The Respondent(s) shall be a consultant advisor to review all aspects of the ARC’s Employee Benefit programs and to provide an evaluation, counsel and recommendations in the areas of the current benefit plan design, market benchmarks, and best practices. The consultant shall analyze past experience; make recommendationsfor changesin plan design and service providers; financial implications, risk assessment, stakeholder impact, implementation planning and make other recommendations which are expected to maintain/reduce the cost of benefits. The consultant shall provide ongoing management education on industry trends and legal updates, and act as a resource to management in employee training. The ideal consultant shall combine in‐depth of knowledge and breadth of services with a special level of intuition and human insight to identify potential solutions which includes, but is not limited to: 1. Evaluation of ARC’s current benefit plan: a) Development of short‐ and long‐range employee benefit plan, goals, and strategies; b) Perform current analysis of self‐insured benefit plan, design and cost structure in an effort to identify cost containment or reduction measures to minimize potential rate increases; c) Review and analyze claims experience; and d) Meet with and provide reports and presentations to ARC leadership. 2. Benchmarking and Market Research: a) Provide ARC with information related to local and national benefits trends and provide industry specific benchmark survey data to help design program offerings with employee and employer costs compared to similar organizations. b) Provide potential partnerships or consolidation opportunities with other organizations or governmental entities. 3. Third‐Party Administrator (TPA) feasibility study: a) Assess the potential benefits and challenges of transitioning to a single TPA model; and b) Recommend innovative ideas and new programs and service to ensure a competitive, valued and cost‐effective TPA program. 4. Financial Implications recommendations: a) Determine and recommend the most cost‐efficient funding analysis for recommended benefit program(s), to include transitioning to single TPA or self‐insured model. 5. Risk Assessment: a) Evaluate potential risks associated with the recommended changes, including financial, operational, and employee‐related risks. 6. Stakeholder impact: a) Educate, and advise on healthcare reform, and the key strategic decisions for organization consideration; and b) Assess the impact of recommended changes on employees, including satisfaction, out‐ of‐pocket costs, and access to care. 7. Implementation planning a) Partner with the Human Resources Benefits team to provide a preliminary implementation plan for recommended changes, which shall include timelines, resource needs, structure and insights for future contracting needs, and transitional considerations.
