Attach H - RFP QA (OPA -75R60222R00020).pdf

Attachment H – RFP QA (OPA – 75R60222R00020)

Attachment H Questions for HRSA Solicitation Number 75R60222R00020

Office of Patient Advocacy

1. Section F.1. “Observance of Federal Holidays” requires that no onsite services shall be performed on Federal legal holidays, holidays set forth by Presidential Executive Order and any other Government closures, including closures for inclement weather, unless otherwise provided for in the terms of the contract and that the Contractor may not bill for hours worked. Please confirm that since Contractor’s holiday schedule may not be the same as HRSA and since this is a Firm Fixed Price Contract where invoices reflecting a fixed fee will be submitted monthly, that this Section is for information purposes only.

a. Section F.1. is for informational purposes.

2. Given that the resultant contract will be a Firm Fixed Price Contract, please confirm that items b., d., e., and f. under Section G. “Additional HRSA Invoice Requirements” are not applicable to this Solicitation.

a. Item b. pertains to all invoices regardless of contract type. Items d., e., and f. is not applicable to a FFP type contract.

3. Under Section I.1., please confirm that the following stated clauses should be referenced as follows:

• 52.203-6 Alternate I (June 2020) should be 52.203-6 (Nov 2021)

• 20.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation

(Oct 20) should be changed to 52.204-26

• 52.224-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (Jun 2008) should be changed to 52.225-13 (Feb 2021)

a. Confirming the above have been corrected in the RFP, Section I.2.

4. Section I.2.2 includes a reference to FAR 52.217-9. Subsection (c) which states that the “total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 5 years.” Section B.2, however, calls for a Base Period of 1 year, as well as 4 additional one-year Option Periods and an option to extend for an additional 6 months in accordance with FAR 52.217-

8. Please clarify HRSA’s intent with regard to that discrepancy.

a. The discrepancy has been revised from 5 years to 5 years and 6 months.

5. Section L.1.2 states that Volume I (Technical Proposal) must include a statement indicating whether or not any exceptions are taken to the terms and conditions of the RFP, and that any such exceptions must be noted in the proposal as well. Section L.4.1, however, states that the Offeror’s proposal “must stipulate that it is predicated upon all of the terms and conditions of this RFP.” Our interpretation is that L.4.1. must be read to allow an Offeror to stipulate that its offer is predicated upon all of the terms and conditions of the RFP except as otherwise expressly identified in any exception(s) called out by Offeror pursuant to Section L.1.2. Is this interpretation correct?

And if not, please clarify with specificity in what way(s) this interpretation is incorrect.

a. Yes, the interpretation is valid.

6. L.4.2. – Given the requirements of the solicitation, we are including resumes in support of the

Contract Management Plan and Key Personnel requirements. Some of the individual resumes are several pages in length. May we exclude resumes from the Volume 1 – 150 pages total?

a. Please include resumes of key personnel. Offerors are advised to strictly observe limitations on the length and format specified since the Government evaluation of the proposal will be limited to 150 pages. Any pages after the 150 pages count may not be evaluated.

7. L.4.2. – We would like to include letters of support with our proposal, but these would be supplemental to the Technical Proposal, i.e., outside the 150 page limit. Is this acceptable to

HRSA?

a. Letters of support may be included, however, it will be counted towards the 150 page limit.

8. Section V. Schedule of Deliverables requires that the Contractor submit all items in the quantities and by the dates indicated to the COR. In order to ensure the timeliness of ongoing activities required under each Task, may we assume that to the extent the COR does not approve the Deliverable or ask questions about the Deliverable within thirty (30) days of receipt of any Deliverable, the Deliverable will be deemed approved by the COR?

a. HRSA will have up to 45 days untill the deliverable is considered approved.

9. D01, D03, and D05 under Section V. Schedule of Deliverables, require meeting minutes be submitted to the COR within seven (7) business days after the meeting. Due to the voluminous nature of the meeting minutes, will HRSA change the due date to twenty-one (21) days after each meeting for each of the stated Deliverables?

a. HRSA proposes a 14 business day approach.

10. Deliverable 4 for this Task suggests the agenda will be prepared 5 business days prior to the special COR meeting. Will HRSA change the language of this deliverable to state: “the agenda will be prepared 5 business days prior to the special COR meeting by the party requesting the meeting”?

a. HRSA agrees to the proposed approach.

11. In Section C, as presently written, the solicitation does not include a Section C.2 providing for

Incorporation of Contractor’s Proposal. Please confirm that the final contract document will incorporate contractor’s proposal into the resultant contract.

a. HRSA does not intend to incorporate the contractor’s proposal.

12. In Section K, as presently written, the solicitation does not include FAR Clause 52.227-15 “Representation of Limited Rights Data and Restricted Computer Software (Dec 2007) which allows potential offerors to identify any technical data or computer software that qualifies as Limited Rights Data and Restricted Computer Software. Will HRSA include this as part of the solicitation?

a. HRSA has included FAR 52.227-15 provision at this time.

13. Task 5 – Perform Optional Tasks -includes 5.1 Submit Transition Plan - that may be exercised under the contract. Because it is difficult to provide a firm fixed price at time of proposal submission for tasks that might not be exercised until anywhere from 1-5 years later, will HRSA consider waiving the requirement under Section B.2., Compensation Cost/Price, (items f through i), to provide a price at this time and, alternatively, insert the following at Task 5.1 Submit Transition Plan section, “Prior to the execution of any Optional Task, the Contractor and HRSA must negotiate, in good faith, a bilateral modification to cover the price associated with performing any Optional Task.”

a. Prices for Optional Tasks 1 – 8 must be developed as part of the proposal.

14. Task 5.1., Submit Transition Plan, requires the Contractor to transfer to HRSA and/or a successor contractor undefined “materials,” “data” and “documentation.” As presently written, this could be interpreted to include copies of substantial volumes of data, materials, and documentation (including but not limited to software) developed previously without HRSA funding. Will HRSA agree to eliminate these requirements set forth in Optional Task 5.1? If not, please clarify with specificity why it will not, and propose an amendment to the language of Task 5.1 that appropriately reflects and acknowledges the Contractor’s historic and future rights in data, documents, and materials, including but not limited to those produced or obtained without HRSA funding, including but not limited to the Contractor’s rights to withhold transferring such data, documents, and materials to HRSA and/or any other third party.

a. The contractor (and/or any subcontractors) must return all government information and IT resources (i.e., government information in non-government-owned systems, media, and backup systems) acquired during the term of this contract to the CO and/or COR.

The contractor must provide data produced during the life of the contract and only information paid for by the government. The data submitted under this task is subject to FAR 52.227-14 Alternate II and the contractor may identify limited rights data under the FAR 52.227-15 provision (see Section K.8. of the RFP).

15. Task 3.2.6., Develop Plan for Dissemination of Information, includes Performance Standard a)6.

that requires “a breakdown of the various costs that patients might incur prior to transplant”.

Please clarify HRSA’s intent since it is not realistically possible to obtain data on costs prior to transplant for individual patients. The Contractor would be unable to compare individual insurance plans for each patient and the corresponding costs charged for the patient prior to transplant.

a. HRSA’s intent is to determine pre-transplant options for patients and their costs. We are not requesting by individual patient.

16. Appendix A states what appears to be an overly broad requirement that the Contractor comply with Plain Language Guidelines “when developing products” and producing “content,” and to work with the COR and program communications liaisons regarding “the content.” Please clarify the scope/definition of “products” and “content” to which this refers and describe with specificity the content for which Contractor is obligated to work with the COR and program communications liaisons for review, scoring, and enhancement.

a. Any publications paid for with HRSA funds to include documents, such as reports, manuals, brochures, fact sheets, newsletters, or any product with text and/or graphics for Web posting, electronic distribution, or printing will need to follow plain language guidelines. The CWBYCTP website must also follow plain language guidelines.

17. Appendix A, Comply with Other Government Laws and Regulations” at subsection 3, states, among other things, what appears to be an overly broad requirement that the Contractor must “[e]nsure that all materials do not contain any non-federal logos”. Please clarify the scope/definition of “materials” to which this requirement refers.

a. HHS Private Sector or Contractor Logos on Government Publications states:

HHS components may not use private sector or contractor logos on Government publications or other Government communication products. Such use is prohibited.

Whether or not the private sector organization is non-profit or commercial is not a factor.

Private sector logos constitute institutional advertising. Using a private sector logo on a Government communication product (regardless of intent) implies that the Government favors or endorses all that which the logo represents.

Section 13 of the Government Printing and Binding Regulations, published by the Joint Committee on Printing, United States Congress, makes clear:

"No Government publication or other Government printed matter, prepared or produced with either appropriated or nonappropriated funds or identified with an activity of the Government, shall contain any advertisement inserted by or for any private individual, firm, or corporation; or contain material which implies in any manner that the Government endorses or favors any specific commercial product, commodity, or service."

Additionally, “materials” means any and all materials that the contractor develops under the contract for the Federal Government.

18. Throughout the solicitation (pages 38, 43, 51, 55, 65), there are numerous references to the contractor “maintaining and updating” the CWBYCTP website. Please clarify the scope/definition of “maintaining and updating”.

a. Maintaining and updating the CWBYCTP website is an annual process that ensures the information, data/statistics are current. Additionally, the contractor will work with HRSA to update the website as needed.

19. Task 2.5, Share Transplant Center-Specific Survival Data, requires the contractor to “make the transplant center-specific survival data available on multiple webpages of CWBYCTP’s website and through OPA’s public website. The transplant center-specific survival data should be no more than one link away from the CWBYCTP homepage”. Please clarify the scope/definition of “data available on multiple webpages of CWBYCTP’s website and through OPA’s public website” to which this requirement refers.

a. HRSA wants the survival data accessible to the public. Therefore, it is important to keep the data one click away from the homepage. The hyperlinks to the center-specific survival data should also be available on multiple webpages of the CWBYCTP website.

20. Deliverable 14, Analytic Support Plan for a HRSA Request, (Task 3.1) requires delivery timeframes of: 1) Within 10 days of request or otherwise specified; 2) Within 48 hours for urgent requests, revisions, or questions; and 3) Within 48 hours if data cannot be released, is not collected, or is https://www.hhs.gov/web/policies-and-standards/web-policies/logo-contractors/index.html unavailable. Due to the potential complexity of these requests and ability to plan for staff availability to respond, will HRSA revise the delivery timeframes as follows: 1) Within 14 days of request or otherwise specified; 2) Within 6 business days of request for urgent requests, revisions, or questions; and 3) within 6 business days of request if data cannot be released, is not collected, or is unavailable? Additionally, please provide clarity around the framework HRSA uses to determine whether an analytic request is urgent and thus triggers a different response timeline from the Contractor?

a. HRSA response time limitations require these timeframes. Every effort will be made to keep urgent requests to a minimum. Examples of urgent requests include those from Congressional inquiries, and HRSA and HHS administration.

21. Task 3.1, Provide Analytic Support to HRSA, requires the contractor to “provide analytic support to

HRSA, or other Federal agencies, specific to carrying activities necessary for the CWBYCTP”, What other federal agencies might the contractor be required to respond to? Would the analytic support request still be made by HRSA, or potentially come directly from another federal agency?

a. HRSA may request data for use by other Federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the National Institutes for Health.

22. Delivierable 15, Quarterly Progress Reports, requires quarterly submission, beginning three months after contract award. Will HRSA consider changing this delivery timeframe requirement to a Semi-annual progress report to be delivered every January 31 and July 31 during the term of the resultant contract?

a. Based on the breadth and frequency of the activities outlined in the statement of work, quarterly reporting is necessary to capture those activities and exercise adequate oversight.

23. I would like to confirm if the effort mentioned above considered as new requirement or are there incumbent contract(s)? If there is an incumbent vendor(s), would you be able to provide the contract details (such as: Vendor Name, Contract Number, Award and end dates, total contract value) please?

a. This is a new requirement.

24. Lastly, is an estimated value available for this requirement?

a. Estimated value and more information about this requirement is available on 4CAST under initiative HSC 116 C 3683.