Fully Insured Short Term Disability Insurance

The Newark Board of Education seeks a fully‑insured Short‑Term Disability (STD) insurance carrier to replace its self‑administered program for two unions covering roughly 1,052 employees. The vendor must deliver a compliant STD plan, comprehensive administration, data‑feed support, bilingual employee portals, and optional FMLA services, all under a three‑year contract with a fixed rate guarantee. • Required STD plan: 0‑day accident elimination, 7‑day sickness elimination, 60% salary benefit up to $1,000/week for 26 weeks; no pre‑existing condition exclusions. • Administration duties: dedicated account team, monthly billing, regular reporting, online portals (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish), and rapid data‑feed error handling (response within 1‑2 business days). • Mandatory deliverables: full contract proposal, cost proposal (rate per $10 of benefit), client references, numerous compliance disclosures, and insurance certificates. • Timeline: advertisement (Sept 4 2026), pre‑bid virtual meeting (Sept 10 2026), questions due (Sept 10 2026), proposal deadline (Sept 25 2026), award & work‑plan start (Nov 1 2026), contract term of 3 years with a rate guarantee. • Evaluation criteria focus on technical understanding, organizational capacity, prior experience with comparable public‑sector STD programs, and pricing.