Resolution, file 25-1596A: contract for pharmacy benefit management services with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

What this document is

This is the single page resolution the Dallas City Council considered on June 11, 2025, filed as agenda item 25-1596A. It authorizes the city manager "to execute a service contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, a Mutual League Company (VC15283)" for "pharmacy benefit management services for the Department of Human Resources for a term of three years, with two one-year renewal options" (page 1). Only the resolution is posted. The contract it authorizes is not.

What it does tell us

The resolution puts a ceiling on spending. The contract is "in an amount not to exceed $2,221,440.00," and the chief financial officer may disburse up to that amount "subject to annual appropriations" under "Service Contract No. PER-2024-00025994" (page 1). That contract number is the handle a records request should use. The resolution also says that if the service was bid on an as needed or unit price basis, payments "shall be based only on the amount of the services directed to be performed by the City and properly performed" (page 1).

The preamble recites the history. On June 24, 2020, by Resolution No. 20-1005, the council authorized a three year third party administrator contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas covering health and welfare benefits, "pharmacy benefit management services," hospital audit functions, COBRA and account administration, with two one year renewal options, alongside a retiree Medicare Advantage prescription drug contract, stop loss coverage, and dental and vision contracts, for a total not to exceed $57,956,324.02 (page 1). So the 2025 action carves pharmacy benefit management into its own service contract as the 2020 arrangement's renewal options run out.

The resolution does not say what the $2,221,440.00 covers, whether administrative fees only or drug claims as well. It gives no start date. Our catalogue entry leaves the effective dates blank for that reason.

Why it cannot be scored

A resolution is an authorization, not an agreement. The executed service contract, its fee schedule, rebate terms, pharmacy network pricing, audit clause and termination provisions are not here. Nothing on this page answers any item on our checklist, which grades contract clauses rather than council votes.

A Dallas resident can ask the city secretary under the Texas Public Information Act for the executed service contract PER-2024-00025994 with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas for pharmacy benefit management services, including all exhibits and pricing schedules, and any amendments. The request can also ask whether a separate pharmacy benefit manager processes claims under this contract and, if so, for that agreement and its pricing and rebate terms, since the resolution names only the carrier. For context, the request could add the 2020 third party administrator contract under Resolution No. 20-1005, which is where pharmacy benefits sat for the five years before this one.