Attachment 9 - Questions and Answers.pdf

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Attachment 9

ANSWER

Could you please tell me if this is a new requirement, or if there is a current or previous contractor who has performed similar services? If available, can you please send along the incumbent contract or task order number?

The current services are provided by International SOS Government Services, Inc.

under Blanket Purchase Agreement NNK16ON17Z and order NNK16ON18T.

2 Do you also need security services to be provided together with medical assistance? No security services are requested.

3 Covid – would you appreciate any additional information on our solutions?

We would appreciate any description of processes/produres your company has in place to address COVID concerns or any other similar biological/viral concern that would need to be addressed.

4 Would NASA be open to reviewing and signing a mutual NDA?

NASA is not open to reviewing and signing a mutual NDA because NASA civil servants are already bound by 18 U.S.C. 1905, under which Government employees are subject to criminal prosecution and removal from office for wrongful disclosure of proprietary data/information. Offerors should identify for NASA what data in their quote is proprietary so it can be handled appropriately.

5 Who is your insurer/s?

If asking about our guarantee of payment, this would be covered by virtue of the legal agreement signed between your company and an Agency in the U.S. Federal Government.

As part of submission, are we required to create an account in https://beta.sam.gov/opp/81d79b4e0a8d46f4904088bc72d59913 /view in order to receive a CAGE Code?

Atachment 3, Part 3 includes FAR provision 52.204-7. This provision requires an offeror to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation. In addition, FAR provision 52.204-16 is also included and this provision requires offerors to provide its CAGE code with its offer. 52.204-16 includes information on how to obtain a CAGE code.

7 Are there specific IT safeguards that NASA KSC is looking for vendors to list or confirm in their response?

As indicated in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph III.2, we request a description of the methods, processes, and procedures used by a company to guarantee compliance with patient privacy and standards outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), especially as related to communications and transfer of information to NASA.

NASA Employee International Medical Support Questions & Answers

QUESTION

GENERAL QUESTIONS

ANSWERQUESTION

8 Is 50 pages for scenarios part correct?

The 50 page limit is for the entire scenario submission, to include the completed tables for each of the four scenarios as well as any scenario narratives the offeror chooses to include to convey their approaches and considerations.

It is unclear what we are expected to do with Attachment 1 Terms and Conditions, as there is no reference to Attachment 1 in Attachment 3. Could we please have clarity on whether we must review Attachment 1 and highlight any comments we have? If so, are we able to include these comments in our tender submission?

Attachment 1 includes the terms and conditions, as well as contract clauses that will be included in the resulting award. Submitting offers with any changes to the Attachment 1 terms and conditions may render your offer ineligible for award, as indicated in Attachment 3, Part 1, paragraph II.A.3

10 Can NASA provide similar data from 2020 for Attachment 7 (Recent NASA Activities and Support)?

Data for 2020 would provide no useful information or insight. Because of the COVID- 19 pandemic, NASA domestic and international travel was (for all intents and purposes) terminated.

From the previous contract period(s): more specific with month, week, and days would be helpful and the following:

- # of Cases Opened

- Where were these cases opened

- Type of Cases and associated case volumes

- non emergency cases

- Emergency Ground Transport cases

- Repatriation or Mortal Remains cases

- GOPs issued

- average claim amount

- type of claim mix

- location for these claims

• May 2018: Outpatient telephonic medical assistance in Recife, Brazil. Employee paid medical expenses out of pocket.

• July 2018: Outpatient telephonic assistance for employee in New Zealand to find chiropractor for thrown out back.

• September 2018: Outpatient assistance for employee in London, UK who suffered incident that required CT scan and CT scan radiology interpretation.

• October 2019: Telephone outpatient referral: Okinawa, Japan. Employee given referral to 4 English-speaking medical facilities nearby.

There were no additional charges for any of the above services provided.

No emergency ground transport cases or repatriation or mortal remains cases during the previous contract periods.

12 Can NASA provide the average monthly call volume over the last 12 months?

We have no record of any calls made to NASA's current provider during the past 12 months.

Can NASA provide the volume of cases that fall under Emergency Medical Travel Assistance - Logistics over the last 12 months?

Zero

HISTORICAL QUESTIONS

ANSWERQUESTION

Can NASA provide the volume of cases that fall under Emergency Medical Ground Transportation Services over the last 12 months?

Zero

Can NASA provide the volume of cases that fall under Emergency Medical Air Ambulance Services over the last 12 months?

Zero

16 Can NASA provide the volume of cases that fall under Repatriation of Mortal Remains over the last 12 months? Zero

Case activity for the past 3 years, broken down by case type and country of incidence. Please include total number in the left column and the list of countries that the cases occurred in the right column:

Case Type Country Incurred Medical Evacuations:

Medical Repatriation:

Return of mortal remains:

Outpatient:

Inpatient:

Non-emergency services:

• May 2018: Outpatient telephonic medical assistance in Recife, Brazil. Employee paid medical expenses out of pocket.

• July 2018: Outpatient telephonic assistance for employee in New Zealand to find chiropractor for thrown out back.

• September 2018: Outpatient assistance for employee in London, UK who suffered incident that required CT scan and CT scan radiology interpretation.

• October 2019: Telephone outpatient referral: Okinawa, Japan. Employee given referral to 4 English-speaking medical facilities nearby.

There were no additional charges for any of the above services provided.

No emergency ground transport cases or repatriation or mortal remains cases during the previous contract periods.

18 Is the listed estimated price of $15,000 for CLIN 001 services for the base period (3 months) or for a traditional annual term? Traditional 12-month term.

19 Can you please confirm payment terms for all reimbursements?

The standard due date for making an invoice payment is the 30th day after the designated billing office receives a proper invoice from the contractor (Net 30). FAR clause 52.212-4, paragraph (i) includes information regarding payments. As stated in Attachment 3, Part I, paragraph II.A.1, the price submission portion of the quote can include any discount/payment terms, meaning offerors can include a discount for payments made prior to the due date. Discounts will follow the process detailed in FAR 52.212-4(i)(4).

PRICING & PAYMENT RELATED QUESTIONS

ANSWERQUESTION

In regards to reimbursement of medical expenses, does the Vendor submit hospital invoices to NASA who will pay us directly or does the vendor submit to NASA / the employee’s insurance / HMO for reimbursement?

Vendor invoices NASA directly and NASA pays vendor directly. No insurance claim reimbursements will be involved. All invoices submitted to NASA must be sufficiently document through invoices/receipts in accordance with Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VII.

Are vendors permitted to include service fees or coordination fees on submitted invoices? Or – is NASA requiring a direct delivery of invoices from the third-party vendor?

For any services provided that fall under Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VI, the contractor will be reimbursed for actual other direct costs (ODCs) and travel costs incurred associated with CLIN 002 services. Any reimbursement requests for CLIN 002 services must be sufficiently documented through invoices/receipts in accordance with Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VII. Therefore, if the contractor has an invoice/receipt for the service fee or coordination fee, that expense can be included in the contractor's reimbursement request. Additional details pertaining to reimbursement are included in Attachment 1, paragraph 2, Attachment 4, and Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VII. NASA will not accept direct delivery of invoices from a third-party. All invoices must be from the awarded contractor and payments will only be made to the awarded contractor.

Contractors have variable costs associated with the support required under Statement of Work section VI. For example, a very complicated medical evacuation can take many hours of effort by Aviation Managers, Customer Service Executives, and Medical Team Members. Conversely, a simple ground transportation to a medical facility may not take as many hours or effort. These fees are not typically included in the base fee for assistance services. Given the variability of these costs it is common practice to indicate a fixed fee by level of effort measured by cost of service. Will NASA allow for a fixed fee as a separate line item on an invoice for any coordination costs that would be billed under CLIN 002? If not, how does NASA expect the contractor to be reimbursed for this variable effort?

NASA understands and recognizes the variable nature of the services that may be needed under Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VI (CLIN 002). For this reason, the contractor will be reimbursed for their actual ODCs and travel costs incurred associated with CLIN 002 services. Any reimbursement requests for CLIN 002 services must be sufficiently documented through invoices/receipts in accordance with Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VII. Therefore, if the contractor has copies of subcontractor invoices or other "pass-through" service costs, these documents are to be included in the reimbursement request, as detailed in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work Section VII.

In addition, updates have been made to Attachment 4 - Pricing Template, which now includes an "Occurrence Charge" that will be payable to the contractor if/when emergency medical transportation services are authorized under SOW Section VI. The contractor will be paid this "Occurrence Charge" as well as be reimbursed for their actual ODCs and travel costs incurred. The appropriate updates have also been made to Attachment 1.

ANSWERQUESTION

23 Please provide the total number of full-time active employees that are covered by this program.

Although all 17,679 civil service personnel at NASA would be covered by this benefit, there are positions that do not normally travel domestically or internationally. For example, professional administrative employees (5,338), technician employees (618), and clerical employees (155) would not likely travel internationally for business.

24 Telephone support: what languages are required? English, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian. Please see the updates in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph III.1 and paragraph IV.1.

25 Translations: what languages are required? English, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian. Please see the updates in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph III.1 and paragraph IV.1.

26 Would you consider virtual cards instead than of laminated ones?

No, as indicated in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph III.3, NASA requires laminated or equivalent resuable cards.

27 What is the expected content and expectations of webinar meetings?

Basic content, with ability for it to be recorded for future access by employees who don't attend live session. Content would include: brief background of company and capabilities, how NASA employees will be supported by the company, and any phone numbers, apps, websites or other means of contact are provided.

28 Emergency and non-emergency services – shall be accessible via a single line or can 2 spare lines be provided?

NASA has no preference whether the company providing support utilizes one or two lines as long as NASA is provided with those numbers or they automatically cross-over if the first number called is busy.

The RFP requires aircraft availability within five hours. In many regions around the world (such as remote or island countries) the closest available CAMTS aircraft (or foreign equivalents) are stationed 10-12 hours away. Is NASA willing to omit this requirement in regions where availability within five hours is not possible or practical?

NASA will not omit the five hour window. However, since we would be in constant communication with the provider company throughout the process, we would be amenable to expanding the five-hour window on a case-by-case basis, as indicated in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph VI.3. The patient's medical status, other extenuating circumstances, and anticipated transport response time, could be considered. However, if the provider's fleet is small or only located in few areas, such that most response windows would always be more than five hours, it may be grounds for omission of consideration for this procurement.

REQUIREMENTS RELATED QUESTIONS

ANSWERQUESTION

In many regions around the world, CAMTS certified aircraft are not available. Waiting for a CAMTS certified aircraft to arrive in a foreign location may have cause unnecessary harm to your employees and travelers. Will NASA consider using a non CAMTS certified aircraft when an appropriate, locally available aircraft is available for initial transport?

The requirements do not specify CAMTS certified aircraft, but instead requires Part 135 or equivalent certification, as indicated in Attachment 3, Part 1 paragraph II.B.2 and Attachment 3, Part 2 paragraph IV.B.2. In addition, see update included in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph VI.3.g. The prime contractor must first prove they have a process for screening the airworthiness of subcontractors providing aviation support. The successful offeror will demonstrate that they have a systematic methodology for managing regional aircraft providers that ensures that aircraft used in this contract are and will remain airworthy throughout the duration.

We note from the Statement of Work that NASA expects Air Ambulance providers to comply with the FAA 14 CFR. For those air ambulance companies operating under non FAA Air Operators Certificates (AOC’s) will NASA accept compliance with equivalent standards? If so, are NASA in a position to be able to indicate which Aviation Authority regulations would be acceptable (for example, UKCAA, EASA, CASA etc).

Yes, NASA will accept equivalent standards to the FAA issued or certified by a recognized governmental body or an ICAO recognized international standards body.

Information pertaining to equivalent standards can be found in Attachment 3, Part 1 paragraph II.B.2 and Attachment 3, Part 2 paragraph IV.B.2. In addition, see update included in Attachment 2 - Statement of Work, paragraph VI.3.g.