Bill Text: MS SB2621 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State Employees Health Insurance Management Board; shall use certain procedures to procure CHIP insurance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2011-02-01 - Died In Committee [SB2621 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2011-SB2621-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Insurance
By: Senator(s) Yancey
Senate Bill 2621
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE AND SCHOOL EMPLOYEES HEALTH INSURANCE MANAGEMENT BOARD TO COMPETITIVELY PROCURE THE INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR THE CHIP PROGRAM BY USING A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND SPECIFIC CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING AN INSURER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) Whenever the State and School Employees Health Insurance Management Board procures health insurance coverage for Mississippi's CHIP, it shall comply with the procedures set forth in this section:
(a) The board shall cause to be prepared a request for proposals. This request for proposals shall be prepared for distribution to any interested party. Notice of the board's intention to seek proposals shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least one time per week for three (3) weeks before closing the period for interested parties to respond. Additional forms of notice may also be used. The newspaper notice shall inform the interested parties of the service to be contracted, existence of a request for proposals, how it can be obtained, when a proposal must be submitted, and to whom the proposal must be submitted. When developing a request for proposals, the board shall include the weighted values for areas on which the cost and technical merits of an insurer's proposal will be evaluated. To ensure the integrity of the board's competitive procurement process, the Office of Insurance and its consultants shall complete the development of all evaluative tools before the time the board issues its request for proposals.
(b) To document the receipt and opening of proposals, the Office of Insurance staff responsible for such activity shall sign their names on the "Register of Proposals."
(c) An internal review committee shall evaluate all proposals submitted by interested parties and shall apply the same criteria to all proposals when conducting the evaluation. The committee shall consist of at least three (3) members of the board. To assist committee members in objectively and accurately scoring a proposal, the board shall ensure that recommended responses for items in the RFP questionnaire are stated in operationally defined terms consistent with the services being requested. The board shall ensure that committee members adhere to point values assigned to criteria for items included within the RFP questionnaire. At the conclusion of the scoring process, the Office of Insurance shall conduct an inter-rater reliability analysis to identify variances among scorers that should be discussed and evaluated further. The results and recommendations of the evaluation shall be presented to the board for review. All evaluations presented to the board shall be retained by the board for at least three (3) years. The board may accept or reject any recommendation of the review committee, or it may conduct further inquiry into the proposals. Any further inquiry shall be clearly documented and all methods and recommendations shall be retained by the board and shall spread upon its minutes its choice and the reasons for making its choice.
(d) If the board chooses to use the competitive sealed proposal method of procurement, the board shall require the Office of Insurance to establish a firm date by which a proposer may submit a "best and final" offer. Such offers shall include revisions of cost proposals, if any, and submission of additional information or changes to the proposer's initial proposals. The board shall not allow internal review committee members or its consultants to request or accept information from proposers after the established cutoff date for best and final offers.
(e) With regard to reference checks, the board shall require the Office of Insurance to consult with the Mississippi Department of Insurance to determine whether the department has information that would reflect on an insurer's ability to provide the requested services. The board shall develop criteria by which reference check information will be judged and factored into the overall evaluation process.
(f) (i) If the board allows the internal review committee members to score finalists' presentations and on-site visits, the board shall:
1. Develop an agenda or itinerary to guide committee members through this portion of the evaluation process;
2. Require the Office of Insurance to develop criteria by which finalists' presentations and on-site visits will be scored; and
3. Determine an appropriate number of points that may be awarded to finalists for presentations and on-site visits.
(ii) Unless the request for proposals explicitly states that presentations or on-site visits will be discretionary, the board shall require all proposers considered to be finalists in the evaluation process to be afforded an opportunity to make a presentation and receive an on-site visit.
(g) The board shall require the Office of Insurance to conduct debriefings with proposers that were not selected, upon request, after the board has voted to enter into negotiations with a selected proposer. At the conclusion of negotiations and after the board has signed an agreement with an insurer to provide coverage, the Office of Insurance may conduct, upon request, more comprehensive debriefings with proposers that were not selected. However, there shall be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing proposers.
(h) To ensure that the board can justify its selection of a particular insurer to provide coverage, the board shall require the Office of Insurance to maintain appropriate work papers to document major decisions and thought processes associated with the development of the request for proposals, development of evaluative tools and the scoring of proposals, presentations, and on-site visits.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2011.
