36C25020Q0485 0002.docx

36C25020Q0485 0002

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE

CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer) None Department of Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System Network Contracting Office 10 2215 Fuller Road Ann Arbor MI 48105 Y Department of Veterans Affair Ann Arbor Healthcare System Network Contracting Office 10 2215 Fuller Road Ann Arbor MI 48105 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C25020Q0485 08-06-2020

X X X

X

1. The purpose of this amendment is to respond to questions received by industry. See continuation pages.

CONTINUATION PAGE

Government Responses to Industry Questions

1. Section B - Continuation of SF 1449 Blocks, B.1 Contract Administration Data Invoices – please confirm that invoices are to be submitted (and paid) twice monthly as detailed in B.2 Statement of Work (SOW) 21. Billing.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Yes

Questions 2 through 12 refer to B.2 Statement of Work (SOW)

1. C. Requirements 1. Vehicle Requirements

(2) Please clarify whether we are to exclusively use ADA vehicles for all riders or whether non-ADA sedans or vans are acceptable to transport ambulatory passengers.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Non-ADA vehicles are acceptable for transporting ambulatory patients.

1. C. Requirements 1. Vehicle Requirements

(3) Please clarify whether we are to exclusively use ADA high top vehicles for all riders or whether non-ADA sedans or vans with regular interior height are acceptable to transport ambulatory passengers.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Non-ADA sedans with regular interior may be used for ambulatory patients.

1. C. Requirements 1. Vehicle Requirements

(7) Please clarify whether “five passenger capacity” includes the driver.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Five passenger does not include the driver.

1. C. Requirements 1. Vehicle Requirements

(8) Please clarify whether we are to exclusively use ADA vehicles for all riders or whether non-ADA sedans or vans are acceptable to transport ambulatory passengers.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Non-ADA vehicles are acceptable to transport ambulatory patients.

1. C. Requirements 1. Vehicle Requirements

(11) Please specify what cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment is required and what training/certification is required for our drivers.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE:

1. C. Requirements 6. Patient Pick-Up Requirements – Scheduled Trips Can the pick-up list be provided by email in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or CSV attachment? Who determines single/multiple pickup routing, the VA Travel Unit or the Contractor? Does the VA do mapping, assign pick up times and communicate to the Vet and we just call to confirm?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Pick-up list may be provided by email. The VA determines single/multiple pick-up routing. The VA does not do mapping or assign pick-up times. The contractor will call and communicate to the Vet assigned pick-up times.

1. C. Requirements 6. Patient Pick-Up Requirements – Scheduled Trips Please clarify --- is it common to schedule multiple passengers on each trip or common to provide individual passenger transportation?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: It is common to schedule multiple passengers on each trip.

1. C. Requirements 8. Add On Trips Can add on trips be communicated by phone and email instead of by phone and fax?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Yes, add on trips can be communicated by phone & email.

1. C. Requirements 7. Return Trips What hours are Contractor’s On-Site Coordinator required to be present and will the VA provide office space and facilities (chair, desk, phone, etc.)?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Site coordinator should be on site from 8am-6pm

1. C. Requirements 19. Pricing Will Contractor be reimbursed for additional costs such as bridge or highway tolls, airport fees, parking, and the like?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Contractor may be reimbursed for additional costs.

1. C. Requirements 19. Mileage Calculation Will Contractor be provided with access to the Beneficiary Travel Dashboard?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: No, contractor will not have access to Beneficiary Travel Dashboard.

Section B.3 Price Schedule

1. B.3 Price Schedule The Price Cost Schedule Worksheet (Section D – Attachment VI) refers to “C.C” or “Common Carrier”. Common Carrier normally refers to scheduled point to point public transportation. Are these CLINS actually private party ambulatory passenger trips, potentially being conducted on non-ADA sedans or vans?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Yes, these are private party ambulatory passenger trips.

1) BACKGROUND: In the Solicitation’s attached Price Cost Schedule Worksheet, there are fewer numbers of trips each year. There is a 40% reduction in Trips and Mileage between Ordering Period 1 and Ordering Period 2; a 38% reduction in Trips and Mileage between Ordering Period 2 and Ordering Period 3; resulting in a significant reduction of 63% in Trips and Mileage between Ordering Period 1 and Ordering Period 3, 4, and 5. Although the VA projects a 1.7% reduction in the total number of Veterans over the next 30 years, the number of veterans with disabilities is forecast to increase significantly.

QUESTION: What is driving the reduction in numbers of trips and mileage?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: VA National has instituted “Veteran Transportation Service”. This national program is designed to transport veterans whom are special mode and ambulatory. It is also designed to eliminate contracted carriers workload as much as possible in order to decrease costs.

2) BACKGROUND: In the Statement of Work under C. Requirements / # 20. Mileage Calculation (d) states : “The Contractor shall include on all invoices the following information for each trip billed per patient, (1) Odometer reading at the beginning of the trip, (2) Odometer reading at the pick up of the veteran (3) Odometer reading at the end of the trip.” However, (a) of the same Mileage Calculation section states that “The Contract shall use BINGMAPS.com to verify mileage; however, the odometer stop-and-start readings for each trip will be the official mileage. This is a redundant and unnecessary process. No commercial Paratransit scheduling/dispatching/billing data systems are tied directly to a vehicles Odometer (and to do so would create an expensive custom-built requirement); but use on-board GPS technology (which is the same mileage calculating system used by BINGMAPS) to accurately track the number of miles traveled during a trip. The manual collection of odometer mileage at the start and stop of each trip, the manual transcribing of mileage data into a separate system, and the additional transcribing of that data (whether manually or by data transfer) adds multiple steps to the data collection process and results in multiple hours added to the process of creating an acceptable bill; while increasing the likelihood of miscalculations and delayed invoicing.

QUESTION: If what’s needed from the ODOMETER is actual miles traveled, wouldn’t it make more sense to use the TRIPMETER function of the ODOMETER to collect this information; rather than to subtract two (2) multiple digit numbers that will give you the same number you’d collect from the ODOMETER (without the risk of mis-keying numbers, resulting in bad data)?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The reason for the odometer process is to ensure we have an accurate count that can be justified.

3) BACKGROUND: Often, a driver will need to travel long distances to arrive at their passenger’s pick-up point to take them to another hospital or clinic that is not the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center or any of its close proximity CBOCs. This may result in a trip that takes multiple hours and many miles beyond the actual trip for transporting the passenger.

EXAMPLE: A vehicle is driven 75 miles to reach Passenger A. Passenger A is driven 15 miles to a location other than JDDVAMC or associated CBOC appointment. The Driver waits 1.5 hours for the Passenger to complete the appointment, the driver them takes the passenger back to their point of origin. Using the cost schedule provided with the solicitation, each trip that falls under this scenario would be executed at a significant loss to the transportation vendor.

QUESTION: To guarantee that the vendor is made whole for all of their labors, could the following calculation be added to the statement of work?

OUTBOUND TRIP CALCULATOR (For Trips that originate outside the 20-mile threshold and travel to VAMCs and CBOCs outside of the JDDVAMC’s network):

((Mileage from the JDDVAMC to Pick-up + Mileage from Pick-up to VAMC/CBOC) – 20 miles) * mileage rate + Wait Time Units + Base Rate = Calculated Trip Cost

CALCULATION EXAMPLE:

(75 + 15) – 20 = 60 miles 60 miles * mileage rate = x 6 Wait Time Units * Unit Rate = y x + y + Base Rate = Calculated Trip Cost

No mileage will be incurred by the driver after the passenger is returned to their original point of origin.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: There is no wait time. Wait will have to be authorized by the travel office on a case by case basis.