March 17, 2005
Dania Beach hires Rhodes Insurance
The city of Dania Beach has hired a Fort Lauderdale-based health benefits consulting firm to help it solicit, study and process proposals for the city's health insurance plan.

For the city, Rhodes Insurance Group is to compare benefits plans, develop a request for proposal, analyze proposals, give recommendations and help implement a new insurance plan.
The agreement passed in a recent resolution authorizing the city manager, Ivan Pato, to purchase health plan consultation services.

Minutes from that Dania Beach City Commission meeting say the contract amount should not exceed $19,500.

At the meeting, Vice Mayor Bob Mikes asked Pato to explain why the city needed an outside consultant. Pato passed the question to Dania Beach director of human resources Mary McDonald, who said the current plan design is unusual and the benefits outdated, so no provider will bid on it.

Meeting minutes show Commissioner Patricia Flury calling the current plan "terrible" and "must have been written by in-house staff."

The resolution to hire Rhodes passed 5-0.

"We were impressed with the depth of experience of the Rhodes Insurance Group and their knowledge of the local market," McDonald said. "We were pleased with the analysis and consulting assignment they handled for us last year."

In addition to its return trip to Dania Beach, Rhodes' local market knowledge is, in part, the result of numerous contracts in South Florida. The 17-year-old insurance consultancy counts among its clients the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Miramar and Aventura. Also, the firm services Miami-Dade College, Broward Community College, Nova Southeastern University and Gill Hotels.

© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.