Nevada extends PEBP HMO contract for interim

The Nevada Board of Examiners voted Tuesday to extend the existing state employee benefits contract with Hometown Health while they finish putting together a request for a proposal (RFP) to get a new contract.

The process of getting and signing a new HMO contract has a tortured history that finally resulted in the Public Employee Benefits Program board ordering staff to put together a completely new RFP. Executive Director Damon Haycock said the initial RFP was “a little too broad,” and resulted in vendors submitting multiple proposals that were difficult to evaluate and compare.

The board initially selected a single statewide vendor but Haycock said the price was too high. It would have added $100 a month to the amount state workers had to pay.

Staff tried to negotiate a better deal but he said, “felt it was still too high.”

The confusion and inconsistency in the process also was a driver behind Gov. Brian Sandoval’s decision last week to remove two PEBP board members and serve notice to two others they would not be reappointed once their terms expire at the end of June.

“Canceling the RFP was the only option so we pulled back to refine it, make it more clear and concise,” Haycock said.

But that, Haycock said, makes it necessary to extend the current HMO contracts to “buy us some time to do that.”

Through the end of the year, he said, HMO participants in the state plan will keep exactly the same access and rates they have been paying to Hometown Health.

BOE Chairman Sandoval and Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske voted to approve the $43 million contract extension through June 30, 2017. The attorney general was absent.

Haycock said that will give the board time for several meetings to finish developing the new RFP before sending it out.

“We want to provide clear evaluation criteria and prioritize those services for HMO participants,” said Haycock.

That way, he said vendors will provide proposals that allow the board to make “an apples to apples comparison.”

That process will begin at the PEBP board meeting next week.

When they meet, the board will already have two new members. Jeff Garofalo and Bob Moore, both of whom had been unable to attend numerous meetings because of their businesses, were removed.

They have been replaced by Tom Verducci, who formerly served on the state’s deferred compensation board, and Christine Zack Gundersen who has served as a member of senior management for three national healthcare companies.

At the end of June, Chris Cochran of UNLV will take over the NSHE seat currently held by Jacque Ewing-Taylor and Leah Lamborn, former fiscal manager of Nevada Medicaid, the seat representing retirees being vacated by Judy Saiz.