The Institute for Health Measurement (IHM) in Southern Africa
RFP No. RFP-2022-08-027
Issue Date: 01 September 2022
Application Due Date & Time: 08 September 2022 at 17:00HRS
Description: Provision of Health Insurance services
Requesting Unit/Department: ISS-Human Resource
Type of Award: Service Contract
This award will be made to bidders whose proposals meet all the requirements including terms documented in this RFP. IHM will consider bids that are technically sound, offer the best price and also cover any other requirements in the RFP.
Point of Contact Email: [email protected]
1. Purpose
The Institute for Health Measurements (IHM) provides medical insurance coverage to its employees and their registered dependents as one of its core employment benefits. To this extent, IHM invites qualified Health Insurance providers to submit proposals for medical insurance coverage for IHM staff in Zambia.
2. Scope of Work
IHM is looking to select a suitable Insurance company to provide full medical insurance coverage for IHM staff based in Zambia. The coverage should include all members of staff including their registered dependents. The contract will be issued for a period of one (1) year with the possibility of further yearly renewals if the services prove to be satisfactory.
IHM provides Health Insurance to both its local and expatriate staff. Currently, IHM has a total number of 70 staff which is expected to increase to about 83 in October 2022 and possibly further over the following 12 months. While a large majority of the staff are located in Lusaka, many other staff members are spread across the 10 Provinces of the Country. It is therefore important for the service provider to demonstrate their wider coverage and presence in the country.
IHM is interested in receiving proposals from Vendors which elaborate on the benefits they will be able to provide (both medical benefits as well as additional benefits). Therefore, IHM is not being prescriptive at the RFP stage as to what benefits should or should not be included. And although costs will be a significant consideration, IHM is seeking to undertake a “best value” evaluation approach which will balance the policy benefits on offer, with the costs attached for those benefits (see evaluation criteria for further details).
In terms of administrative requirements, IHM requests that vendors are able to provide the following:
- Provision, renewal, and replacement of identification cards to members
- Acceptance of new members as requested by IHM within seven (7) working days of the request being made
- Have a 24-hour hot line that will attend to IHM employee needs whenever necessary
- Provision of quarterly utilization statements for each member and quarterly reconciliations for IHM at a minimum
- The service provider should be able to inform IHM at least 30 days in advance, in cases where there are changes to the scheme’s initial description and/or services.
- The ability to provide the service without interruptions throughout the agreed contractual period and provision of the best healthcare services to IHM Zambia employees.
3. Proposal Submission Guidelines
The following 4 documents must be provided to be considered for this opportunity.
1) MS Word or Pdf Proposal following the section lay-out below
- General Company Background
- Showing in business for a minimum 5 years
- Evidence of providing similar services in Zambia
- Latest list of companies receiving services from the vendor
- Details of services included in the policy
- Outline the medical services which members are entitled to and their respective limits including additional services such as gym membership and or mental health services etc.
- Provide a list of major Healthcare providers with whom the Service Provider has sound working relationships and possible contacts within Zambia (Hospital spread)
- Network of medical providers staff will be able to use across the country
- Costing
- Cost per unit for each service that is being offered. Other benefits being offered should be clearly indicated, similarly any add-on or optional costs should be clearly itemized and indicated for consideration.
2) Comparative Quotation on official company letterhead that clearly indicates the unit costs and total costs of the services. It is important to note that IHM is exempt from VAT and therefore the VAT should be indicated in a separate line.
For the purposes of comparative quotations, applicants can work on a total of 80 principal members with an average of 3 dependents each. The quotation should be valid for 30 days.
3) Copy of the Company registration certificate
4) Valid Tax clearance certificate
Please note that failure to submit any of the above will result in disqualification.
4. Proposal Evaluation Process
Proposals received will undergo a two-tier review process as follows:
4.1 Compliance Review
The proposals received will undergo a compliance review before being forwarded for technical evaluation by a selection committee. Failure to adhere to the following compliance criteria may result in disqualification:
Compliance Criteria Yes / No
No more than specified 4 electronic documents submitted
All 4 documents requested are submitted
Proposal Submitted by stated deadline
Proposal submission aligns to the proposed outline and covers all requested sections
Company has been in business for at least 5 years, and this is evidenced in the certificate of incorporation
Company has provided evidence of providing similar Health Insurance services in Zambia
Quote is fully itemized and shows all services being provided
4.2 Technical Evaluation stage
The following will form the technical evaluation criteria for the submissions that pass the compliance review
Element/Score
Profile of the vendor and past experience in delivering the services (0-20)
Network of Medical providers throughout Zambia (0-20)
Details on medical services / caps staff will be entitled to and overall policy package on offer (0-25)
Added benefits offered by the policy (i.e., gym memberships and other such benefits) (0-5)
Cost competitiveness on the services (0-30)
Total (0-100)
IHM reserves the right to request shortlisted providers to present to the selection panel prior to a final procurement decision being made.
5. Questions and Answers
IHM will not be receiving any questions, nor provide any answers in relation to this RFP. Prospective applicants must make use of the information in this RFP to provide the best possible proposal and quotation.
6. Proposal submission process
All proposals should be submitted by email to the IHM point of contact by the stated deadline. Late submissions will not be considered. Please ensure the subject line states “Proposal /Provision of Health Insurance services’’
IHM is not responsible for late submissions or non-submission due to technical or IT problems. Prospective applicants are responsible for ensuring that their proposals are received by the IHM email address by the stated due date and time. Applicants are encouraged to keep a delivery and read receipt as evidence that their submissions have been made on time. Applicants are also encouraged to submit within sufficient time to deal with any unforeseen problems they may encounter.
7. Standard Terms and Conditions
The following terms and conditions apply to this RFP and any resulting award:
- Quotations must be presented in Zambian Kwacha (ZMW).
- Quotations must remain valid for not less than thirty (30) calendar days after the application submission deadline.
- Issuance of this RFP does not in any way obligate IHM, the SCHISS project, or CDC to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential applicants in the preparation and submission of an application.
- This solicitation is subject to IHM standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request.
- United States law prohibits transactions with, and the provision of resources and support to, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. The supplier under any agreement resulting from this RFP must ensure compliance with these laws.
- The applicant understands that CDC is not a party to this solicitation and the applicant agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented—in writing with full explanations—to the IHM for consideration, as CDC will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. IHM, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on the protest for this procurement.
- By submitting and quotation in response to this RFP, the vendor certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award financed by the U.S. Government. IHM will not award a contract to any firm that is debarred, suspended, or considered to be ineligible by the U.S. Government.
ETHICAL AND BUSINESS CONDUCTS REQUIREMENTS
IHM Southern Africa is committed to integrity in procurement, and only selects suppliers based on objective business criteria such as price and merit. IHM expects suppliers to comply with our standards terms and conditions. IHM does not tolerate fraud, collusion among applicants, or falsified proposals or bids. Any firm or individual violating these standards will be disqualified from this procurement and barred from future procurement opportunities. In addition, IHM will inform CDC of any supplier offers of money, commissions, or gifts to obtain business.
Employees and agents of IHM are strictly prohibited from asking for or accepting any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, or object of value from current or potential vendors or suppliers in exchange for or as a reward for business. Applicants responding to this RFP must disclose and include the following information as part of the proposal submission:
- Close, familial, or financial relationships with IHM or activity staff. For example, if an applicant’s cousin is employed by the activity, the applicant must state this.
- Disclose any family or financial relationship with other applicants submitting proposals. For example, if the applicant’s father owns a company that is submitting another proposal, the applicant must state this.
- Certify that the prices in the offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other applicant or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
- Certify that all information in the proposal and all supporting documentation are authentic and accurate.
- Certify understanding and agreement to NAME OF SUBCONTRACTOR’ prohibitions against fraud, bribery and kickbacks.