J.29 RFP Questions 10-6-26.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 23 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 75FCMC27R0001FinalSolicitation
About this file
This file is a Questions and Answers document addressing three inquiries regarding small business subcontracting goals for the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) Jurisdiction 8 solicitation (RFP #75FCMC27R0001). The document clarifies that offerors must meet two separate but related small business subcontracting goals: (1) a minimum of 5% of total contract value must be subcontracted to small businesses, and (2) of all planned subcontracting dollars, a minimum of 25% must go to small businesses, with subset goals including 3% for HUBZone small businesses, along with goals for Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Women-owned small businesses, and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small businesses. The responses provide illustrative examples demonstrating how both goals can be achieved simultaneously depending on the total subcontracting amount planned.
The document also addresses system limitations within the Health and Human Services Small Business Customer Experience (SBCX) portal, confirming that the HUBZone component goal is 3% as stated in the solicitation, despite the portal potentially displaying a warning for values below 5%. CMS clarifies that compliance will be evaluated based on solicitation requirements and the subcontracting plan narrative if system limitations prevent full alignment with SBCX data entry requirements. Offerors experiencing SBCX system issues are directed to contact the Contracting Officer (Mark Smolenski) and Contract Specialist (Alyssa Jones) immediately. No changes to solicitation documents resulted from these clarifications.
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| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| J8 MAC Solicitation 75FCMC27R0001 - all documents.zip | ZIP file |
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RFP Questions
| RFP # 75FCMC27R0001 |
| Attachment J.29 - RFP Questions Template |
| Question # | Document | Section | Page # | Question | CMS Response |
| 1 | J8 RFP 75FCMC27R0001 Sections B-M final | L.12.6 and L.14.4 | Pages 131, 148-150 | The solicitation requires a 5% of Total Contract Value Small Business goal in addition to the 25% of Total Subcontracting Dollars Small Business goal. These two requirements result in different Small Business goals with Total Contract Value exceeding the Agency goal. The SBCX portal appears to support entry of goals based on subcontracting dollars but does not appear to provide a mechanism to separately identify the solicitation's 5% Total Contract Value small business utilization goal. Which number should be entered into SCBX, the standard FAR requirement of goals expressed in terms of total dollars subcontracted, and as a percentage of total planned subcontracting dollars or the higher goals expressed in terms of percentage of total contract dollars? |
Will CMS please also provide resolution to this conflict and follow-up instruction to all bidders and amend the corresponding solicitation requirements? There is no conflict between these two goals. There are two related, but separate, goals in regard to Small Business subcontracting and CMS expects offerors to meet both goals.
In accordance with Section L.14.4 of the solicitation, the offeror’s proposal shall explain how the offeror will meet the 5% of total contract value small business usage goal.
In SBCX, the values entered should be the requirement of goals expressed in terms of total dollars subcontracted.
The first goal is that 5% of total contract value is to go to small businesses.
The second goal is for all subcontracting that is done under this contract, 25% of it is to go to small businesses (as well as taking into account the subset goals for Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Women-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small businesses).
An example of how both goals can be met follows. Please note these examples are not indicative of the estimated value of the J8 MAC and are only being used to respond to this question.
Example 1:
If a Contract has a value of $100 million, the two small business subcontract goals can be met as follows:
Goal 1 – the offeror is to have at least $5 million of the total contract value subcontracted to small businesses ($5 million is 5% of $100 million).
Goal 2 – if the offeror plans to subcontract out $20 million of work on this $100 million contract, then at least $5 million of its planned subcontracting ($5 million is 25% of $20 million) is to go to small businesses.
Example 2:
If a Contract has a value of $100 million, the two small business subcontract goals can be met as follows:
Goal 1 – the offeror is to have at least $5 million of the total contract value subcontracted to small businesses ($5 million is 5% of $100 million).
Goal 2 – if the offeror plans to subcontract out $30 million of work on this $100 million contract, then at least $7.5 million of its planned subcontracting ($7.5 million is 25% of $30 million) is to go to small businesses.
In example 2, if the offeror meets the small business subcontracting goal of 25% and the subset goals (Goal 2), then it will also have met the condititions of Goal 1.
2 J8 RFP 75FCMC27R0001 Sections B-M final L.12.6 Page 131 The solicitation requires that 25% of total subcontracting dollars be awarded to Small Businesses, with a HUBZone component goal of 3%. However, the SBCX portal requires entry of a HUBZone goal of 5% rather than the 3% specified in the solicitation. Can CMS please advise which HUBZone percentage should be entered into SBCX for purposes of proposal submission? CMS confirms that the HUBzone component goal is 3% of subcontracting as stated in the solicitation.
The SBCX system may show a warning if you're entering a value lower than 5% for Hubzone Small Businesses stating "this amount does not reach the agency goal." That warning is not correct. The CMS subcontracting goal for HUBZone small businesses is 3%. If any problems are encountered with entering information into the SBCX system, immediately contact the Contracting Officer - Mark Smolenski and the Contract Specialist - Alyssa Jones.
| 3 | J8 RFP 75FCMC27R0001 Sections B-M final | L.14.4 | Pages 148-150 | If an offeror's SBCX submission cannot fully align with the solicitation requirements due to SBCX system limitations, will CMS evaluate compliance based on the solicitation requirements and accompanying subcontracting plan narrative rather than solely on the values captured within the SBCX portal? | CMS doesn't expect there to be any issues with the SBCX system, but if there is an issue, CMS will evaluate compliance based on the solicitation requirements and accompanying subcontracting plan narrative. As stated in the response to Question 2 above, please contact the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist immediately if there are problems with the SBCX system. |
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