TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF AUGUST 13, 2026
COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT
Mr. John P. Murray, Executive Director
Title
Issue purchase order and enter into an agreement with Benefitfocus.com, Inc. to provide employee benefits software and services, in an amount not to exceed $780,000.00, Account 101-27000-612820 and 101-25000-612430, Requisition 1662237
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with Benefitfocus.com, Inc. (Benefitfocus) to provide employee benefits software and services for a five-year period from July 8, 2026, through July 7, 2031.
On July 12, 2018, the Board of Commissioners authorized the Director of Procurement and Materials Management to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with Benefitfocus to provide a comprehensive employee benefits platform including an employee portal to the District’s employees for a five-year period in an amount not to exceed $490,000.00. The Benefitfocus portal went live on July 8, 2019. On June 15, 2023, the Board of Commissioners authorized the Director of Procurement and Materials Management to issue a new purchase order with Benefitfocus to continue to provide these employee benefits software services and to amend the scope of work to include the administration of health benefits for the retiree population. The purchase order was for the three-year period from July 8, 2023, through July 7, 2026.
The current contract with Benefitfocus is to provide a comprehensive employee benefits platform for the administration of employee benefits related to the active employee population. The scope of work includes a highly intuitive benefits portal allowing employees to select and manage their benefits via the web or a fully functional mobile app; a communications portal with detailed information related to each benefit option; a suite of cost estimating and decision-support tools to assist employees in making benefits selections; an administrative portal allowing all benefits elections, changes, and employee acknowledgments to be processed electronically eliminating the need for paper enrollment forms; a robust set of standard reports to assist in monitoring enrollment and election changes; an end-to-end COBRA solution; and an Affordable Care Act reporting module to enable the production of required 1095-C tax forms and the required filings with the Internal Revenue Service. The scope of work also includes the administration and maintenance of data file exchanges between the Benefitfocus platform and the SAP system for demographic data and payroll deductions as well as between the Benefitfocus platform and the various insurance carrier systems.
Benefitfocus is the sole service provider of the Benefitfocus platform and has submitted pricing for the employee benefits software services required. The renewal pricing provides for a 4.0% increase to current rates in year one of the contract, with rates then locked for the remainder of the five-year period. Inasmuch as Benefitfocus is the only source of supply for the services required, nothing would be gained by advertising for bids (Section 11.4 of the Purchasing Act).
Benefitfocus is registered and in good standing with the State of Illinois.
In view of the foregoing, it is requested that the Director of Procurement and Materials Management be authorized to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with Benefitfocus.com, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $780,000.00.
Funds for 2026 expenditures in the amount of $144,200,00 are available in Accounts 101-25000-612430 and 101-27000-612820. The estimated annual expenditures are as follows: $155,500.00 in 2027, $155,500.00 in 2028, $155,500.00 in 2029, $155,500.00 in 2030 and $13,800.00 in 2031. Funds for 2027 through 2031 will be requested and are contingent on the Board of Commissioners’ approval of the District’s budget for those years.
Requested, James E. Fisher, Acting Director of Human Resources
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement and Materials Management
Respectfully Submitted, Precious Brady-Davis, Chairperson Committee on Procurement
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for August 13, 2026