19BK8025R0001_Section_II_TAB_G_PreProposalPowerPresentation_24Feb2025.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATEU.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE

Health Insurance for Locally Employed (LE) Staff and Family Members Solicitation 19BK8025R0001

Pre-proposal Conference February 24, 2025

The Embassy of the United States of America in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Welcome Procurement & Contracting Office

Daniel J. O’Rourke – Supervisory General Service Officer & Contracting Officer ORourkeDJ@state.gov

Nedim Kapetanovic – Procurement Agent KapetanovicN@state.gov

Sanja Radmanovic – Procurement & Contracting Supervisor RadmanoviS@state.gov

Human Resources Office

Jordan J. Pearson – Human Resources Officer PearsonJJ@state.gov

Almira Pokrklic – Human Resources Assistant PokrklicA@state.gov

Sandra Viviana Belalcazar Murillo – Human Resources Clerk BelalcazarSV@state.gov mailto:ORourkeDJ@state.gov mailto:KapetanovicN@state.gov mailto:RadmanoviS@state.gov mailto:PearsonJJ@state.gov mailto:PokrklicA@state.gov mailto:BelalcazarSV@state.gov

Friendly Reminder about Questions from Today

Any questions that you have today you are asked to hold them during today’s presentation and instead submit them in writing to us via

GSOProcurementSarajevo@state.gov no later than close of business (COB) on Thursday, February 27, 2025 (17:00 local time CET).

We will post all questions and answers on SAM.gov and this will ensure that each and every person, even those unable to attend today’s pre-proposal conference, will be able to receive answers to all questions at the same time. This presentation will also be posted on SAM.gov.

mailto:GSOProcurementSarajevo@state.gov

Overview

● Background

● Roles and Responsibilities of the Embassy Team

● Request For Proposal (RFP) Introduction and Pricing

● James Zadroga 9/11 Victims Health and Compensation Act

● Combatting Trafficking in Persons

● Defense Base Act

● Medical Liability Insurance

● System for Award Management (SAM)

● Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors

● Evaluation Factors for Award

● After Contract is Awarded: Reports, other Deliverables, & COR Duties

● Reminder on Questions

Background

● What do we need and why?

○ Health insurance for Locally Employed (LE) Staff and their family members is a critically important benefit provided by our organization in coordination with health insurance providers. This is an essential benefit for our team.

● Employees of the embassy must be provided health insurance in accordance with Bosnia’s local social security system and with the embassy’s local compensation plan requirements.

● Insurance coverage benefits, reimbursement percentages, and monetary caps are approved by the U.S. Department of State’s Global Talent Management (GTM) Office located in Washington DC.

● Insurance contracts with commercial sources are procured under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) standards, terms, and conditions etc.

Roles and Responsibilities General Service Office (GSO) - Procurement & Contracting

Embassy contracting officer and staff are responsible for the acquisition process:

• Prepares solicitation, schedules and conducts preproposal conference, receives and answers questions, negotiates the final and the best price, awards contract and appoints COR, develops contract e-file.

• Issues monthly Task Orders.

• Exercises contract options

• Modifies, alters, or terminates the contract in accordance with the contract and FAR/DOSAR clause/regulations.

• Manages contract closeout.

Human Resources (HR) Office

• Determines benefits levels in coordination with stakeholders and in line with U.S. Department of State Policy.

• Performs Technical Evaluation of proposals received in accordance with solicitation documents.

• Performs the function of Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) under awarded contract within the authorities outlined in the “COR Designation Letter”. General COR functions are:

1. approves invoices for payment

2. acknowledge receiving of services

3. monitors contract performance

Financial Management (FM) Office

• Ensures proper funding is assigned to each task order.

• Receives, reviews, and certifies monthly invoices for payment in accordance with Prompt Payment Act (FAR 32.9).

• Processes payment.

• Ensures withdrawal of a 2% tax on each invoice received in accordance with the James Zadroga Act.

Global Acquisition (A/GA)

• Reviews the solicitation/contract at major milestones to ensure compliance with law, regulations, and U.S.

Department of State policies.

• Reviews the solicitation for completeness, compliance and ensures evaluation instructions and criteria can withstand logical scrutiny and will likely result in the desired contract capability.

• Reviews and approves the contract award.

Roles and Responsibilities (cont.)

U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE

Request For Proposal (RFP) Introduction & Pricing

THE SOLICITATION CONSISTS OF:

• Request For Proposal Letter

• Request for Proposal (Solicitation package posted on SAM.gov)

• Amendments (issued during solicitation process)

TYPE OF THE CONTRACT AND ECONOMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENT

• This is a “fixed price with economic price adjustment requirements” type contract.

• Premiums may be adjusted upward or downward based on the experience rating (i.e. the delta between premiums charged and the reimbursements provided) of the U.S. Embassy covered by this contract.

• No Economic Price Adjustments will be allowed during the first twelve months.

• The Contractor or the Government may request an Economic Price Adjustment in premiums on an annual basis.

• Economic Price Adjustments are not retroactive to previous contract terms.

• Economic Price Adjustments are typically requested based on claims paid out vs anticipated premiums paid.

QUANTITIES

• The RFP provides an estimated number of Locally Employed (LE) Staff and does not include riders.

• Participation in the base health insurance program is mandatory for all LE Staff.

Request For Proposal (RFP) Introduction & Pricing (cont.)

PRICING/PREMIUMS (Section B)

• B.2.1. Value Added Tax: Medical, Health Care and Health Insurance Services are not subject to VAT in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Therefore, premiums shown in section B Prices shall not include line for VAT.

Source: BiH Indirect Taxation Authority Website https://www.uino.gov.ba/portal/en/vat/general-information-on-vat-system-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/)

• Period of performance under the awarded contract is 1 base year and 4 option years, totaling 5 years (FAR 52.217-9 provides the authority to exercise option years) with additional options to extend services beyond the contract end date up to six months as described in FAR 52.217-8.

• The Government may issue a unilateral modification to the awarded contract to exercise any options.

• Offerors shall provide monthly insurance premiums for option periods beyond the end of the contract (FAR 52.217-8).

• The Government may issue a unilateral modification to the contract to extend the period of performance beyond the contract end date under these above referenced FAR clauses.

https://www.uino.gov.ba/portal/en/vat/general-information-on-vat-system-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/

James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act

PUBLIC LAW 111-347

Imposes a 2% tax on any foreign person for contract payments received from U.S. Government for goods and services. A foreign person is defined as “persons and/or companies.”

• Purpose is to fund healthcare for 9/11 first responders and victims

• Applies to contracts awarded on or after 5 June 2020

• Work is performed wholly or partly overseas

• Applies to each payment for services performed or supplies delivered under the signed contract

Taxes imposed under 26 U.S.C. 5000C may NOT be:

• Included in the contract price nor

• Reimbursed to the contractor by the U.S. Government

OVERSEAS ACQUISITIONS AND REFERENCES TO THE JAMES ZADROGA ACT IN THE RFP

All solicitations estimated to be over Simplified Acquisition Threshold (USD $250,000) that do not fall under the first four exclusions provided under exemptions must include the following provision and clause:

• Provision FAR 52.229-11 TAX ON CERTAIN FOREIGN PROCUREMENTS—NOTICE AND REPRESENTATION (JUN 2020) – Section K, and

• Clause FAR 52.229-12 TAX ON CERTAIN FOREIGN PROCUREMENTS—NOTICE AND REPRESENTATION (FEB 2021) – Section I

James Zadroga Act (Cont.)

EXEMPTIONS TO PROVISION

1. Simplified Acquisition. Payments for purchases under Simplified Acquisition Procedure (SAP) that do not exceed the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) of USD $250,000.

2. Emergency acquisition awarded under the following Federal Acquisition Regulation authorities

• Emergency Acquisitions Flexibilities FAR 18

• Unusual and compelling urgency FAR 6.302-2

3. Certain Personal Service Contracts pursuant to 48 CFR 2.101, where award is to an individual and payment does not exceed SAT

4. Certain Foreign humanitarian Assistance Contracts after acquiring agency determines that the payment is for purpose of providing foreign humanitarian assistance (authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1691, et seq., 22 U.S.C. 2151, et seq., 22 U.S.C. 2601 et seq., 22 U.S.C. 5801 et seq., 22 U.S.C. 5401 et seq., 10 U.S.C. 402, 10 U.S.C. 404, 10 U.S.C. 407, 10 U.S.C. 2557, and 10 U.S.C. 2561)

James Zadroga Act (Cont.)

WHO MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REQUESTED EXEMPTION?

• Certain International Agreements pursuant to nondiscrimination provision of qualified income treaty FAR

• Goods manufactured or produced, or services provided in the United States.

• Goods manufactured or produced, or services provided in a country that is a party to an international procurement agreement

FAR 25.400(a)(1) [Note: International procurement agreement means World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA)]

IF ELIGIBLE FOR AN EXEMPTION

• The Offeror is required to submit with the offer an IRS W-14 Certificate of Foreign Contracting Party Receiving Federal

Procurement Payment form (see Section I, FAR 52.229-12 and Section K, FAR 52.229-11)

• If the form is not submitted with offer no exemptions will be applied

• Contracting Officer ensures the application is completed and signed and meets one of above exemptions

• The IRS W-14 Exemption Form is available at https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-14

IF AN EXEMPTION IS NOT AVAILABLE

2% will be withheld from each invoice submitted under the contract.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-14

FAR 52.222-50 Combatting Trafficking in Persons (NOV 2021)

POLICY SUMMARY:

The U.S. Government prohibits trafficking in persons and related activities. Contractors, their employees, and agents must not:

1. Engage in any forms of trafficking in persons during the contract period.

2. Procure commercial sex acts during the contract period.

3. Use forced labor in contract performance.

4. Destroy, conceal, or deny access to an employee’s identity or immigration documents.

5. Use misleading or fraudulent practices in recruitment or employment offers.

6. Charge recruitment fees to employees or potential employees.

7. Fail to provide or pay for return transportation at the end of employment, with certain exceptions.

8. Provide or arrange substandard housing.

9. Fail to provide required work documents in a language the employee understands, especially if relocation is involved.

FAR 52.222-50 Combatting Trafficking in Persons (NOV 2021) (cont.)

THE CONTRACTOR MUST:

1. Notify Employees and Agents:

• Inform them of the U.S. Government's policy prohibiting trafficking in persons.

• Explain the consequences for policy violations, which may include removal from the contract, reduction in benefits, or termination of employment.

2. Take Action Against Violators:

• Take appropriate action, up to and including termination, against employees, agents, or subcontractors who violate the policy.

3. Notification Obligations:

• Immediately inform the Contracting Officer and the agency Inspector General of any credible information regarding violations of the policy.

• Report any actions taken against violators.

• If the allegation involves multiple contracts, notify the contracting officer for the contract with the highest dollar value.

REMEDIES:

The Government may take actions if the Contractor fails to comply with certain requirements, including:

1. Removing employees from the contract.

2. Terminating subcontracts.

3. Suspending contract payments.

4. Losing award fees.

5. Declining contract options.

6. Terminating the contract.

7. Suspending or debarring the Contractor.

MITIGATING AND AGGRAVATING FACTORS:

• Mitigating: Having a compliance plan and taking remedial actions.

• Aggravating: Failing to address violations when directed.

FULL COOPERATION IS REQUIRED:

• The Contractor Must:

1. Disclose information about offenses and responsible individuals.

2. Respond to auditors' and investigators' requests.

3. Allow access to facilities and staff for compliance checks.

4. Protect employees suspected of being victims or witnesses.

*Cooperation does not require waiving legal rights or privileges.

COMPLIANCE PLAN ARE REQUIRED:

• Compliance Plans Must Include:

1. Awareness program about anti-trafficking policies.

2. Reporting process for employees.

3. Recruitment and wage plan.

4. Housing plan meeting safety standards. (Note: this mostly applies to construction projects.)

5. Procedures to prevent and monitor trafficking activities

*Plans must be posted at the workplace or provided to workers

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT: Contractors must annually certify compliance and due diligence to the Contracting Officer through registration and updates to the SAM database.

DEFENSE BASE ACT

The Defense Base Act (DBA) is a U.S. federal law that extends workers' compensation protection to civilian employees working outside the United States on military bases or under contracts with the U.S. government for public works or for national defense.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued waiver 2022-09 to the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina under section 1651(e) of the Defense Base Act. This waiver expires on May 16, 2027. It is subject to DOL review/approval.

This waiver does not apply to any employee who:

• Is a citizen of the United States of America; or

• Is a lawful resident of the United States of America; or

• Was hired in the United States of America

This waiver does apply to:

• Host Country Nationals (HNCs) and

• Third Country Nationals (TCNs)

The current list of DOL’s approved DBA insurance providers is located at:

http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm

FAR 52.237-7 Medical Liability Insurance (JAN 1997)

FAR 52.237-7 is a clause that requires medical liability insurance for nonpersonal health care services contracts. It states that the contractor must:

Maintain liability insurance and indemnify the Government for any liabilities arising from their professional services. They must provide proof of insurance before starting work and ensure subcontractors also meet these requirements.

Key points to FAR 52.237-7 include:

• Independent Contractor Status: The contractor provides services as an independent contractor, not as a Government employee.

• Liability and Indemnification: The contractor is solely liable for any acts or omissions and must indemnify the Government against any resulting liabilities.

• Insurance Requirements: The contractor must maintain liability insurance of at least USD $5,290,000.00 (or EUR 5,083,690.00) per specialty per occurrence.

• Evidence of Insurance: The contractor must provide evidence of insurance prior to contract award and before the commencement of services.

• Policy Conditions: Insurance policies must include an endorsement for a 30-day notice period before cancellation or material changes.

• Subcontractor Requirements: The contractor must ensure that all subcontractors comply with the same insurance requirements and provide evidence of such insurance.

FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management (SAM) (NOV 2024) Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with a unique entity identifier and EFT indicator (if applicable) when submitting offers and at the time of award. They must provide specific company information for registration and consider processing time to ensure registration.

DEFINITIONS:

• Registered in SAM: The offeror has entered all mandatory information, completed required sections, and the Government has validated and marked the record "Active.“

• Unique Entity Identifier: A number or identifier used to identify a specific entity.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS:

• Offerors must be registered in SAM when submitting an offer and at the time of award.

• Offerors must include their unique entity identifier and EFT indicator (if applicable) in their offer.

• If an offeror does not have a unique entity identifier, they must obtain one from the designated entity at www.sam.gov.

INFORMATION NEEDED FOR REGISTRATION:

• Company legal business name, trade style, physical and mailing addresses, telephone number, start date, number of employees, key manager, line of business, and headquarters information.

PROCESSING TIME:

• Offerors should consider the processing time for SAM registration and apply immediately upon receipt of the solicitation.

NOTE: Registration to SAM is valid for one year (365 calendar day) upon activation and must be maintained/renewed each year during the period of contract performance. If information on the SAM.gov is incorrect, the Government need not make payment until EFT information entered into SAM (FAR 52.232-33(d) Suspension of payment).

http://www.sam.gov/

Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors

Prospective offerors shall submit the quote, or quotes, in three separate volumes (see L.2. Summary of Instructions and L.4.

Contents of Proposals):

○ Volume 1: SF33 and acknowledgement of acceptance of related amendments issued

○ Volume 2: Price Proposal

○ Volume 3: Technical Proposal

Profit Sharing and Pooling Details:

L.4.3.2. Profit Sharing Credit: The offeror must indicate if any insurance plan offered will participate in a profit-sharing credit program, pooling agreement, or other premium credit procedure, and describe if applicable; this information is for evaluation purposes only and will not affect the determination of the lowest-priced offeror.

L.4.3.3. Employee Pool: The offeror must describe the employee pool applicable to this contract, including its size, composition (commercial and government, if applicable), and alternative pools available if the economic price adjustment clause is activated

Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors (cont.)

VOLUME 1: SUBMISSION OF SF-33 SOLICITATION, OFFER, AND AWARD AND SF-30 AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION

OR CONTRACT

• The offeror must submit the complete offer to the address indicated in Block 7 (if mailed) or Block 9 (if hand-delivered) of Standard Form 33, and any deviations, exceptions, or conditional assumptions must be identified and justified in the appropriate volume of the offer.

• The offeror must acknowledge receipt and acceptance of all amendments issued during the solicitation phase by signing and submitting those amendments with their proposal(s).

NOTE: The offeror submitting multiple proposals must provide a completed (signed) SF-33 and SF-30 with each proposal.

VOLUME 2: PRICE PROPOSAL AND COMPLETED SECTION B: SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

• The offeror must submit price proposals for both the base year and all option years, as proposals for option years without a base year or for a base period without all option periods will not be considered

Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors (cont.)

VOLUME 3: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL consists of four (4) parts:

• Part 1 -- Outlines required minimum benefits and coverages for health insurance services, and while additional benefits or higher coverages are acceptable, evaluations will be based on meeting the stated minimums. Proposals must clearly state coverage for each benefit, and any proposal offering lower than the minimum required coverage may be deemed technically unacceptable; multiple plans must be submitted as separate proposals, and a suggested format is to use a table listing benefit definitions and proposed coverages.

• Part 2 -- Requires the offeror to demonstrate an understanding of the solicitation requirements and an acceptable approach to managing the contract, using corporate literature, medical plan brochures, reports, surveys, and other narrative descriptions. Proposals must address specific criteria, including the offeror’s experience in providing health insurance, management approach, key personnel qualifications, insurance pools, financial performance, quality assurance plan, reserve levels, re-insurance details, reporting mechanisms, claims processing workflow, customer service system, and customer satisfaction survey results. Responses shall be clearly marked referencing each criterion of this part.

• Part 3 -- Requires the offeror to list all contracts and subcontracts held over the past three years for similar work, providing details such as the customer's organization, contact information, contract number, period and location of performance, type of insurance, population covered, total dollar amount, comparability to the current solicitation, and any performance problems and resolutions. This information demonstrates the offeror's experience and past performance in providing similar insurance services. Offer shall clearly identify and refer to each requirement of this part.

• Part 4 -- The offeror should include a notarized copy of their current license/certificate/accreditation, demonstrating authorization by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina or another government to provide health insurance coverage in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This section must also confirm the offeror's eligibility through the base performance period and option periods, disclose any probationary or disciplinary actions, and failure to demonstrate authorization may result in proposal rejection

Section M – Evaluation Factors for Award

To be considered for evaluation and review, offers MUST be submitted on or before the solicitation closeout date of March 11, 2025, by 15:00 local time (CET).

Proposals received after this time will be marked "LATE" and may not be considered for further review and evaluation.

EVALUATION OF RECEIVED PROPOSALS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN TWO PHASES:

• Technical Evaluation o The Government will consider for further evaluation and award only those proposals marked as "Technically Acceptable" after a review by the embassy’s Technical Evaluation Team.

• Price Evaluation (see M.7.)

o The Government shall award the contract resulting to this solicitation to the Lowest Priced Technically Acceptable, Responsible Offeror. If proposals submitted in more than one currency, all proposals shall be converted to the USD for evaluation purposes only (FAR 52.225-17 evaluation of Foreign Currency Offers).

After Contract is Awarded: Reports, other Deliverables, & COR Duties

REPORTS AND OTHER DELIVERABLES:

• The RFP refers to various reports and deliverables to be provided during the contract performance.

• All reports and deliverables shall be provided to Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) named in DOSAR 652.242-70, to the address provided in paragraph F.4.

CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES:

• COR duties are provided in G.2. and the following subparagraphs. However, the Embassy Contracting Officer may add or revoke some COR duties.

• Specific duties shall be provided in COR Delegation Letter signed by COR.

REMINDER ON QUESTIONS

Please send any and all final/follow-up questions to:

GSOProcurementSarajevo@state.gov no later than close of business (COB) on Thursday, February 27, 2025 (17:00 local time CET).

mailto:GSOProcurementSarajevo@state.gov