Phnom Penh Vendor Conference notes QA.pdf

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Minutes of Pre-Proposal Conference Solicitation number 19CB6022R0027

Provision of Health Insurance for Locally Employed Staff of U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh.

December 28, 2022

General Services Office

U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh

#1, Street 96, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Tel: 023 728 000; Fax: 023 728 400

Minutes from Pre-Proposal Conference of December 01, 2022

Introduction

The Contracting Officer welcomed all attendees, introduced the following staffs to the attendees:

- Contracting Officer, Zoë Treuer

- Management Counselor, Jason Kalbfleisch

- Human Resource Officer, Michael Rittley

- Human Resource Specialist, Ham Sinoeun

- Procurement Supervisor, Oum Phin Pitou

- Procurement Agents, Chansophal Phon & Khuoch Vannak

- Attendees of the contractors: Forte Insurance (Cambodia) Plc, Infinity General Insurance

Plc Infinity, Phillip, AIA (Cambodia) Life Insurance Plc, Ly Hour Insurance Plc.

Discussion of the Solicitation Package

1. Introduction from Contracting Officer, Human Resource and Procurement: explained the purpose of the conference is to brief the overall solicitation requirements, combating trafficking in person, system for award management etc. The offerors were encouraged to read through all the sections and follow the instructions in the solicitation, so they will be able to submit complete proposals. In addition to receiving questions asked during the conference, Contracting Officer encouraged offerors to submit questions in writing to the

Embassy Procurement email. Questions and answers will be posted on SAM.gov as soon as possible after the conference.

2. The following sections of the solicitation were highlighted:

• Section A through M were highlighted in brief;

• Contracting Officer’s representative briefed the Description/Specifications/Work

Statement in the solicitation;

• Section L & M were brought to the attention of the offerors to ensure they will comply with the solicitation provisions and requirements and submit complete proposals;

• Proposals due date and time: 4:00 PM, local time on January 06, 2023. No proposal will be accepted after this time;

• Combating Trafficking in Persons (52.222-50) was mentioned. A copy of TIP clause

52.222-50 was handed over to contractor representatives;

• System for award management was explained to the offerors. They were encouraged to register in SAM as soon as possible and prior to the submittal of their proposals.

Briefing on SAM registration process provided.

• James Zadroga Act, Tax on Certain Foreign Procurement Payments;

• Prohibition on contracting with entities using certain telecommunications and video surveillance service or equipment.

Questions:

• All questions asked during the conference will be answered in writing, and written questions and answers will be posted on SAM.gov. The offerors were encouraged to submit questions in writing to Procurement email no later than COB December 02, 2022.

• The attached questions were asked during the conference or received by COB December

02, 2022 in writing, and the answers attached with these minutes take precedence over those given during the conference.

Conclusion

The conference concluded and attendees were thanked for their presence and expression of interest in serving the U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh. The meeting was adjourned.

Sincerely, Chris Berkey

Contracting Officer

Enclosure: Questions and Answers

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

December 28, 2022

Note to Offerors:

The information contained within these questions and answers is provided for informational purposes and under no circumstances shall it be construed to change any terms or conditions or requirements within the solicitation. If any answer does address a change in the solicitation, it will reference an Amendment.

The questions and answers are as follows:

Q 1: Could you provide request claim record for last 3 years?

A 1: Please see Section J – List of Exhibits/Attachments of the solicitation, Exhibit D.

Q 2: Catastrophic Definition in more details? Inquire whether it was $4,000 per catastrophic incident, whether an individual could have multiple catastrophic claims each for an additional $4,000.

A 2: Please refer to paragraph C.1.1.16 of the solicitation. Catastrophic coverage is limited to $4,000 per person per year:

Catastrophic Coverage: Additional coverage equal to USD 4,000 per covered individual per contract year.

Catastrophic conditions shall be defined as major medical conditions occurring as a result of a single/illness/accident or closely related set of major illnesses (or conditions relating to a single accident) that exceed the standard maximum coverage limit.

Q 3: Excess Coverage, is it open throughout the year or only open at the commencement date?

A 3: Excess coverage shall be open at the contract commencement dates (at the beginning of base year and each of the four option years) and/or at the employee and/or their family member’s initial registration into the health insurance program.

Q 4: For Annual Maximum Limit of USD 4,000 per individual per contract year, the question is do Self

Plus One get USD 4,000 Each and Family get USD 4,000 each member?

A 4: Yes, each member in the Self Plus One or Family plan is covered up to USD 4,000 per contract year. NOTE: the USD 4,000 cannot be shared with other insured members in the Self Plus One and/or

Family plan if they spend more than the maximum allowable amount in the contract year. Please also refer to paragraph C.1.2.

Q 5: Under Estimated Number of Premium i.e. Self Only, Self Plus One and Family 167, 65 and 345 respectively are total head count or total your employee? If it a total employee only, Can we have total head count of all eligible members (including Employee, Sprouse and Children).

A 5: The estimated number of premiums for each category (167, 65 and 345) are provided for the total number of employees. Please refer to section J – List of Exhibits/Attachments, for the statistics of employees, spouses, and dependent children by type, age, and gender.

Q 6: Please provide five years of loss data (table 1) by year of account including annual net premium (for the same period), incurred claims and membership history. For membership history (Table 2) please provide the number of Employees with single coverage and with family coverage at the end of each year.

Please do not include any confidential information, just the overall statistics for the group. Claims information is critical to our pricing and the relationship of claims to employee growth or shrinkage is part of the claims analysis.

Table 1

Contractual year Total claims paid (local currency)

Retention amount

(local currency)

Total premium paid to

Insurer (local currency)

Net gain

(local currency)

Net gain

USD or

EUR

dd/mm/2016 – dd/mm/2017 dd/mm/2017 – dd/mm/2018 dd/mm/2018 – dd/mm/2019 dd/mm/2019 – dd/mm/2020 dd/mm/2020 – dd/mm/2021

Table 2

Please, provide headcounts for the last 5 years:

Contractual year Employee Spouse Children

A 6: Please see solicitation amendment 0002, Section J – List of Exhibits/Attachments, Exhibit E

Q 7: We would like to know if you have been informed of Catastrophic cases, such as: Hemodynamics, Open Heart Surgery, Orthopedic Mayor Surgeries, Organ Transplant, Traumatic Accident, Cancer and

Oncology Cases (Radio and Chemotherapy), and hospitalizations with more than 10 days

A 7: Please see solicitation amendment 0002, Section J – List of Exhibits/Attachments, Exhibit F

Q 8: What is the name if the insurance company that currently provides coverage?

A 8: FORTE Insurance (Cambodia) Plc.

Q 9: Is there a preferred list of Hospitals, Clinics or other Medical Facilities that the Embassy employees prefer? If yes, please provide a list of these facilities

A 9: No, there isn’t. However, the awarded contractor can provide a suggested partnered hospitals/clinics list for the convenience of direct billing purposes.

Q 10: Could you please provide information about the Claims you have had out of country during your current coverage?

A 10: Please see solicitation amendment 0002, Section J – List of Exhibits/Attachments, Exhibit G

Q 11: Has there been any changes to the Table of Benefits over the past 5 years?

A 11: There has not been any changes to the Table of Benefits over the past 5 years, specifically over the past two contracts. However, there are significant changes between the current benefit levels and the benefit levels in this solicitation. Please review our response to Q20 for the current benefit levels and for the benefit comparison purposes.

Q 12: Would the Embassy accept proposals in USD where premium is also paid in USD from non-US companies?

A 12: Yes, price proposal shall be in USD.

Q 13: Can also claims be paid in USD or is there a need to be paid in the local currency?

A 13: Claims paid shall be in USD.

Q 14: Can proposals be submitted electronically or does the Embassy insist on hard copies?

A 14: Electronic and hard copies of proposals are accepted. Please refer to Section L.1. of the solicitation for instructions.

Q 15: Would the Embassy accept a proposal form an internationally licensed insurance company under an off shore jurisdiction or does it insist on a locally licensed insurance company only?

A 15: Please refer to Section L.4.3., Part 4 of the solicitation regarding licensing information.

Q 16: Would 2 % tax based on James Zadroga Act be applicable to this solicitation?

A 16: James Zadroga Act - Tax on Certain Foreign Procurement Payments is applicable to this solicitation. Please see Section B – Price in the solicitation.

Q 17: Is this a mandatory plan, meaning all employees of the Embassy will be covered or voluntary, meaning the employees will be given the option to sign up for the health insurance?

A 17: The embassy’s health insurance plan is made mandatory to all local employees. Extending to employee’s family member(s) is at employee’s choice.

Q 18: What are the possible differences to the provided “Estimated Number of Premiums under a, b, c” as the number of insured persons is essential for the risk evaluation (premium rates calculation)

A 18: All numbers under this section are estimates.The task orders will share the exact numbers.

Q 19: Is this Solicitation addressed only to Insurance companies or would Insurance intermediaries/brokers also be eligible offerors?

A 19: There is no restriction on eligible offerors in the solicitation. Please also refer to Section L.4.3., Part

4 of the solicitation regarding licensing information.

Q 20: Do you have previous solicitation to share?

A 20: The previous solicitation is too different from the current solicitation so to avoid confusion we are not posting it as part of the Q&A.

Q 21: Do you have price adjustment for a rider or follow the same benefit for local employee?

A 21: It follows the same benefit levels as locally employed staff of the Mission. For economic price adjustment, please refer to Section B.4 of the solicitation.

Q 22: Do you accept E-claiming system?

A 22: Please see solicitation amendment 0002 on paragraph H.4.1 of Section H.