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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESPONSE - RFP - 7552 UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS MANAGEMENTOriginal | September 18, 2013 Request for Proposal Unemployment Cost Management Employers Edge, LLC. Request for Proposal NO.7552 Submitted by: Matthew G. Brady 5290 East Yale Circle, Suite 205 Denver, CO 80222 m.brady@employersedge.com / 720- 891- 4902 City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 2 Table of Contents I – Statement of Work A. Methods and Approach a. Introduction b. Overview and History B. Scope of Work Deliverables C. Experience of Firm and Staff a. Overview of Services offered b. Additional Services D. List of Project Personnel E. Availability F. Fee Schedule a. Consideration of Transition Costs Attachments Employment & Income Verification Flyer Employers Edge HELPLINE Flyers Resume’s of Personnel Assigned to City of Fort Collins References Sample Agreement City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 3 I – Statement of Work: A. Methods and Approach a. Introduction We feel strongly that as you review our response to your RFP, you will find that Employers Edge is the company that will generate the greatest overall reduction of unemployment expenditures for the City of Fort Collins. Employers Edge is a national unemployment cost management and employment and income verification service providing employers with the highest quality and most effective services available. Matt Brady and Steve Bell, founders & principals, may be reached at (720) 891-4900 x102 and x101 respectively, as well as at mbrady@employersedge.com and sbell@employersedge.com. Matt Brady will serve as the negotiation and clarification contact for Employers Edge on this RFP. Employers Edge is a unique company that blends veteran industry experts with the most effective claims processing methodology and state of the art technology supporting the entire process. To best understand our company history and why Employers Edge is uniquely qualified to provide superior services to the City of Fort Collins, a brief industry background is necessary. b. Overview and History At the beginning of 2002, the unemployment claims management industry consisted of eight (8) large national companies and a host of smaller regional companies. By “large national” we mean companies that had revenues of $10 to $30 million, processed claims in all 50 states and generally worked with the country’s largest employers. By “smaller regional companies” we mean companies with less than three million dollars in unemployment claims management revenue and predominantly selling to smaller clients in a regional area. In March of 2002, Equifax/Talx entered the unemployment claims management business by purchasing two of the country’s large national companies on the same day (Gates/McDonald and Frick). Over the course of the next four years, Equifax/Talx consolidated over 90% of the national market by acquiring the six other large national firms, concluding with Employers Unity on November 1 st , 2005. This dramatic industry consolidation led to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) anti-trust inquiry. On April 28 th , 2008, a settlement in this case was announced between the FTC and Equifax/Talx. The details of which can be found at the following web address: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/talx.shtm. It was Equifax/Talx’s final acquisition of Employers Unity that was the genesis of our company, Employers Edge. We assembled some of the industry’s most talented and veteran employees from Employers Unity (Employers Edge offers the City of Fort Collins over three centuries of combined direct unemployment industry expertise), and ones that we felt espoused our customer focused approach to unemployment cost control. City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 4 We knew there was a proven, more effective approach to unemployment claims processing than what was being offered by the industry giant. We also knew that we could take this service to an even higher level of quality and efficiency by reengineering some of the challenges that had plagued our team (and the industry in general) during their years at Employers Unity. Our IT Director and Claims Operations Managers had over 35 years of hands on experience and worked together to develop our EdgeWise claims management system to address the operational challenges they had experienced. One example of a key improvement was our instituting a paperless workflow environment, whereby the claims specialist’s daily tasks are driven by electronic document images rather than physical pieces of paper making their way around the office. The market has been very receptive to a quality alternative as we’ve now had over 200 prominent employers make the switch from our competitors to Employers Edge and not one of those employers has ever switched back. As mentioned at the beginning of this summary, there are a handful of smaller companies providing unemployment services across the country. Many of these companies have been around for 15 or 25 years and have remained small likely because their service works well for their clientele. What sets Employers Edge apart from these companies is the proven operational and information technology expertise required to service the nation’s largest, most demanding employers. This expertise is the foundation of our sophisticated data systems (EdgeWise), comprehensive and user friendly reports, expert claims management and knowledgeable auditing and tax planning. B. Scope of Work Deliverables Initial Claims • Receive, process and enter into EdgeWise all claims filed against Client Note: EdgeWise is our custom claims management software • Communicate immediately with Client to gather separation information as appropriate • Key separation information into EdgeWise Note: Employers Edge can also receive via file transfer wage & separation information • File detailed, accurate, and timely protests with appropriate state offices • Contact Client immediately with state adjudicator questions for additional information • Send Individual Claim Reports to Client with the final status of each claim that is protested Appeals • Consult with Client in regards to filing an appeal should claim not be won at initial level • File appeal with state offices upon Clients direction • Conduct pre-hearings conferences with Client, prepping witnesses for the hearing • Represent our Client at the hearing with the state, conduct a post hearing review • If we lose at the Appeal level, discuss prospects for secondary appeal with Client • File secondary appeal at Clients request, includes the written Board Brief filed at the state • Send Individual Claims Report to Client with the final status of the claim. City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 5 Auditing of Benefits & Charges • Verifying states calculated benefit amount, validating to individual state regulations • Auditing all benefits paid out from Client account back to specific claims in EdgeWise • Recovering on behalf of Client overpayments or other errors made by the state Note: the national average of errors made by states in payments on unemployment claims is 10.7%! Reporting • Client will receive comprehensive, detailed quarterly reports on all claims activity Note: Ad-hoc reports can also be generated at Client’s request • Client may select multiple sort levels to obtain the maximum benefit from reports • Detailed claims information by sort level, including our claims win ratio is provided • Summaries of charge data, separations by reason code and historical data are provided Client Education on Unemployment Issues • Unemployment tips bulletins as well as legislative updates with timely information on issues and changes affecting the world of unemployment insurance • Educational seminars with your management team focusing on the management strategies for reducing unemployment expenditures • Educational classes are delivered in person or via a web-conference C. Experience of Firm and Staff Employers Edge was founded over seven and a half (7 ½) years ago right here in Colorado. We have three (3) locations in Colorado, our corporate headquarters in Denver, our primary claims processing center in Northglenn and a second claims processing center in La Junta. Our expert personnel offer the City of Fort Collins over three centuries of combined direct unemployment industry experience and have serviced many of the nation’s largest employers. Our depth of expertise covers all critical areas – information technology and reporting, claims management, employment and income verification, hearings representation, board-of-review appeals, auditing and tax planning, educational training and account management. It is important to note that unemployment claims administration and employment & income verification are our core competencies, and all that we do at Employers Edge. Employers Edge is currently providing our services for some of the nation’s largest employers. We’ll share a list of our prominent local and national customer in-person to eliminate the risk of our proprietary customer list being exposed by way of a public records request. Additionally, we currently deliver our services to every conceivable type of reimbursable, public entity (state governments, cities, counties, school districts, park & recreational districts, universities, colleges, junior and community colleges, non-profit organizations, etc.). City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 6 Hearings Process Preparation of all witnesses for hearings is a critical component to successfully defending our clients at unemployment hearings. Included in our fee, we provide pre-hearing conferences to prepare and train your personnel prior to testifying at a hearing. We strive to train your personnel to be an expert on the critical elements of unemployment law that surrounds each particular case. We prepare them for the questions that we anticipate being asked at the hearing. As discussed, we notify our clients within 24 hours of receipt of a notice of hearing so that our clients have as much lead time as possible to schedule it on their calendars and begin preparing to testify. We immediately coordinate a time with all witnesses for the pre-hearing conferences. As with the initial claims process, we will set up a predetermined protocol of whom, how, and how many times we will contact our client to make sure that we coordinate a timely exchange of information with our client and the state agencies on all claims, hearings and board level appeals. We set up back- ups as well at all levels. For example, a sample protocol might be that if we call two days in a row to coordinate a hearing, and we do not hear back from the assigned contact, we have a higher level client contact (predetermined) to escalate it to make sure that we can ensure the timely exchange of information. Similar to the initial decision, if the hearing or board appeal is in your favor, you will receive an individual claims report within two business days by email informing you of the favorable decision and how much we saved City of Fort Collins in potential liability. If the decision is unfavorable at the hearing level, we’ll give the designated client contact a call within two business days to discuss the case, the reasons behind the decision, and decide if we should appeal to the board. On all unfavorable decisions at the hearing and board levels, we will call to let you know the outcome, then follow up by email with an individual claims report. After all hearings, we have a post-hearing debriefing with the witnesses to discuss the hearing and testimony. This is an important educational opportunity for your staff because we let them know where, if any, there was weakness in the case or in the testimony as well. The objective of the debriefing is to continually educate our customers so that we can avoid previous mistakes or pitfalls in the future as well as to let them know the areas within which they performed very well. Audit Controls All charges are audited back to each claim in EdgeWise to ensure accuracy. If we receive charges for any claim that is pending or won, EdgeWise automatically kicks out a protest letter and a copy of the favorable decision is provided on the claims that we won courtesy of our integrated document imaging within the EdgeWise system. EdgeWise also detects any charges that exceed the maximum potential liability and automatically produces a protest on behalf of our customers as well. Each protest of a state error or overpayment is tracked and followed up on until it’s brought to final resolution. This auditing process ensures that you do not incur any unwarranted charges to your state unemployment account(s). City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 7 Educational Training Your assigned account manager, Angie Hansen, is a 13 year industry veteran and has been managing City of Fort Collins account for the last five (5) years, would be providing the educational training seminars for your personnel. These training workshops are available in-person or by webinar and are tailored for the specific audience and may be customized to address your needs. Samples of topics that may be covered in our educational training seminars include: • The history of general overview of the unemployment system • Information regarding claim requirements in Colorado • Overview of the claims process from initial separation to the board of review • What the state(s) are looking for in the form of documentation • Overview of how the reimbursable unemployment system works • Hearings process interface with Employers Edge • Preparation tips for hearings • Checklists for specific and recurring discharges & quits • Financing – Who pays for it? • How the base period works • Overview of reports & trend analysis • Board level appeals • Top 10 cost control suggestions Employers Edge also provides “Legislative Updates” and “Unemployment Tips” for our customers to continually educate them and keep them up to date on industry trends. We also are continually updating our blog with pending legislation, legislative changes and industry trends. Click here to view: http://www.employersedge.com/unemploymentsolutions/NewsViews.aspx?tabid=5 Comprehensive Reporting Employers Edge has set up a customized reporting deliver schedule with defined personnel at the City of Fort Collins whereby specific personnel are scheduled to be delivered particular reports from our available suite of reports on a preferred, pre-arranged frequency (quarterly and annually for example), but our comprehensive suite of reports are also available anytime online. The City of Fort Collins has been receiving our claims reports for the last five (5) years, so you are likely very familiar with our available suite of reports and our online capabilities in this area. If helpful, Employers Edge is happy to provide an in-person or webinar demonstration of our robust online reporting features. a. Additional Services The Employers Edge HELPLINE: The Employers Edge HELPLINE is also available as part of our unemployment service offering. Two (2) users from your company are afforded access to legal advice and second legal opinions regarding City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 8 over 50 different employment law related issues (such as FMLA, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, ADA, Workers Compensation, Wage & Hour, HIPPA, etc.). This access is available on-line or by phone toll-free, and there is no limit to the number of questions and second opinions that may be retained. All legal questions are responded to with state specific answers by the following business day, and any questions, consultation and advice retained are protected by attorney/client privilege preventing it from further discovery. The additional upfront and annual fee for this service is $1,200 dollars. The Employers Edge HELPLINE also includes sexual harassment training for all states. Typical hourly fees for legal employment consultation range from $200 to $500 an hour, so it does not take long to see the tremendous added value that this differentiating resource provides our customers. Please find the “Employers Edge HELPLINE” flyer attached. You may want to review what the City of Fort Collins spent on sexual harassment training for everyone within the organization last year. The Employers Edge HELPLINE will likely save you thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars by only charging you $1,200 annually. Plus, you receive state specific legal consultation and second legal opinions for over 50 HR related topics. b. References of Similar Projects Please find our “References” attached. D. Availability Our personnel have been handling the City of Fort Collins account for the past five (5) years. Employers Edge does not anticipate any changes regarding our commitments to our other customers that would alter our current availability in any way. We’ve grown steadily over the last 5 years, but we’ve always maintained our commitment to delivering the highest quality and most effective services to our customers. Customer service is an intense focus and is embedded in our culture at Employers Edge. Our training and culture is to be a company that answers our customers’ phone calls. If our personnel are not away from their desks or on another call, they will answer their calls and attend to our customers’ needs. Should a call be missed, our phones indicate that a voicemail message has been left with a blinking red light. Our personnel are trained to respond to our customers’ voicemail and email messages immediately and within a minimum of four (4) business hours. You will have the smart phone numbers of your entire Employers Edge account management team including the two owners should you need assistance after normal business hours or on weekends. Your assigned account manager, Angie Hansen, is the point person appointed to handle the City of Fort Collins account. Angie is also available outside of normal business hours by smart phone. Employers Edge is available to attend to our customers’ needs. E. Fee Schedule City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 9 The City of Fort Collins claims activity used to determine that Base Annual Fee is as follows: Annual Claims Activity: 90 New Protested Claims: 36 New Non-Protested Claims: 54 Annual Hearings/Board Appeals: 5 Based on these figures, our pricing would be: Annual Fee $1,800 Renewals and pricing changes shall be negotiated by and agreed to by both parties. The Denver Boulder Greeley CPIU) as published by the Colorado State Planning and Budget Office will be used as a guide. Annual Fee shall be subject to review only at Annual Contract Renewal time. Any increases shall be capped at a maximum of 3% per year. These claims activity rates are not expected to change appreciably. In the event that they do, the Annual Fee base rate will also be subject to review at Annual Contract renewal time. a. Consideration of Transition Costs As previously mentioned, Employers Edge is a reliable and proven service provider that’s delivering an excellent service to the City of Fort Collins. The unemployment interface with Employers Edge and the City of Fort Collins is already running seamlessly. Naturally, a more timely and efficient process is more effective and produces better results, which is presently delivering material additional financial savings to the City of Fort Collins’ bottom line as a reimbursable employer. As the result of over five (5) years of ongoing partnership, Employers Edge has the communication process working seamlessly (primary contacts, back up contacts, escalation contacts, familiarity with policies/procedures as well and familiarity with the preferences of the day to day contacts) with the City of Fort Collins. Removing that established expertise and knowledge and trying to set up and train new personnel could potentially lead to service disruptions during a transition with open claims in midstream. In addition to the time and administrative cost inherent with transition to your internal personnel, there is the additional potential cost of open and active claims or hearings being missed or slipping through the cracks during transition from one service provider to another vendor while changing out the Power of Attorney for the City of Fort Collins. The average claim for City of Fort Collins is precisely $4,371.00 dollars and a full award claim is presently $13,754.00 dollars, so any potential missed claims or deadlines as you work to transfer responsibility from one service provider to another would quickly cost the City of Fort Collins substantially more money in additional reimbursable expenditures than any small differences in annual service provider fees. City of Fort Collins Request For Proposal 10 Should the City of Fort Collins decide to continue its partnership with Employers Edge, you would completely eliminate City of Fort Collins’ exposure to these additional transition costs as well as any potential risks of service disruption (missed claims, deadlines, etc.).