Your fired!
“The process has not been clear and concise. There has been a lack of transparency.”
Purchasing Department Sounds Alarm
Cameron County recently hired an insurance consulting firm to guide the county through a competitive request for proposal process for their self-funded employee health insurance program.
Cameron County has not bid out their group health insurance program since 2007.
In lieu of charging the county a consulting fee to manage the RFP process for the county’s employee health insurance plan, to include analysis and recommendations, the county agreed instead to assign Gallagher Benefit Services as Agent of Record for the county’s voluntary ancillary products. Commissions earned through these products would be consideration in full to Gallagher for work performed on the county health plan.
Controversy soon erupted among local insurance agents who felt they were thus prevented from competing for the county’s lucrative voluntary products business.
Compounding the insurance community uproar over the Agent of Record status conferred upon Gallagher Benefit Services, questions arose over the integrety of the health insurance RFP process.
The county purchasing department expressed reservations that the process was not moving forward in compliance with standard bidding protocol. Specifically, the purchasing department listed four areas of concern during the Commissioners Court meeting of August 7 (see video).
Commissioners Court voted to terminate the Gallagher contract at their August 7 meeting.
Commissioner Garza summed up the feelings of the marjority by stating “The process has not been clear and concise. There has been a lack of transparency.”
See 49 minute video (click on agenda item 3C-3G)
