This is for an annual contract for Employee Vision Plan Benefits with The Standard Insurance Company at no cost to the City. The City of Savannah makes available to eligible employees and dependents access to voluntary vision insurance coverage. Due to network issues with the current vision carrier, the Office of Human Resources requested USI to solicit vision coverage.   

The estimated premium is to be paid 100% by those members who are enrolled in the coverage. There is no cost to the city for this service. The policy will be effective from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. The contract offers a 2-year rate guarantee. The rates for members will decrease by an average of 9%. The difference in rates are listed below:

               Current Carrier Rates (Weekly):  NVA                              New Recommended Carrier Rates (Weekly):  The Standard
Vision Plan                                                                                             Vision Plan
Emp Only    $1.17                                                                                  Emp Only  $1.10
EE+1           $2.10                                                                                  EE+1         $1.92
Family         $3.03                                                                                  Family        $2.69

               Current Carrier Rates (Biweekly):  NVA                            New Recommended Carrier Rates (Biweekly):  The Standard
Vision Plan                                                                                             Vision Plan
Emp Only    $2.33                                                                                    Emp Only  $2.19
EE+1           $4.20                                                                                    EE+1         $3.83
Family         $6.06                                                                                    Family        $5.39

The Standard will provide a $5,000 credit for implementation, lower the LTD rates (paid by the City) by 5% resulting in $12,500 in cost savings, and extend the rate guarantees for life insurance and LTD until 01/01/2025.

USI solicited eight dental carriers requesting a match of current benefits.  Two carriers declined to quote as not competitive, and one carrier did not respond.  The two most competitive quotes were from the Guardian and The Standard. (See attached marketing results).

Recommendation: Award the Standard/VSP as the vision carrier for the City of Savannah.  The Standard presented with the lowest rates for the vision plans (9% cost savings for plan members), similar plan coverages as the current provider with access to a better network such as the Georgia Eye Institute, cost reduction to the City of Savannah for LTD, and limited disruption in network service to current members.

L.B.         The Standard Insurance Company (Portland, OR)^(D)           $134,370

               Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (New York, NY) ^(D) $138,084

               United Concordia Companies, Inc. (Camp Hill, PA) ^(D)     $147,704

               Unum Group (Chattanooga, TN)^(D)     $132,999 (not adequate coverage)

               Lincoln Financial Group ( Radnor, PA)^(D)   $207,064

              Mutual of Omaha (Omaha, NE)^(D)    Declined

              Sun Life  (Wellesley Hills, MA )^(D)      Declined

 (D) Indicates non-local, non-DBE business.

Approval