Title
A Resolution Of The City Commission Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Authorizing The Appropriate City Officials To Execute A Two-Year Agreement With CIGNA For An Employee Assistance Program For An Amount Not To Exceed $141,398.40.
Strategic Plan Focus
Employee Development & Empowerment
Body
Staff Recommends: Approval of attached Resolution.
Explanation:
The Office of Human Resources has contracted with Corporate Counseling Associates (“CCA”) to administer the Employee Assistance Program (“EAP”) for over a decade. In recent years, Human Resources staff has noted an increase in the utilization of services and increased demand for more expansive services. For these reasons, the Director of Human Resources requested the City’s benefits consultant, the Gehring Group, solicit proposals from EAP providers.
Gehring Group received responses from five vendors, including incumbent, CCA and the City’s current health plan administrator, CIGNA. Gehring Group analyzed each vendor’s resources, rates, fees, and network. CIGNA was selected as a finalist due to the combination of enhanced network access of physicians, increased onsite service hours, and a dedicated First Responder call line. Through further negotiations, Cigna was able to lower their fees and increase services.
Although there is an increase in the premium of roughly $31,146 per year (95.6% increase), the increased services proposed and network access are warranted to provide employees with enhanced care in a time where EAP utilization is at an all-time high. Additionally, once an employee exhausts their visits through the EAP they will not need to switch providers as the services can be transitioned under the City’s medical plan as Cigna is also the third party administrator.
Gehring Group was able to negotiate a two-year rate guarantee contract that includes ten face-to-face sessions per issue, per year; 48 onsite hours and a dedicated service line for First Responders so that those calls can be directed to a provider that specializes in that industry.
Fiscal Impact:
A companion resolution allocating the funds in account number 558.112004.51900.532300.000000.000.000 to execute a two-year agreement with CIGNA for an employee assistance program will be forthcoming.
Recommended for inclusion on the agenda by:
Tammie L. Hechler, Director, Human Resources
Raelin Storey, Assistant City Manager