REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
April 29, 2025
FROM
LEONARDO GONZALEZ, Director, Human Resources Department
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 3 to Contract No. 20-294, with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, to facilitate payment processing for Expanded Employee Assistance Program services, covering the retroactive period of September 1, 2024, through July 25, 2025.
(Presenter: Leonardo Gonzalez, Director, 387-5565)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The proposed amendment will allow Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) to collect payments from the County for the Expanded Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services provided by TELUS Health (TELUS) and to remit payments to TELUS on behalf of the County. MetLife will not charge the County any fees related to the pass-through service.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On May 19, 2020 (Item No. 51), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Contract No. 20-294 with MetLife to provide short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, protected leave administration, and EAP benefits to eligible County employees for a three-year term, covering the period from July 18, 2020, through July 29, 2023, with an option to extend for one additional two-year term. Under this contract, MetLife agreed to provide the County EAP services at no additional cost.
On December 13, 2022 (Item No. 40), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 20-294, expanding the EAP program to provide on-site dedicated counseling and additional staff hours for critical incident stress management support at the approved fee-for-service rates.
On July 25, 2023 (Item No. 28), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 20-294 to exercise the two-year contract extension option, extending the contract with MetLife to July 25, 2025.
Since the expansion of EAP services in 2022, approximately 5,400 on-site dedicated counseling service hours have been utilized, highlighting the significant demand and benefit to employees. Maintaining these critical services is essential to supporting employee well-being. Since 2022, the County has paid TELUS directly for these services. However, as of September 1, 2024, the total payment amount exceeded Purchasing’s threshold of $200,000 as defined in County Policy 11-04. Additionally, the County does not have a direct contract with TELUS to process payments to them directly. Therefore, a pass-through arrangement with MetLife is now required. Approval of this amendment will allow MetLife to provide the pass-through service, receiving County payments for Expanded EAP services and transmitting them to TELUS, retroactive to September 1, 2024, and ending on July 25, 2025. The Department was unable to submit this amendment earlier due to the time required to thoroughly evaluate and discuss various administrative and contractual options for implementing a compliant pass-through agreement. Retroactive approval is necessary to ensure continuity of payment for services already rendered during this period and avoid disruption in employee support services.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Jose Mendoza, Deputy County Counsel, 387-4608) on April 1, 2025; Purchasing (Jessica Barajas, Supervising Buyer, 387-2065) on April 2, 2025; Finance (Garrett Baker, Administrative Analyst, 387-3077) on April 7, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on April 14, 2025.