National Education Campaign and Outreach (NEC)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established the National Education Campaign and Outreach (NEC) Master IDIQ on September 1, 2018, with a shared ceiling of $3 billion; ordering closed on February 28, 2026, and the vehicle is no longer accepting new task orders.

The vehicle has executed 30 task orders totaling $2.07 billion in combined potential value, with $1.51 billion obligated (73 percent of combined potential). Ordering activity peaked in 2022 with eight awards, then declined sharply to one award in 2025. The most recent task order was issued on September 30, 2025. All 30 task orders are unrestricted; no set-asides were used.

Competition is heavily concentrated: IPG Dxtra, Inc. holds five orders valued at $1.3 billion combined potential value—roughly 63 percent of the vehicle's total contract value. Porter Novelli Public Services Inc. is a distant second with 12 orders totaling $514.1 million, followed by Ketchum Inc. with 10 orders worth $222 million, and Daniel J Edelman Inc. with three orders valued at $30.9 million. All 30 orders fund CMS directly; no other federal agencies use the vehicle.

Task orders span Medicare and Medicaid public education, enrollment campaigns (Medicare Open Enrollment, New to Medicare Public Education, marketplace Special Enrollment Periods), children's health coverage outreach, nursing home staffing, quality payment programs, program integrity and fraud prevention, health insurance exchange public education, and CMS office communications (Minority Health, Healthcare Experience and Interoperability). Recent work is delivered on time-and-materials pricing, with individual task-order ceilings ranging from approximately $6 million to $197 million. The largest single order—Health Insurance Exchange Public Education and Outreach, awarded in June 2022—carried a ceiling of $871.4 million. Duration typically spans two to four years from award. CMS has implemented cost-reduction modifications across multiple orders under executive efficiency initiatives in 2025.

The National Education Campaign and Outreach (NEC) IDIQ provides the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) with a mechanism to support the agency in conducting a full range of activities associated with developing, implementing, and evaluating national integrated communications campaigns. This IDIQ focuses on conducting a full-range of activities associated with executing CMS outreach, education, and communication campaign efforts and initiatives, coordinated with both internal and external stakeholders at a national, regional, state, and local level.