# Joplin Civicplus #2027-RFP-03

Employee Benefits Consulting and Insurance-Provider RFP Support

**Posted:** October 16, 2026
**Respond By:** November 10, 2026
**Identifier:** 2027-RFP-03
**NAICS:** 524298, 541611, 541612

The City of Joplin Finance Department is seeking an independent benefits consultant to advise on employee benefit plans and support a future insurance-provider RFP.
- **Buyer:** City of Joplin, Finance Department.
- **Existing providers named:** UMR (self-insured health-plan administration), MetLife (dental, life, and disability), EyeMed (voluntary vision), and Optum (EAP); the stop-loss provider is unnamed.
- **Ongoing consulting:** Support health, dental, vision, life, disability, flexible benefits, and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offerings. Work includes plan and compliance reviews, benchmarking, plan-design recommendations, contract and document review, budgeting, claims and utilization analysis, vendor communications, wellness recommendations, open-enrollment support, employee education, and annual incurred-but-not-reported (IBNR) reserve calculations.
- **Project services:** Develop, run, and evaluate a competitive provider RFP covering health, dental, vision, and life insurance; support contract finalization and implementation. The project fee schedule also includes disability, flexible benefits, and EAP services.
- **Funding assessment:** Evaluate self-funding or partial self-funding against other funding approaches.
- **Key requirements:** The consultant must be independent of insurance companies, third-party administrators, and provider networks. Compensation must be negotiated fees only; commissions and other compensation are prohibited. The consultant may not approach insurance markets on the City's behalf, must protect City records and data, and must comply with HIPAA and COBRA requirements.
- **Engagement structure:** Ongoing services are priced as a monthly retainer with a not-to-exceed amount; project services are priced separately with a not-to-exceed amount. No products or product part numbers are requested.

### Description

The City of Joplin seeks a benefits consulting firm on retainer to review and analyze employee benefit plans, recommend changes, support regulatory compliance, and advise on provider negotiations. The scope includes ongoing plan reviews, benchmarking, budgeting and claims analysis, contract support, open-enrollment assistance, employee communications, and wellness recommendations. The consultant must not approach insurance markets on the City's behalf or be directly affiliated with an insurer, third-party administrator, or provider network; compensation is limited to negotiated fees, with commissions prohibited. The work also includes developing, executing, and evaluating a 2030 insurance-services RFP and assessing self-funding options. Proposals are due November 10, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.; the anticipated contract term is January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2031.

[View original listing](https://www.joplinmo.org/bids.aspx?bidID=1014)