Madison Finance Committee decided Tuesday to allow the Mayor to contract ConnectYourCare, LLC for City of Madison employee healthcare benefits program.
Prior to this decision, the city had contracted with Total Administrative Services Corporation for an optional employee Flexible Spending Accounts program since 2014.
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The city reopened the bidding for service contracts because the TASC contract would expire at the end of the 2017 benefit year. After a six-month proposal selection process, the city selected CYC as their contract service provider.
TASC officials did not agree with that decision, however, and petitioned the Finance Committee in September with a 30 percent contract price reduction offer. TASC officials also stressed the benefits of partnering with local Madison businesses, as opposed to CYC which is based in Maryland.
Other finance committee members, like Ald. Michael Verveer, District 4, and Ald. Barbara Harrington-McKinney, District 1, agreed that it was important to invest in local partnerships for city contracts.
“I’ll have to stand … in support of a local company bringing local resources for our community and having our dollars turn around in our community,” Harrington-McKinney said.
TASC, however, introduced their finance discount one month after the original deadline for submitting best and final price offers on the request for proposal. Some members believed introducing a new price after bids were closed presented fairness issues to other bidders.
Ald. Sara Eskrich, District 13, argued the finance committee had inconsistent procedural practices for considering an alternative proposal from TASC after the initial deadline.
“For us to change our processes in the middle of an RFP is just not good government,” Eskrich said. “It’s not fair or appropriate to do that in response to one RFP by one company.”
Ultimately, the finance committee received a majority to select CYC as the new healthcare service administrator for city employees.
The contract will be put to a final vote by the Madison City Council for a final decision later this month.
