Council agenda, September 12, 2024: amendment to the administrative services agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

What this document is

This is the seven page posted agenda for the Irving City Council regular meeting of Thursday, September 12, 2024. It is not a contract, an amendment or even a staff memo. It is the meeting notice, listing 63 numbered items from the budget and tax rate ordinances through zoning cases, with a posting certification on page 7. The pharmacy item is one entry on the consent agenda, item 13.

What it does tell us

Item 13 reads: "Resolution -- Approving an Amendment to the Administrative Services Agreement Between the City of Irving and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas in the Average Estimated Annual Amount of $1,575,300.00 for Medical and Pharmacy Insurance Administration Services for a Two-Year Period" (page 2). That is all the agenda says. From it we learn four things: Irving has an administrative services agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas; that agreement covers both medical and pharmacy administration under one contract; the council was asked to approve a two year amendment; and staff estimated the administrative cost at $1,575,300.00 a year on average. Because the item sat on the consent agenda, it would have been voted on in a block with items 6 through 52 unless a council member pulled it for discussion.

The same consent agenda shows the rest of the city's benefits arrangements being renewed the same night: an end user services agreement with PlanSource Benefits Administration, Inc. for a benefit administration portal, COBRA administration and ACA reporting at $668,191.00 over three years (item 34, page 4), and a fourth amendment to the clinic service agreement with CareATC at $970,000.00 (item 35, page 4). None of those documents are attached either.

The agenda does not name a pharmacy benefit manager or say who processes pharmacy claims under the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas agreement. It gives no start date, no total contract value and no description of what the amendment changes. Our catalogue entry leaves the effective dates blank for that reason.

Why it cannot be scored

There is nothing here to score. The administrative services agreement is not posted, the amendment is not posted, and no exhibit, fee schedule or rebate term appears anywhere in the seven pages. Our checklist grades contract language, and a one line agenda entry has none. Even the "average estimated annual amount" cannot be checked against anything, because we do not know what services it buys or whether pharmacy claims are inside or outside it.

An Irving resident can ask the city secretary under the Texas Public Information Act for the administrative services agreement between the City of Irving and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the amendment approved September 12, 2024 with its exhibits and fee schedules, the pharmacy benefit terms or pharmacy benefit manager agreement that applies to city plan members, and the staff report and resolution that accompanied item 13. The resolution number, once known, will make later requests faster.