CCN Next Generation Dental Pre-proposal Conference slides_01212026.pdf

CCN Next Generation – Dental Pre-Proposal Conference

January 21, 2026

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) Point of Contact: CCNNextGenInquiries@va.gov

Agenda

Time Topic Speaker

2:00 pm – 2:20 pm Opening Remarks Neil Narine, CCN Next Generation Acquisition Program Manager

William Milline, Contracting Officer

Dr. Christine LaMarre, Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Dentistry

2:20 pm – 2:40 pm Community Care Contracts Overview Janet Cabeen, Director of Network Development

2:40 pm – 2:45 pm CCN Contract / Task Order Overview William Milline

2:45 pm – 3:05 pm Solicitation Question Themes to Date Neil Narine

3:05 pm – 3:25 pm Break and Submit Questions

3:25 pm – 3:30 pm Important Dates William Milline

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm Questions and Answers Neil Narine and William Milline

3:45 pm – 4:00 pm Industry Feedback Laura Scott

Disclaimer for Pre-Proposal Conference

Please be advised that the information presented during this Pre-proposal Conference, including any questions and/or answers provided, is for informational purposes only. Attendees are reminded that the official solicitation document controls and supersedes any information provided at this event. For all requirements and evaluation factors, offerors must refer to and rely on the solicitation and any subsequent amendments issued by the contracting authority.

Any responses provided during the Pre-proposal Conference are intended to assist offerors in understanding the scope and requirements of the solicitation, but they do not alter the terms and conditions of the solicitation. Any changes or clarifications to the solicitation will be issued through formal amendments.

Offerors are encouraged to carefully review the solicitation documents and seek clarification through the official channels as specified in the solicitation.

Neil Narine, CCN Next Generation Acquisition Program Manager

Opening Remarks

William Milline, Contracting Officer

Dr. Christine LaMarre Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Dentistry

Janet Cabeen, MPA, Director of Network Development

Community Care Contracts Overview

Veteran Community

Care Program -

Next Generation

National Dental

Contract*

Medical Contract -

Medical and Pharmacy

Provider Directory Contract

National Dialysis Services Contract

Community Care

Referral and Authorization

(CCRA)

System

Community Care Contracts Overview

Community Care Network (CCN)

CCN is the largest healthcare procurement VHA manages, supporting care for 9.1 million enrolled Veterans across the country.

VA’s largest nationwide contract vehicle at this scale, enabling Veterans to seamlessly access Community Care.

Deploys a standardized implementation strategy across

142 VA Medical Centers and around 1,700 sites of care, supporting a 300,000+ VA workforce.

Integrates thousands of community provider partners, expanding Veteran access to high-quality, convenient care closer to home, and creating more choice.

S iz e Scale

N e tw ork Im pac t

Purchasing

Healthcare for Veterans

CCN Next Generation Timeline to RFP

2021: Initial Market

Research

• Industry Days

• Environmental

Scans

2022: Internal

Research

• Identified current pain points

• Worked with key stakeholders to find solutions to pain points

• Brainstorming activities for new and innovative requirements

2023: Expanded

Market Research

• Six (6) Request for Information

(RFIs)

• Researched major initiatives

(VBC/APMs, technology, med docs, etc.)

2024: Requirements

Finalization

• Finalized structure

(Medical

East/West and

National Dental)

• Closed out final decisions and actions from each workstream

• Final refinements made to PWS

• Integrated content into manuals

2025: Final RFP

Release

• Updated contract structure (IDIQ and TOPRs for

Medical

East/West and

National Dental)

• Posted final RFP, including IDIQ and TOPRs, on

12/15/25

What’s Next: CCN Next Generation Regionality

Reduced administrative needs may allow for improved quality, Veteran experience, program integrity, and reduced administrative costs, while retaining healthy market competition.

Why does the change matter?

Next Generation Medical and Pharmacy Network

Next Generation

Dental Network

CCN Next Generation contracts will be comprised of contract vehicles covering all U.S. states and territories ensuring the best access to care:

▪ Dental National*

▪ Medical and Pharmacy East Regions

▪ Medical and Pharmacy West Regions

What’s changing?

CCN Next Generation Improvement Focus

Goals and Guiding Principles

Choice – Quality – Oversight - Flexibility

Enhance

Competition

Align with VA

Goals

Expand Market

Participation

Improve Care

Access and

Quality

Align Industry

Standards and

Best Practices

CCN Veteran Impacts – Community Care Growth

VA’s total Medical Community Care (MCC) obligations were ~$41.0B in

FY2025 with Veteran healthcare services, community nursing home, and non-institutional care accounting for 87% of total obligations1

• Expanded access to care due to MISSION Act, PACT Act, Dole Acts, etc.:

– VA health care treated 6.3M unique Veterans in FY18 vs 7.1M in

FY25, a ~12% increase in Veterans / Patients served despite a shrinking Veteran population.

– Community Care utilization has grown rapidly, reaching ~3.8M

Veterans and ~50M visits in FY2025, reflecting ~37% growth in Veterans served and ~32% growth in visits compared to

2023.

– VA calls the PACT Act “perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in VA history,” expanding presumptive conditions and eligibility for toxic-exposed Veterans.

• Veterans with a 100% disability rating grew from ~0.7M

(2018) to 1.76M (2025), more than doubling in seven years.

MCC Total Obligations

$27.4B $31.8B

$36.6B $41.0B

$48.8B $54.0B+16%

+15% +13%

+18% +11%

FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26 FY27

Actual Projection

2. FY25 is an end of year extrapolation of actual obligations thru Sep 23, 2025

3. FY26 and FY27 projections as published in the 2026 Budget

1. 87% based on excluding state homes and Veteran Family Member

Programs

Data Sources: VHA Finance Cost By Payment Vehicle Reports and VA

Congressional Justification (CJ), Volume II Medical Programs, FYs 23-26

3 3

William Milline, Contracting Officer

Important Dates

IDIQ and TO Award Process

CCN Dental Network

RFP

IDIQ

Source Selection

IDIQ and TO

Award

Dental Network

• This RFP will result in a single award IDIQ

• The IDIQ awardee will be awarded a TO

*VA will not reimburse bid and proposal costs in any circumstance.

Dental Network IDIQ – Evaluation Criteria

• Factor 1: Technical

– Technical Evaluation Phase I – Network Development and Maintenance

– Technical Evaluation Phase II (Oral Presentation) – Use Cases Approaches

– Technical Evaluation Phase III (Written Submission) (to include Subfactors):

• Subfactor 1.1: Deployment and Implementation Plan

• Subfactor 1.2: Dental Network Adequacy Plan

• Factor 2: Past Performance

• Factor 3: Veterans’ Involvement/ Subcontracting Plan

• Factor 4: Price

Dental Network IDIQ – Evaluation Criteria Cont’d

• Factor 1, Phase I will be evaluated first. If an offeror fails to meet the criteria to "Pass" Phase I Technical

Factor 1, which is evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis, the offeror will not be considered for further evaluation or advancement in the procurement.

• After passing Phase I of the Technical Evaluation, the proposals will be evaluated according to the following order of importance:

– Factor 1 (Technical Evaluation) consists of Phase II – Oral Presentation and Phase III – Written

Submission, which are of equal importance.

– When combined, Phases II and III of Factor 1 are slightly more important than Factor 2 (Past

Performance).

– Factor 2 is more important than Factor 3 (Veterans’ Involvement/Subcontracting Plan).

– When considered together, all non-price factors (Factors 1, 2, and 3) are significantly more important than Factor 4 (Price).

– Price is the least important factor.

Neil Narine, CCN Next Generation Acquisition Program Manager

Solicitation Question Themes to Date

Solicitation Question Themes to Date

Award Structure and Competition Framework

• Whether the VA CCN Dental Network IDIQ will be a single-award or a multiple-award contract

– The Government acknowledges this error. As stated in RFP section E.3, "the Government anticipates awarding a single award, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to the Offeror whose proposal conforms to the solicitation requirements and represents the Best Value to the Government."

RFP Questions Themes to Date

Data Needs

• Multiple data requests

– The Government is reviewing all requests for additional data and will include what is appropriate in future amendments.

RFP Questions Themes to Date

Financial and Contract Administration Structure

• Request for effective date of dental benefits

• Request for clarification on broker commission in reference to PMPM

Important Dates

• Proposals are due by 2:00 p.m. EST on March 16, 2026

– Pricing shall remain valid and firm for 365 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation

• All questions are due by 10:00 a.m. EST on January 30, 2026

• Responses to industry questions received by the close date will continue to be provided via amendments to SAM.gov

• Future amendments

Questions and Answers / Industry Feedback

As this requirement is in active solicitation, please direct all questions and feedback for VA consideration to:

CCNNextGenInquiries@va.gov.