2022-06-17 - NOTICE OF INTENT.pdf

NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE EXTENSION

PURSUANT TO FAR 52.217-8 (OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to issue an extension pursuant to FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services) to HighPoint Digital, Inc. (HighPoint) for continued support under the “Training, Quality Assurance and Content Development” (TQC) contract (HHSM-500-2013-00099C). This TQC requirement is currently being recompeted as a small business set aside. However, the award will not be made in time to allow for an adequate transition period prior to the expiration of the existing TQC contract on July 31, 2022. CMS requires that these critical TQC support services continue during the time period from July 31, 2022, when the current contract expires, through the time the follow-on contract is awarded and fully transitioned. Transition of a contract of this magnitude is extensive and is anticipated to take up to approximately six (6) months. This extension pursuant to FAR 52.217-8 will ensure continued development and deployment of training and scripted content used to support customer service representatives (CSRs) during the annual open enrollment period until a new contract can be awarded and effectively transitioned.

Under this TQC contract, the contractor develops and maintains training and content solutions/materials used by customer service representatives (CSRs) to address inquiries in a manner that is complete, accurate and consistent.

The proposed FAR 52.217-8 extension will be awarded on or before July 31, 2022 for a six (6) month period (e.g., ending on or around January 31, 2023). The purpose of this extension is to acquire continued support of TQC operations with an objective of providing uninterrupted training and scripted content support during the annual enrollment period for Medicare and Marketplace.

By maintaining the current contractor for this extended period, the training and transition to new staff during the Medicare and Marketplace open enrollment period will be minimized.

Furthermore, the extension will eliminate the need for duplicative transition costs, resulting in a significant cost savings to the Government. The extension will also minimize disruption to the work being performed.

This extension will be issued in accordance with the authority of 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) and FAR Part 6.302-1(a)(1), “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.”

The NAICS code for this procurement is 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services. The anticipated Product Service Code (PSC) for this procurement is R499 – Support – Professional: Other.

Responsible sources may submit a capability statement (limited to 10 pages) which shall be considered by the agency. All responses to this notice must be addressed in writing via e-mail to

Ryan Kaufman, Contract Specialist, at ryan.kaufman1@cms.hhs.gov no later than 1:00 PM EST on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. Responses will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement of this contract extension. Any response to this notice must show clear, compelling and convincing evidence that competition will be advantageous to the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed extension based on the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

This notice of intent is neither a formal solicitation nor a request for competitive proposals. No award will be made on the basis of unsolicited quotations or offers received in response to this notice.

Protection of Privileged or Confidential Commercial or Financial Information The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, provides individuals with a right to access certain records in the possession of the Federal government, subject to certain exemptions.

Exemption 4 of the FOIA permits information to be withheld that is in the nature of "trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential."

The term "person" refers to a wide range of entities, including corporations, banks, state governments, agencies of foreign governments, and Native American tribes or nations, who provide information to the government. Information that does not qualify withholding under the Exemption may be disclosed.

CMS may invoke Executive Order 12600 in accordance with FOIA Regulation 45 C.F.R. § 5.42.

Information provided by entities to CMS in response to this notice may be subject to FOIA disclosure requirements unless protected under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Should entities wish to protect any trade secret or confidential information under Exemption 4, they should mark their submission accordingly citing applicable redactions and non-disclosure rationale. Pre-disclosure redactions and non-disclosure rationale shall be sent via e-mail to the requesting contracting officer with a copy to the CMS FOIA Office at 12600@cms.hhs.gov.

If an entity’s submission is not marked and CMS receives a FOIA request related to this notice, the CMS Contracting Officer will notify the entity. The entity will have 10 working days to object to the release of any part of their information submitted to CMS citing relevant case law. Final determination on the applicability of Exemption 4 of the FOIA are made on a case-by-case basis by CMS.

The statutory language of the FOIA is codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552(b). Additional information and resources, including the 9 FOIA Exemptions and HHS FOIA Regulation, and examples, can be found on the HHS FOIA Website.

mailto:ryan.kaufman1@cms.hhs.gov