[Notice issued May 1, 2018; Revised May 7, 2018;
Revised May 22, 2018]
The Alabama Department of Insurance (DOI) hereby
gives notice of the issuance of Requests for Proposals (RFP) for qualified
respondents to provide the DOI with the following professional services:
·
Property and Casualty
Insurance Actuarial Services
·
Life and Disability
Insurance Actuarial Services
·
Certified Public
Accountant Services
·
Insurer Examination
Services
·
Insurer Market Conduct
Examination Services
·
Insurer Investments
Examination Services
·
Insurer Automated
Examination Services
Contracts are contemplated to be awarded for the
one-year of term October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019. Responses to the RFP must be received not
later than June 1, 2018, at 3:00 PM CDT. Each response must include one
original unredacted response in printed form plus one identical electronic copy
in PDF format on either Compact Disc (CD or DVD) or USB drive.
The RFPs are listed in
the State of Alabama Accounting and Resource System (STAARS). You may learn about STAARS at http://vendors.alabama.gov/, and can register as
a Vendor at https://procurement.staars.alabama.gov/webapp/PRDVSS1X1/AltSelfService.
Additional information is set forth in the
attached files, each accessible in Adobe format:
- RFP
for Professional Actuarial Services for Property and Casualty Insurance: Adobe
- RFP
for Professional Actuarial Services for Life and Disability Insurance: Adobe
- RFP
for Professional CPA Services: Adobe
- RFP
for Professional Insurer Examination Services: Adobe
- RFP
for Professional Insurer Market Conduct Examination Services: Adobe
- RFP
for Professional Insurer Investments Examination Services: Adobe
- RFP
for Professional Computer Audit Services: Adobe
Exhibit B, the TeamMate® Confidentiality
Agreement, must be submitted with every proposal except for CPA. A PDF copy is included above with each
RFP. An additional copy in Word format
is accessible here: Word
State law requires a Disclosure Statement to be
submitted with every proposal. The form
can be accessed from the Attorney General’s Web site at https://ago.alabama.gov/Form
For the procedures and forms for foreign
corporations to qualify to do business in the State of Alabama, please visit
the web page for the Alabama Secretary of State at http://sos.alabama.gov/
REVISIONS TO THIS NEWS RELEASE AND RESPONSES TO
QUESTIONS WILL BE POSTED BELOW:
Question 1, regarding the Description of
Services for Actuaries:
In RFP#ALDOI-2018-1 for Property and Casualty
Insurance Actuarial Services, and also in RFP#ALDIO-2018-2 for Life and
Disability Insurance Actuarial Services, the services described in Paragraphs
1.2.1.5, 1.2.1.6, and 1.2.1.7, appear to be more in line with services to be
performed by an Insurance Examination firm, rather than an Actuarial firm. If awarded a contract, would an actuarial
firm be expected to provide these services?
Answer: No.
These services are more appropriately included with examination services
and should not have been included with the actuary services. Please ignore the services listed in
Paragraph 1.2.1.5, 1.2.1.6, and 1.2.1.7 in both RFP#ALDOI-2018-1 for Property
and Casualty Insurance Actuarial Services, and RFP#ALDOI-2018-2 for Life and
Disability Insurance Actuarial Services.
Likewise, in the sample contracts attached to both RFPs as Exhibit “A”,
Paragraphs 2.1.5, 2.1.6, and 2.1.7 can be ignored and will be removed from any
final contract to be offered in this regard.
We apologize for the confusion caused by this mistake.
Question 2, regarding the Description of Services
for Insurer Examination services:
In RFP#ALDOI-2018-4 for Insurer Examination
services for all types of insurers, the RFP addresses services which appear to
be covered by the RFPs for other professional services, for example: Section
1.2.1.1 mentions market conduct examinations, Sections 1.2.1.2 and 1.2.1.4 seem
to be actuarially driven, and Section 1.2.1.10 relates to automated insurer
examination services. To what extent, if
any, do you want such services address in the Insurer Examination services proposal?
Answer: It is anticipated that a firm contracted to
perform Insurer Examination services will be able to provide services necessary
to complete a full, five-year examination of any Alabama insurer. A review of the insurer’s market conduct
during the period under review will be expected. An actuary is used to determine if the
reserves are adequate. A certain part of
the examination will include a computer-based examination of certain aspects of
the insurer’s records. Thus, it may be
said the RFP for Insurer Examination services includes all of the services
included in the RFP for Market Conduct Examination services, Insurer
Investments Examination services, Automated Insurer Examination services, and,
as related to an examination, both P&C and L&D actuarial services.
Question 3, regarding the Qualifications for
Insurer Examination services:
In RFP#ALDOI-2018-4 for Insurer Examination
services for all types of insurers, Section 1.3.7 under Qualifications requires
a “demonstrated knowledge of Title XXVII of the federal Public Health Service
Act and its implementing regulations.
Can you provide additional information concerning the scope of work you
envision the contract examination firms providing relating to this act and
regulations?
Answer: It is anticipated that a firm contracted to
perform Insurance Examination services will be able to provide all services
necessary to complete a full, five-year examination of any Alabama
insurer. Thus, in the case of an insurer
providing health insurance subject to federal law, the examiner should
demonstrate knowledge of the applicable federal law and regulations.
Question 4, regarding the Proposal Content -
Pricing format for Insurer Examination services:
In RFP#ALDOI-2018-4 for Insurer Examination
services for all types of insurers, Section 2.3.8, Pricing Format under Proposal
Content, after “Individual Classification” it includes “Actuarial
Examiner.” For financial examinations,
are you looking for actuarial services pricing here, or are you looking for the
pricing for an actuarial examiner who understands actuarial issues and executes
testing of the data used by the actuaries?
Answer: Section 2.3.8 of the RFP for Insurer
Examination Services, entitled “Pricing-format,” a proposal should list an
hourly rate for each employee classification in general, followed by a list of
each individual who will be providing the services, with employee
classifications, certifications, and hourly rates indicated. The classifications indicated are
representative based on prior contracts.
An actuary is used is used in a financial examination to determine if
the reserves are adequate. Please feel
free to substitute employee classifications as appropriate to your firm. This should include whatever title or
classification is used to indicate the person providing actuarial services
relative to an examination.
Question 5, regarding the Qualifications for
Life and Disability Actuarial services:
In RFP#ALDOI-2018-2 for Life and Disability
Actuarial services, Section 1.3.2 under Qualifications requires a “demonstrated
knowledge and experience in using ACL and TeamMate® software, and Section 2.3.6 under Proposal Contents - TeamMate®
license and experience, it requires a proposal
to include a copy of the respondent’s current TeamMate® license. As a part of our proposal, we will commit, at
our expense, to obtain a license for that software if our proposal is
successful, and we will also undertake any and all necessary training of our
staff. However, we will be unable to
provide a copy of a current license with our proposal. Will our proposal be rejected as
non-responsive if we reply as indicated?
Answer: Section 5.7 of the RFP for Life and
Disability Actuarial services permits the DOI, to waive minor deviations from
the requirements expressed in the RFP.
If it should turn out that no proposals are received from potential
contractors with this qualification, it is possible we would be willing to
consider waiving this deviation; however, it has been our experience that there
are many firms available which already have this qualification. The DOI is under fairly strict accreditation
requirements to prepare and maintain examination workpapers. If a contractor cannot use the TeamMate®
software, then DOI staff would have to go back and enter the workpapers into
the system, which is something we wish to avoid.