Request for Proposals to Provide Dental Preferred Provider Organization and Dental Health Maintenance Organization Plans under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Program

EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF TEXAS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO PROVIDE DENTAL PREFERREDPROVIDER ORGANIZATION AND DENTAL HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION PLANS UNDERTHE TEXAS EMPLOYEES GROUP BENEFITS PROGRAM

SOLICITATION NO. 23-12734-001

NIGP CODE: 948-28

The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a qualified firm (Respondent) to provide the following services under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Program inaccordance with Chapter 1551 of the Tex. Ins. Code:

a) A dental Preferred Provider Organization plan (State of Texas Dental Choice Plan ^sm ),a self-funded plan; and

b) A dental health maintenance organization plan.

ERS will only select one (1) Respondent to provide the Services for both PPO and DHMO Plans. ERS will execute two Contracts, one for Administrator to provide the PPO Plan and one for Carrier to provide the DHMO Plan. Administrator and Carrier must be the same entity or Affiliated as defined in Article XII. Glossary of Terms. ERS reserves the right not to select any Respondent to provide the Services.

Respondent shall provide the level of services required in the RFP and meet otherrequirements that are in the best interests of ERS, its members, and the stateof Texas (State). Respondent shall be required to execute contracts (Contract) provided by, and satisfactory to, ERS for a period that begins upon execution of the Contracts by ERS and extends through August 31, 2032 for six (6) years, subject to the terms of the Contracts. It is anticipated the Contracts will be executed in August 2025.

The Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement, attached to the RFP as Appendix E(NDA) must be properly executed in order to receive Appendices S, S-1, T, T-1,T-2, T-3, and T-4, and U. See RFP Sections I.E.8. – I.E.8.a. for more information on submitting an NDA.

To download the RFP or submit an executed NDA, questions, and/or a Proposal , prospective Respondents must first create a profile in Bonfire ( ERS’ e-procurement portal located at erstexas.bonfirehub.com ) , which operates best on the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Browser cookies must be enabled when accessing Bonfire. Note that Respondent’s primary contact must create a Bonfire profile (with the actual contact person’s email address) and download the RFP documents in orderto send and receive messages via Bonfire.

Questions will be accepted via Bonfire until December 10, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time(CT) . Answers to questions will be posted to Bonfire and ESBD on thedate specified in RFP Section I.B.1.

To be eligible for consideration, Respondent is required to submit its Proposal in accordance with the instructions set forth in the RFP. Respondents must meet the Minimum Requirements Questionnaire set forth in Appendix H of the RFP. All Proposal materials shall be received by ERS via Bonfire no later than January 30, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. CT.

ERS reserves the right to rebid the RFP if deemed by ERS to be in the best interests of ERS, its members, and/or the State. ERS also reserves the right to reject any Proposal submitted that does not fully comply with the RFP’s instructions and criteria. ERS is under no legal requirement to execute a Contract on the basis of this notice or upon issuance of the RFP and will not pay any costs incurred by any Respondent in connection with the preparation of a Proposal. ERS also reserves the right to revise any provisions set forth inthe RFP at any time prior to execution of a Contract where ERS deems it to be in the best interests of ERS, its members, and/or the State.

Any general questions should be sent to ERS’ point of contact, Chloe Conner, Procurement Specialist, via Bonfire or ivendorquestions@ers.texas.gov . ERS’ mailing address is P.O. Box 13207, Austin, Texas 78711-3207.