BENEFEDS QA Amendment 3_3.10.22.pdf

RFP # 24361821R0002 - BENEFEDS Page 1 of 23

March 10, 2022 Amendment #3

Amendment 3, March 10, 2022

Amendment 3 is issued to (1) provide answers to questions asked; and (2) provide replacement documents which were updated in response to or prompted by reviews of those documents conducted while developing responses to questions asked.

Replacement documents include:

a) Amended Solicitation document (showing tracked changes);

b) Amended Attachment 1 PWS;

c) Amended Attachment 1a BENEFEDS Appendices;

d) Amended Attachment 2 Quote Schedule;

e) Amended Attachment 3 Clauses;

f) Amended Attachment 5 Forms;

g) Amended PPQ template; and

h) Amended Attachment 7 SBPCD Template.

To clarify:

There seems to be a general confusion regarding the difference between the IT systems used and the requirement for performance of BENEFEDS Enrollment and Premium Administration Services as a whole. As indicated by the NAICS code chosen, 524292, Third Party Administration of Insurance and Pension Funds, the Government considers this requirement to be primarily for the purpose of “Benefits Enrollment and Premium Administration Services”, not merely the software or systems used to perform those services. We are not soliciting for an IT company to solely develop and administer an IT system or software to facilitate performance of BENEFEDS Enrollment and Premium Administration Services. We are soliciting for a Contractor to deliver the full scope of BENEFEDS Enrollment and Premium Administration Services as described in the PWS. Any software and systems the Contractor uses to perform the insurance benefits enrollment, premium administration financial services, and/or customer service / call center services described in the PWS and Attachments are considered part of the requirement but are not the primary purpose of the contract.

OPM is seeking a single Prime Contractor (with or without subcontractors) to perform the whole requirement as described in the PWS and Attachments as a cohesive package; not a software package, but a single contract for a group of interrelated services. The proposals must focus on primarily human-based services instead of relying primarily on chatbot/AI based solutions. Chatbot / AI tools may be offered as available options for participants to choose if they prefer, but participants should not be forced to use them, and contacting a human should be equally available as an option and just as easy to access.

If an Offeror proposes only a software or systems development solution, or only a call center operations solution (for example), without proposing to deliver all the other portions of the requirement, that proposal will be considered incomplete.

Offerors must be prepared to deliver the entire packaged requirement described, under the purview of a single Prime Contractor. As part of performance, the Prime manages and coordinates the activity of

RFP # 24361821R0002 - BENEFEDS Page 2 of 23 all subcontractors, collects payments from the specified sources, and handles payment of not only the premiums and transfers to the specified parties, but also payment of all subcontractors.

OPM is not interested in bringing any portion of the described requirements in-house, nor directly managing or coordinating multiple contractors to achieve performance of the total requirement described. We do not have the budget nor staffing to handle any portions of the described requirement in-house.

Because of the number of questions requiring revision of documents, and the time we needed to answer them fully, the due date for submission of Phase One documents has been extended to March 17, 2022. The Government has also decided to extend the time period between Phase One results notifications and the due date for Phase Two Submissions as indicated in the amended Solicitation document attached.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged. Questions and Answers follow below.

Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

1. a) Please confirm that the intent is to award by the end of June 2022, and have the new vendor system live on 1/1/2023?

b) If the above is confirmed, will OPM consider an extension to the go-live date to allow for additional time to execute on the requirements?

a) Yes, that is the intention.

b) No, we cannot extend the go-live date because services MUST align with the start of the insurance plan year, on the first of the new calendar year. We cannot change the start of the insurance plan year.

2. Please clarify the following sentence in the Minimum Experience Statement: “The prime offeror must have experience administering concurrent program(s) totaling at least 40% the number of current BENEFEDS participants and including more than ten (10) separate payroll systems. “ In particular, please clarify:

a) The term “concurrent” in the context of the sentence

b) Is this requirement looking for a single employer relationship that meets this requirement, or does the term “concurrent” mean multiple employer relationships, and/or the vendors book of business must satisfy this requirement?

c) Does the 40% requirement apply to employees or members?

a) Concurrent = occurring / performed at the same time. You may have multiple customers and running multiple programs at the same time to make the total 40% of participants and 10 or more payroll systems

b) See answer to 2a above.

c) The 40% requirement refers to Participants. “Participants” means enrolled employees and/or retirees.

3. Will the deadline of 3/3/22 for Phase I submissions be extended if responses to Bidders questions are not available prior to 3/3/22?

Yes

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

4. a) Please describe how the current vendor is determining if a member is eligible for a full HCFSA or a limited purpose FSA?

b) Is there an audit in place to determine if the member has and HDHP with an H.S.A Account?

The BENEFEDS contractor does not provide FSAFEDS coverage.

That is a separate contract. The BENEFEDS contractor only handles the payroll transactions and processing of allotments to the FSAFEDS contractor.

5. Do members have one account for all three plan types (FEDVIP, FSAFEDS, FLTCIP) or are they managed separately?

They are managed separately

6. a) Please provide details on the pre-validation process for auditing if a member has created an account under the correct departments/agency/sub agency.

b) Does this pre-validation process utilize API’s with the various payroll providers?

c) When employees’ circumstances change during the course of the year, how is that change recognized today to trigger re-validation for program eligibility?

OPM does not dictate these processes. The Offeror is expected to determine how they will perform the required services.

7. Specific to FLTCIP, please provide details on the current underwriting process.

The question is not relevant to the performance of services under the BENEFEDS contract. The BENEFEDS Contractor does not provide FLTCIP coverage. That is a separate contract. The BENEFEDS contractor only handles the payroll transactions and processing of payments for FLTCIP to the FLTCIP provider.

8. Does the service center utilize licenses service representatives, particularly given the FLTCIP?

See response to #7 above.

9. Page 3 of “Att 1a_BENEFEDS Appendices” indicates 11,569,958 as the “Average number of phone calls per day” during Open Season. Please confirm if the labeling of this statistic is correct.

It should state 11,569. A corrected Att 1a BENEFEDS Appendices is being provided along with this Amendment.

10. Solicitation Sec 17, Subcontracting and Factor 3, pages 5 and 9:

Page 5 of the Solicitation document states that “The Government considers the prime offeror and any subcontractors as a single entity.” Therefore, please confirm that the collective experience of the Prime and any subcontractors would count towards the Minimum Experience requirements (Factor

3) as set forth on page 9.

As stated in the section entitled Evaluation Procedure and Basis for Award, Factor 3, Page 9 of the Solicitation, “the PRIME shall have experience administering concurrent program(s) totaling at least 40% the number of BENEFEDS participants and including more than ten (10) separate payroll systems.” The experience of subcontractors may supplement or enhance the experience of the PRIME, but shall not be used to substitute or make up for the PRIME’s lack of the stated minimum level of experience.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

11. Section 18, Small Business Participation, page 7:

Page 7 of the Solicitation document states “The baseline percentage required for Small Business Participation on this solicitation is 30% of Total Contract Value.”

For the 30% allocation, should bidders align to OPM’s listed goals for Fiscal Year 2022 of 5% SDB, 5% WOSB, 3% HUBZone and 3% SDVOSB with the remainder allocated to all other small business types?

Please refer to Evaluation Procedure and Basis for Award, Phase Two, Factor 2. As long as the baseline 30% of total contract value to small business is satisfied, that meets the criteria for acceptability. Use of, or alignment with OPM’s listed goals is not mandatory, however, inclusion of SDB, WOSB, HubZone and/or SDVOSB among the small businesses to help OPM achieve those goals would make the small business participation evaluation more favorable.

12. Section 19, Evaluation Procedures and Basis for Award, page 19:

Page 19 states that references are considered “Relevant” if that performance specifically included enrollment and premium administration services for health care benefits concurrently totaling at least 40% the number of BENEFEDS participants (as defined in the Appendices) and including more than ten (10) separate payroll systems.” Therefore, please confirm that all references provided are relevant as long as they contribute partially to the overall total experience required.

Yes, all references provided are relevant as long as they contribute partially to the overall total experience required, but please also refer to the answer to Question 10 above as well as the remainder of that section.

13. Section 20, Submission of Documents for Evaluation, Page 21:

Page 21 of the main solicitation lists the documentation required for Phase One.

For the requirement to include the “Ownership and Place of Performance Compliance Form,” please confirm this is ONLY required of the Prime respondent for Phase One. The subcontractor version of this form (as provided in Attachment 5) should be provided for each subcontractor in Phase Two only.

Correct. As indicated on Page 23, Section III of the Phase Two proposal submission requires the submission of this form regarding any subcontractors. The Prime’s copy is the only Ownership and Place of Performance Compliance form required for Phase One submission and evaluation.

14. Solicitation, Page 7:

Please confirm that the baseline percentage goal for Small Business Participation stated in Section 18 is meant to be consistent with FAR 52.219-9(d)(1) and therefore may be calculated based on a percentage of amount subcontracted rather than percentage of total contract value as stated.

Please see response to Question 11 above. For this solicitation a minimum of 30% of the total contract value must be performed by small business, either as the Prime or a combination of the Prime and subcontractors. Subcontracting is not mandatory unless the Prime is a large business. FAR 52.219-9(d)(1) also states “For individual subcontracting plans, and if required by the Contracting Officer, goals shall also be expressed in terms of percentage of total contract dollars, in addition to the goals expressed as a percentage of total subcontract dollars. “

Replacement Attachment 7 SBPCD Template and replacement Attachment 2 Quote Schedule are included with this amendment.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

15. Solicitation, Page 23:

Will the Government allow an offeror to identify new subcontractors in Phase Two to respond to or comply with the Government’s responses to these Q&A questions?

No. We have not changed the subcontracting requirements in response to these questions and as such no change to the solicitation process is required for compliance with subcontracting requirements.

16. PWS, Page 22:

Regarding the expectation to include pricing for new mandates during the duration of this contract, are there any specific expected mandates that OPM is aware of that are likely to occur during the duration of this contract?

OPM is not able to predict the nature of new mandates before they are mandated. OPM is not aware of any proposed new mandates regarding this requirement.

17. PWS, Page 22 and Solicitation Pages 2-3:

Are there any examples you can provide between required new mandates expected under our firm fixed price versus new task orders which would fall under the IDIQ?

The question implies a lack of understanding of Fixed Pricing in an IDIQ contract. Pricing for performance of all services is locked in at the IDIQ level and that same FIXED (unit) pricing flows down to all Task Orders issued thereunder. Following the Start Up Period, the Task Orders for Base and Option Years performance issued are used to quantify the number of enrollees each calendar year of performance, to put a dollar value on the services performed based on those enrollment figures and obligate funds where portions of the total cost are being paid from funds OPM controls.

Task Orders will never change the requirements for performance and will never use different unit pricing than the FIXED unit pricing established in the IDIQ.

New mandates may change the requirements for performance, and when applicable the IDIQ will be modified to reflect inclusion of those new mandates without affecting the Fixed unit prices previously quoted and included in the IDIQ contract.

18. Solicitation, Page 2, and Attachment 3 Clauses, pages 13-14:

We understand that pricing may need to be adjusted based on the adoption of updated wage determinations, as applicable under the Service Contract Act.

Can OPM advise on whether there is a specific timeline the Contractor must follow during the plan year to ensure that premium rates reflect such adjustments, for Contractor reimbursement.

Please see the amended Clauses document for further clarification.

In the history of performance of the BENEFEDS services requirement, there has never been a price adjustment made to the fixed unit price fees (per participant per pay period) to accommodate changes in the Service Contract Act wage rates.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

19. Solicitation document, page 6:

Please clarify in what form the Government would like offerors to make disclosures related to subcontractors (e.g., Disclose any previous company names / DUNS, parent company or subsidiary, related to the current company (including but not limited to any mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, novation, or other changes in name, DUNS number, or structure) and whether such disclosure must be submitted with Phase One or Phase Two.

Please use a format similar to the Bankruptcy Disclosure Form for submission of this information for each of your subcontractors.

Subcontractor disclosures referenced on page 6 of the Solicitation document should be submitted in Phase Two as part of the Section III, Subcontractor Compliance. The Solicitation document has been amended to reflect this clarification to offeror instructions.

20. Solicitation document, Page 9:

Regarding Place of Performance Compliance, we understand that the prime contractor needs to comply with the Service Contract Act (SCA), including paying Wage Determination Letter minimum wage rates, Health and Welfare hourly rates, paid vacation time, paid Federal holiday time, and paid sick leave to individuals working on the contract as identified by each wage determination letter. How does this apply to subcontractors?

FAR 52.222-41 flows down to subcontractors as indicated in FAR 52.212-3(e)(1)(xii). Per FAR 52.212-3(e)(1), “not withstanding the requirements of the clauses in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this clause, the Contractor is not required to flow down any FAR clause, other than those in this paragraph (e)(1) in a subcontract for commercial products or commercial services. “

21. Attachment 3 Clauses, Pages 13-14:

Will the Contracting Officer determine the Area-Wide Wage determination based on the places of performance proposed.

The Contracting Officer will obtain and incorporate into the contract all wage determinations applicable to the contract based on each of the places of performance proposed.

22. Attachment 3 Clauses, Pages 13-14:

If employees are working fulltime remote, is the Company responsible for including a proposed Area-Wide Wage Determination for each locality where employees perform the work?

If employees (of the prime or any sub) are working full-time remote, the locality where the employees perform that work determines the wage determination to be included. The Contractor must disclose all workplace locations in order for the proper wage determinations to be incorporated to the contract.

23. Solicitation document, Pages 6 & 23:

Attachment 9 (Small Business Subcontracting Plan) is noted in several places within the Solicitation. It is noted that this is required to be submitted in Phase 2 as part of Section V:

Administrative and is a “requirement for award”, but “not evaluated for award” and “not a requirement for evaluation”. Could the OPM confirm that our understanding is correct.

Correct. Attachment 9 is a requirement for award because it needs to be incorporated in the award if your company is the awardee. Without submission of this document, your response to the solicitation may be considered incomplete. We don’t evaluate the contents of Attachment 9 when making the award decision, only whether one was provided if the prime offeror is not a small business concern itself.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

24. Solicitation document, Page 7:

To the extent the solicitation intends to require subcontracting of 30% of total contract value, is OPM concerned that distribution of functions across many small business entities might weaken the information security controls of this sensitive population.

Controlling information security is important. It is incumbent upon the Offeror to ensure the way they achieve 30% of total contract value performed by small business does not compromise information security in the process. There is no requirement that functions be distributed “across many small business entities” in order to achieve the 30% total contract value to small business.

25. Attachment 7, SBPCD Template and the Attachment 2 Quote Schedule:

In the Quote Schedule, there is no calculation model for total contract value (TCV), which is required to complete the Attachment 7 SBPCD Template. Does the government want offerors to use the enrollment estimate quantities provided in the attachments? Are offerors expected to use those quantities and are they fixed for all periods? Also, the template itself mentions a “unit pricing” and “opt debit card unit pricing” tabs – but neither tabs can be found in the Quote Schedule excel file. Please clarify the requirement.

Based on your question, the Contract Specialist noted errors on Attachment 7, and opportunities for improvement of Attachment 2 that will help in completing Attachment 7.

We are providing revised Attachment 7 and Attachment 2 documents with this Amendment to the Solicitation in order to address these issues.

26. The duration for the period of performance is referenced differently in multiple documents. The period performance table outlined in the solicitation indicate a start-up, Base Period One, Base Period Two, Base Period Three and Option Period One. Conversely, the period of performance in the PWS and the tabs in the Quote schedule indicate a start-up, Base Period One, Option Period One, Option Period Two, Option Period Three.

Can OPM confirm the base and optional years of the contract"

The PWS is correct. The Solicitation document table referenced has been corrected and the amended version of that document provided with this amendment of the solicitation.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

27. Solicitation document, page 13:

Regarding page count limits for the Section I: Technical document, the requirement in Part 19 for a Project Plan in Factor 1, Subfactor 2, would be extensive if an offeror provides anything more than brief descriptions of the documents/deliverables requested.

Providing these items as described would potentially take more than the entire page limit for Phase I, as the WBS, schedules, diagrams, and multiple written plans all take up several pages. Please confirm that all that is required at this point is a further description of the items an offeror would provide.

As noted in the amended Solicitation document, the page limit for this section has been increased to 50 pages. This should allow ample space to address the complexity of response.

28. Solicitation document, page 11:

a) For the Factor 1, Subfactor 1 instructions, please confirm the Contractor Proposed Enhancements reference should be PWS 7.3.2, as there isn't a 7.3.3 in the PWS.

b) Also, does the Government require a response for PWS 7.3.1 IOSS Determination, which has to be priced?

a) Contractor Proposed Enhancements is in fact 7.3.2 of the PWS, not 7.3.3. The instructions in the solicitation have been updated to reflect this accordingly.

b) Yes. The Solicitation has been updated to require a response for PWS 7.3.1 IOSS.

29. Main Solicitation, page 18:

There appears to be no part of the proposal for offerors to provide a narrative on our past performance references to describe items 1-5 from Factor 4 other than in the past performance questionnaires. Are the past performance questionnaires all that is required for Factor 4? If a narrative is required, please clarify where it should be included in the proposal documents and whether it is part of the page count.

In addition to the PPQs submitted by the Offeror’s customers, the Offeror is required (page 19) to “list at least three (3) and up to ten

(10) recent and relevant references / projects from contracts (including those of the prime and proposed subcontracting partners).” Page 23 of the Solicitation has been updated to indicate submission instructions for this information.

30. Main Solicitation, page 22, and Attachment 7 SBPCD Template:

Is the Small Business Participation Commitment Document included in the page count for Section II? If yes, is it acceptable for offerors to remove the page breaks and the footnotes, as they take up additional space that could be used for other items required in Section II?

The SCPCD is not part of the page count for Section II. The Solicitation Document has been amended to reflect this.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

31. Main Solicitation, page 5:

Regarding Part 17 of Subcontracting, the solicitation states ""Post award changes involving subcontracting shall not be considered."" Due to the sheer size and complexity of the contract and the length of the period of performance, we ask the Government to consider changing this requirement to allow contractors to change subcontractors with government approval post award.

We have amended the Solicitation and PWS. Post award changes involving individual subcontractors may be considered with Government approval post award, however, the awarded Contractor must be careful to ensure that the small business minimum 30% of TCV is maintained when replacing or eliminating subcontractors.

32. Attachment 1 PWS:

In reference this statement: "The Contractor shall accommodate OPM’s decision(s) regarding extended open season or belated enrollments and shall do so at no additional charge." Has OPM in the past extended Open Season or permitted belated enrollment opportunities? Are there limits to the length of time for extending open season?

Although not frequent, OPM has previously extended open season. There are no limits to the length of time. It could be a couple of days or a week or two, it will depend on why there is an extension. Belated enrollment is currently being allowed.

33. Attachment 2 Quote Schedule:

In the Option Two Tab, it appears that CLIN # 20007 is missing. Can OPM confirm the correct CLIN # for OPTIONAL REQUIREMENT: Incapable of Self Support (IOSS) certification and OPTIONAL REQUIREMENT: Additional upgrade deliverables as suggested by Offeror.

The replacement Attachment 2 addresses this concern.

34. Main Solicitation, page 22:

Regarding the page limit for Section I:

Technical; there are a very large quantity of topics, many of which require intricate responses. We request the page count limit be increased to 45 pages.

See answer in response to Question 27, above.

35. Attachment 2 Quote Schedule:

Regarding the Instructions for the optional CLINS on the instructions tab "For BLUE CLINS 00009, 10009, 20009, 30009"; on the Base Period, Option One and Option Three tab the CLIN # for the optional CLINS are the 0008 series. Can OPM confirm the correct CLIN numbers for the additional upgrade deliverables as suggest by the Offeror?

The updated Attachment 2 has corrected this typo.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

36. Main Solicitation, page 9:

Where the solicitation states “Offerors shall acknowledge that they understand that all financial institutions used to house participant accounts for FSAFEDS shall also be U.S. owned and have FDIC insurance, and that they will include full details of the financial institutions they intend to utilize in their full proposal package” -instead of FSAFEDS, should it say BENEFEDS?

That is a typo, which should read BENEFEDS not FSAFEDS. The solicitation document has been updated in this Amendment.

37. Attachment 5 Forms:

The first page of Attachment 5 states the Exceptions & Assumptions Disclaimer form is part of the Phase One submission, but the form itself and Section I instructions say it is a Phase Two submission. Please confirm offerors don't need to submit the Exceptions & Assumptions Disclaimer form with Phase One.

You are correct, it was moved to Phase Two and the Attachment 5 Forms document has been updated in this amendment to reflect its inclusion in Phase Two

38. Attachment 5 Forms:

When submitting the Minimum Experience Statement Form, can offerors remove the instructions in italics font from the template so long as we don't exceed the two-page limit?

Yes. The Minimum Experience Statement Form has been edited to allow for deletion of instructions.

39. Attachment 5 Forms:

The Section 889 form has a comment stating to update the clauses to the latest clauses. Please confirm it is acceptable to modify the template to include the newest clauses.

Apologies, that was a note to the Contract Specialist and intended to have been removed before publication. Please use the updated version of Attachment 5 Forms provided with this Amendment.

40. Main Solicitation, page 21:

The Part 20 Phase Two instructions have a requirement to include a Cover Page.

Should that Cover Page be provided as its own separate document when submitted, or should it be included with one or all of the Phase Two documents as the first page of the document?

One single page Cover Page or Cover Letter is required per Offeror.

It is outside the page count of any other section. It stands alone.

The Solicitation document has been edited to reflect this instruction.

41. Main Solicitation, page 22:

Part 20.a makes a reference to Subfactor 4 in the first bullet of Section I: Technical.

Please confirm there is no Subfactor 4.

True. The amended Solicitation document provided for this amendment has been edited to correct this error.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

42. Main Solicitation:

For any proposal requirement that is outside the page limits, like personnel resumes, please confirm it is acceptable to present these as an appendix rather than in the main body of the proposal among content that is page limited. This will make it easier to demonstrate compliance with the page limits.

This is acceptable and recommended. We have reflected this recommendation in the amended Solicitation document attached.

43. Attachment 5 Forms:

Will price adjustments as a result of new SCA wage determination from OPM lag a year from the wage determination adoption?

Please see the response to Question #18 and the Clauses document attached to this amendment.

44. Attachment 1c QASP Template:

There are some errors and omissions in the QASP Template. Please confirm it is acceptable for the offeror to change more than just the Price Deduction columns, so long as it doesn’t involve proposing less stringent performance standards or smaller deductions.

Offerors may propose additional performance standards and applicable deductions. Offerors may not remove existing QASP elements, nor propose less stringent standards or deductions.

45. Solicitation Page 2, Paragraph 3 Contract Type and number of awards:

If Contractor successfully achieves the required ATO during the transition in – Task Order # 1 phase of the IDIQ contract – this vendor’s assumption would be that the task order # 2 for Base Period of the contract would be guaranteed to the recipient of the award for of transition in – Task Order #1. Is this a correct assumption?

If the Awarded contractor successfully achieves the required ATO during the Start Up Period under Task Order 1, the Government intends to also award Task Order 2 to cover the Base Period of Performance. We have clarified this point in the Solicitation document.

46. Solicitation Page 9, Sec 19 Evaluation Procedure and Basis for Award, factor 3 Minimum Experience:

Pass/Fail requirement in Factor 3 evaluates proposed key personnel staff, but neither the RFP, nor the PWS, defines and describes the necessary key personnel by title and job description. Can OPM please provide a listing of key personnel titles, job descriptions, and qualifications against which they will be evaluating Offeror key personnel?

A Key Personnel section has been added to the PWS

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

47. Solicitation Page 9, Sec 19 Evaluation

Procedure and Basis for Award, factor 3 Minimum Experience:

Pass/Fail requirement in Factor 3 evaluates the PRIME having experience administering concurrent program(s) totaling at least 40% the number of current BENEFEDS participants and including more than ten (10) separate payroll systems, to provide for the maximum extent of competition for this effort. Will OPM consider not limiting this requirement to only payroll systems, and expanding the allowable scope of systems to include ‘payment systems’ from the State Government marketplace of enrollees of State based health care products?

We will allow 10 separate “payment systems” rather than limiting it to only “payroll systems.” The Solicitation document has been edited to reflect this.

48. Solicitation Page 18 Factor 2, Subfactor 1- Management, Staffing and Supervision Plan :

Subfactor 1 states that OPM will evaluate Non-IT Key Personnel qualifications. Will OPM provide the titles of the key personnel and associated job descriptions, qualifications, etc. that they will compare and evaluate among the submitted offers?

See response to Question #46 above

49. Solicitation Page 18, Factor 4 Past Performance:

Will OPM accept and evaluate past performance questionnaires and relevant references from customers who, per their government policies and regulations, do not provide written or telephonic references attesting to a contractor’s performance?

If a customer’s government policies and regulations do not permit them to provide written or telephone references attesting to a contractor’s performance, please indicate as such when listing your references. If a PPQ or telephonic reference cannot be obtained from a certain customer for these reasons, it would not negatively impact your past performance evaluation. We will attempt to obtain a reference for this customers’ past performance using CPARS or other resource. We will not accept a self-prepared PPQ submitted on your customer’s behalf.

50. Solicitation Page 21, phase Two:

Will OPM extend the Phase Two deadline to allow Offerors a minimum of four (4) weeks following downselect notification to prepare and submit their Phase Two documentation?

Yes. The Solicitation document has been edited to reflect this.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

51. Solicitation section 18 Small Business

Participation, pg 7:

In the table in this section, the goal for small business subcontract participation is 25%. However, in bold text, it indicates that the baseline percentage is 30%. Can OPM please confirm that the expectation for the BENEFEDS contract small business participation is higher than the agency goal?

Correct, the requirement for Small Business Participation under the BENEFEDS contract of 30% TCV exceeds the OPM agency-wide small business subcontracting goal of 25% of all agency contracts.

52. Pass/Fail Factor 3, Solicitation Page 9:

a) To ensure the best value for the

Government, would OPM consider changing the pass requirement for factor 3 to allow the experience to be covered within the entire bidding team rather than just by the prime contractor?

b) It is our experience that the strongest program management member, as opposed to the best solution provider, is best qualified to be the Prime Contractor. This team arrangement minimizes risk and provides the best overall benefit to the Federal across the many complicated factors of this procurement.

a) We did not believe that there would be adequate competition if we required an offeror to have the same size participant pool as BENEFEDS has, so we decreased it to less than half the size of our requirement (40%) in order to increase opportunities for competition. We are not comfortable with decreasing the requirement further by allowing the experience of the subcontractor to be substituted for the experience of the prime in making up that 40%.

b) Assuming the term ”solution provider” as you’ve used it means “an organization that offers any combination of computer hardware, software and consulting”, we agree. The best “solution provider” is not necessarily the best qualified to be the PRIME contractor. There is no requirement for the PRIME to be the IT “solution provider.” Looking at the qualifications stated for Phase One Factor 3 “PASS”, there is nothing in the wording of that factor which requires the PRIME to have experience developing IT solutions.

The reader’s confusion may stem from our use of the word “program”. Here “program” is not used in the IT sense relative to computerized interactions, or coding, but more generally, as “a set of related activities with a particular long-term aim” in reference to the delivery of enrollment, premium administration and customer service/call center functions which was the subject of the paragraph preceding it. As such, we have edited the description of that Factor.

Further, as stated in the solicitation, OPM is not entertaining Contractor Teaming Agreements in response to this solicitation. We will make a single award to a single PRIME contractor. We will have a single point of contact with whom we interact for all portions of contract performance. The PRIME may subcontract with the other members of their proposed “team”, but the PRIME remains responsible for the actions of all subs and the contract oversight as a whole.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

53. Solicitation Instructions Phase Two

Evaluation Factors, factor 1 pages 11-16:

To present the clearest version of our technical approach, would the government consider allowing offerors to address the requirements in 19.b in an alternative order that groups similar bullets together?

We realize that the requirements for evaluation in 19b may not be in the best order to organize your proposal.

You may rearrange the order of the topics in each Factor. Please do not include details required for evaluation of Phase Two Factor 1 in Section II Management, nor the details required for evaluation of Phase Two Factor 2 in Section I Technical.

But our instruction remains that the content of each Section must be as stated on pages 22-24 of the solicitation. This is being done to expedite our review process.

If similar information needs to be presented in more than one section in order to satisfy the evaluation criteria of each Factor, please do so.

54. RFP, Factor 4 Past Performance, page 19:

Can the government please confirm that CPARS are an acceptable alternative for PPQs for past performances?

The government intends to use CPARS to supplement any PPQs received when evaluating past performance. You do not need to submit copies of CPARS evaluations if PPQs are not able to be obtained. Please note in your response for this factor that the government should use the CPARS for a particular reference. See also the answer to question #49 above.

55. PWS. Section E. Services Required, Page 3:

Could OPM confirm to which eligible populations the BENEFEDS contractor would provide Education and Outreach services?

The Contractor would provide Education and Outreach services to the eligible population for each program included under BENEFEDS, but mostly the FEDVIP program.

56. PWS, Section F Periods of Performance page 23: “Outbound phone calls” Will OPM be providing Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) indemnification for the required outbound calls?

No. We do not consider the BENEFEDS Contractor as a telemarketer. The company is responsible for knowing and following Federal laws to protect itself. “Outbound calls” are not intended for solicitation.

57. RTM Outreach and Communication, Tab 2:

Can OPM provide the volume, page counts and types of outbound mailings the awardee will be responsible for producing?

The volume, page count and types of outbound mailing will depend on the situation, enrollment numbers and what the offeror proposes.

It is up to the Contractor to propose what they will produce.

Today, an increasing amount of communication is done via email.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

58. RTM Outreach and Communication, Tab 2:

For each outbound mailing type, please indicate:

- The size of the paper

- The weight of the paper

- The number of pages

- The color of the paper

- The color of the ink(s)

- The amount of standard vs personalized information to be printed

- The size of the outer envelope

- The number of windows in the outer envelope

- The size and number of windows for any inner envelope

- Single-sided vs. double-sided printing

This information will depend on the situation. Please see response to Question #57.

59. RTM Outreach and Communication, Tab 2:

For each outbound mailing type, please indicate the annual volumes of the mailings. Please also describe any fluctuation in volumes across the year.

This is determined by the Contractor. Fluctuation in volume will depend on enrollment. Please see response to Question #57.

60. RTM Outreach and Communication, Tab 2:

a) Please define the volume of inbound mail received. Please also describe any fluctuation in volumes across the year.

b) For inbound mail, please indicate the percentage that includes checks

c) For inbound mail, please indicate the average number of pages to be scanned.

Please see response to Question #57.

61. Appendix A Volume pages 1-4:

Please provide the number of unique enrollees across all programs (e.g., some people enroll in one benefit plan and others enroll in multiple plan options).

We do not have this data.

62. Appendix A, Page 3:

Can OPM please confirm what the correct ‘avg # of phone calls per day (excluding last day of Open Season)’ value should be?

See response to Question #9 above.

63. Appendix A, C & E:

a) Please provide the Average Handle

Time (AHT) for all inbound calls

b) Please provide the Average Handle

Time (AHT) for all outbound calls

c) Please provide the Average Handle

Time (AHT) for all e-mails

We do not have this data.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

64. General:

a) Please provide all interfacing points in place today between government agencies and

b) any expectations on the vendor to establish these same interfaces.

a) We do not have this information.

b) The contractor must establish any interfaces needed to perform the services in the manner they propose.

65. Pricing:

Can OPM describe when pass-through pricing is permitted (e.g., for print fulfillment, postage, or credit card processing)?

All costs of doing business to provide the services required must be included in the Firm Fixed (per participant, per pay period) pricing. Because the payment structure is based on the majority of the services being paid for through payroll deduction transactions, OPM cannot entertain “pass through” cost reimbursement charges for these costs.

66. Payments:

If the contractor will receive payments via physical mail, can OPM please share the expected volumes?

If you are referring to payment of the contracted payments funded by OPM, NONE of these payments will be made by physical mail or paper check.

If you are referring to payment of employee-funded fees/premiums, such as during a government furlough, we do not have this information.

67. Payments:

a) Other than during government furlough, when should the contractor expect to receive payments directly from employees through the physical mail?

b) Will the administrator of BENEFEDS receive current payments in the same fashion outside a furlough period and will that cadence differ by enrollee type?

If you are referring to payment of employee-funded fees/premiums, we do not have this information. The BENEFEDS contractor should expect to receive employee-funded fees/premiums at any time. This will differ by program type, since the FSAFEDS allotments are taken through payroll deductions.

68. Public Trust:

What is the current average duration for a contractor to pass a public trust clearance?

In cases where all paperwork is returned and there are no concerns on case papers or in the advance package used to make an interim determination, for public trust investigations it is usually around 7 to 10 days once we have everything needed from the subject to make an interim determination.

69. In order to broaden the pool of potential respondents will OPM reconsider the criteria to have past experience that has similar size and complexity to allow demonstration of scale and complexity from other efforts?

Please see responses to Questions #47 and #52a above.

70. Will OPM accept 5-8 payroll systems for past experience, to expand the pool of qualified bidders and ensure OPM receives bid that are modern in their solution?

No, but we have broadened the requirement another way. Please see the answer to Question #47 above.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

71. Will OPM clarify the definition of payroll

'system" - does it refer to integration with a payroll system or the administration of a payroll application?

The first page of the PWS notes regarding BENEFEDS: “This centralized platform was designed to eliminate the need for each FEDVIP carrier to establish its own enrollment/premium administration interface with a multitude of Federal agencies and payroll offices.” The BENEFEDS contractor will interface with the payroll offices.

72. Does the phrase “40% the number of current BENEFEDS participants” refer to unique enrollees, total enrollments, or total participants?

Please see the answer to Question #2c above.

73. Is OPM willing to extend the due date of Phase 2 to be significantly longer than a 2-week turnaround, to ensure that new bidders to the agency have adequate time to provide a comprehensive response?

Please see the answer to Question #50 above.

74. Does OPM plan to publicly announce bidders that have passed the down selection process?

We intend to address each offeror individually by email with a written letter explaining their status at the end of Phase One evaluations. Both PASS and FAIL offerors will receive such notification of results. Typically, an offeror does not know the names of their competition when submitting a proposal, and publication of the names of those who PASS Phase One would reveal the names of the competition. We will not post the results publicly.

75. Has OPM evaluated current enrollment-based solutions within the industry?

The market research phase for this requirement has concluded.

The current solicitation was developed following the conclusion of our market research and approval of the current acquisition strategy. Vendors interested in competing for this requirement should submit proposals in accordance with the instructions provided in the solicitation.

76. Has OPM completed an assessment exploring SaaS as a solution? If so, will OPM be willing to share the results of that assessment?

See response to Question #75 above.

77. Is OPM willing to consider a SaaS solution, given the advantages of seamless/automatic technology and security updates?

It is up to the Offeror to determine what software and systems they will use to perform the totality of the requirements described in the PWS and its attachments. As previously stated, the IT solution portion is not the totality of the requirement.

78. Is OPM interested in demonstrations highlighting proposed solutions to help evaluate what the latest the market has to offer?

No. We will not entertain in-person demonstrations of individual alternatives to the requirement we have described. We need the whole requirement performed, not merely the IT portions.

Whatever IT solutions the market offers should be proposed by the Offeror as part of the TOTAL performance requirement described in the PWS and Attachments. Proposals which only address the software or systems will not be considered.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

79. Does OPM expect that the entirety of the 7 million BENEFEDS records will be converted by the end of the start-up period? Is OPM willing to accept a conversion plan that sees record conversion finished in early 2023, to ensure that new bidders to the agency have adequate time to start-up and transition data to a possible new system?

Yes. All records must transfer/convert and be active on January 1, 2023 in order to ensure uninterrupted coverage. All records need to transfer/convert at the same time in order to provide continuous benefit coverage to our enrolled and covered population. OPM will review all proposals that gives alternative suggestions which ensure that the enrolled and covered population maintain uninterrupted coverage. OPM will not entertain proposals which would leave some enrolled and/or covered individuals without coverage on January 1, 2023.

80. Why is this data/record conversion not included within the scope of work?

Refer to Section M of the PWS and Line 309 of the RTM for the requirement for data file transfer.

81. Does OPM require that any data conversion be accessible within the system of record and available for transactional purposes, or to reside for research purposes in a data warehouse or similar?

The data must be accessible within the BENEFEDS Contractor’s systems to enable transactions and customer service.

82. Will OPM provide the reasoning why it is confident in the requirement that, should a new vendor be selected, it would be possible to establish systems, obtain an ATO, potentially convert records and transition vendors for a program of this size and complexity in a six-month period?

OPM is confident because the OPM Healthcare & Insurance Program Office has consulted with our Office of the Chief Information Officer, who has determined that up to 6 months is reasonable to obtain an ATO and transfer any records required.

83. In order to best size and scope this effort, will OPM provide the size and details of the specific systems that house data records? From a knowledge management perspective, are these records in a known and immediately accessible location?

OPM does not have this information to provide. OPM does not own the systems or maintain the data. Neither the current system nor the data therein transfers to OPM upon conclusion of the current contract. The system is owned by the current contractor.

Although the data is owned by OPM, it will transfer directly from the incumbent contractor to the new awardee.

84. Section E, 7.2.4, page 17 PWS:

“The Contractor shall provide a comparison tool that compares the different FEDVIP plan benefits and premiums to assist enrollees in selecting the right plan for themselves and their families. To help those eligible understand what CDT codes are covered and the approximate enrollee share for each, the Contractor shall include ADA/CDT codes in the comparison tool.”

a) Is it OPM’s expectation that the current comparison tool should remain available, with proposed ADA/CDT additions, or will an entirely new comparison tool be required?

The comparison tool currently in use is owned by the current contractor. It does not transfer to the new awardee.

It is anticipated that an entirely new comparison tool will be needed, since including the ADA/CDT codes is a new requirement.

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Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

85. PWS Sec E, 3, page 8:

“The BENEFEDS Contractor is responsible for sending timely communications and education…