.
The evaluation team ranked United Healthcare as the proposal that provided the best overall value for the
City, employees, and retirees. The main differentiator between United Healthcare and the other bidders was
the total cost and lack of disruption in network match and services.
*10% employee/retiree increase each year, starting with 2026 average count
***Admin fees rounded up to the nearest $1,000
Request for Proposals was sent to 152 prospective suppliers, including three (3) Denton firms. In addition,
specifications were placed on the Procurement website for prospective suppliers to download and advertised
in the local newspaper. Seven (7) proposals were received, with six (6) meeting specifications. References
were checked, and proposals were evaluated based upon published criteria including price, compliance with
specifications, and probable performance. Best and Final Offers (BAFO) were requested from the top firm.
Based upon this evaluation, United Healthcare Services, Inc. was ranked the highest and determined to be
the best value for the City.
NIGP Code Used for Solicitation:
953 - (Service Only) - Insurance and
Insurance Services, (All Types)
Notifications sent for Solicitation sent in IonWave: 152
Number of Suppliers that viewed Solicitation in IonWave: 12
HUB-Historically Underutilized Business Invitations sent out: 17
SBE-Small Business Enterprise Invitations sent out: 33
Responses from Solicitation: 7
Project Description Estimated 5-Year Administrative Fee Expenditure***
Year 1 $730,000
Year 2* (1,684 plus 10% = 1,852 count) 827,000
Year 3* 946,000
Year 4* 1,072,000
Year 5* 1,212,000
Total $4,787,000
RECOMMENDATION
Award a contract with United Healthcare Services, Inc., to provide Medical Network, Claims
Administrative Services, and Pharmacy Benefit Management Services for the City of Denton’s self-funded
health plans, in a three (3) year, with the option for two (2) additional one (1) year extensions, in the total
five (5) year not-to-exceed amount of $4,787,000.
PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS
United Healthcare Services, Inc.
Minnetonka, MN
ESTIMATED SCHEDULE OF PROJECT
Services under this contract will begin on January 1, 2025, and will expire on December 31, 2029.
FISCAL INFORMATION
The costs associated with the administration of the ASO for medical and prescription services are funded
by the Health Insurance Fund.
EXHIBITS
Exhibit 1: Agenda Information Sheet
Exhibit 2: Pricing Evaluation
Exhibit 3: Ordinance and Contract
Respectfully submitted:
Lori Hewell, 940-349-7100
Purchasing Manager
For information concerning this acquisition, contact: Misty Hambright, 940-349-8573.
Legal point of contact: Marcella Lunn at 940-349-8333.