BENEFEDS QA Amendment 5 3.16.22.pdf

RFP # 24361821R0002 - BENEFEDS Page 1 of 2

March 16, 2022 Amendment #3

Amendment 5, March 16, 2022 –

Amendment 5 is issued to provide answers to questions that were asked but omitted from Amendment 3; as well as answer new questions posed after Amendment 4. Questions and Answers follow below.

Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

99. Please clarify whether an offeror’s committing to the baseline percentage goal for Small Business Participation stated in Section 18 is a minimum requirement for being deemed responsive to the solicitation, or alternatively it is a factor evaluated in assigning a Confidence Rating under Factor 2, Subfactor 2.

Both.

An offeror’s level of commitment to Small Business Participation is evaluated with a confidence rating under Factor 2. The OPM baseline goal of 30% is a minimum for Small Business Participation and that will be examined when evaluating Factor 2.

Offerors may not propose less than 30% and still be considered for award, so in that regard, compliance with the 30% minimum Small Business Participation baseline stated on Page 7 of the Solicitation is one of the elements required to be considered responsive to the Solicitation.

100. Enrollment Forecast:

We noticed that the percentage growth increase in enrollment data appears to be much higher ~12% (base) and ~7-8% (options) than recent historical trends (~5%). The Q&A noted that as of now there are no known new mandates that would generate larger volumes, so there is a concern that this inflated rate will generate an inaccurate TCV. Will the government consider changing these volumes to be flat or to have them increase at a more moderate rate, consistent with recent history? While we recognize that each bid will be evaluated on its own against similar volumes, the scope of enrollment has a bearing on fixed/variable costs for all bidders.

As stated in the Solicitation, the figures included on the Quote Schedule are being used for evaluation, to standardize the evaluation of pricing.

Enrollment figures are constantly changing and there will be a significant enrollment difference due to the time between the last reported enrollment figures from July 2021 as noted in Appendix B and the anticipated performance start date for the base period on January 1, 2023

RFP # 24361821R0002 - BENEFEDS Page 2 of 2

March 16, 2022 Amendment #3

Q# Reference and Question Government Response / Answer

101. TCV Calculation – As we reviewed the spreadsheet it appears that the TCV calculation does include Optional Services.

Our understanding is Optional Services will be evaluated separately, as the Government may choose whether to award those items as it sees fit.

Can the government please confirm that Optional Services will be evaluated separately when comparing competing offers?

If it is the government’s intent to keep the Optional Services in the TCV when comparing competing offers, we would also point out that some proposals may/will stagger in different optional pricing CLINS over dissimilar option years.

It would seem confusing to have different TCVs for each bidder, due to different services being offered, many that in fact may never be exercised; some proposals may appear unbalanced across all periods/options.

If this scenario arises can the Government please confirm the offer would be deemed acceptable.

When the Government conducts price evaluation, we will evaluate the optional services separately since they may differ for each offeror, and the Government may choose to exercise or not exercise as they see fit. However, the optional services are still part of the total contract value (TCV) and must be considered when looking at the percentage of the TCV that would be performed by small business for Phase Two Factor 2, Subfactor 2, Small Business Participation.

We will not give a blanket statement saying that your offer would be deemed acceptable if it appears unbalanced. We will evaluate the proposals as described in the solicitation, and MAY still find a proposal unacceptable if its pricing is significantly unbalanced.

Please see the replacement Quote Schedule and SBPCD provided with this amendment.

A replacement Attachment 2 Quote Schedule and a replacement Attachment 7 SBPCD are provided with Amendment 5.

The deadline for Phase One submissions is changed to 2pm Friday 03/18/2022 to allow time for review and adjustment of Phase One proposal submissions.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.