Amendment #2.docx

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal (Amendment 2) Solicitation:

Amendment Issue Date:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400021461 8-27-2021 Kathy Santandreu 803-896-5304 ksantandreu@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services, ITMO 1201 Main Street, Suite 600 Columbia SC 29201

DESCRIPTION: Asset Verification System (AVS) Services

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Health & Human Services

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 10/13/2021 11:00am ET (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 08/19/2021 8-20-2021 2:00pm ET (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: Please see page 8 Initial here if NO redacted copy is necessary __________ See Section II A “Submitting Confidential Information” clause, and Section IV “Submitting Redacted Offers” clause.

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre-Proposal Conference Call

DATE & TIME: 08/17/2021 8-19-2021, 4:00 PM ET

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Web Conference – information follows.

AWARD & AMENDMENTS

Award will be posted on 12/10/2021.The award, this solicitation, any amendments, and any related notices will be posted at the following web address: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, You agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of 180 calendar days after the Opening Date.

(See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the Offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding Offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship___ Partnership___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

AP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for Offeror’s home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which Purchase Orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES - A NOTICE TO VENDORS (SEP. 2009)

PREFERENCES DO NOT APPLY

PREFERENCES - ADDRESS AND PHONE OF IN-STATE OFFICE:

PREFERENCES DO NOT APPLY

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004) (modified): (a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov(b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two and returning with solicitation response (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged.

Questions from Offerors - amendment (Jun 2017) The solicitation is amended as provided herein. Information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question-and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “state’s response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential Offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “state’s response” does. Any restatement of part or all of an existing provision of the solicitation in an answer does not modify the original provision except as follows: underlined text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted. [02-2a097-1]

Vendor questions with answers:

1. Institutions (FI’s) to perhaps include Real Property, Motor Vehicle, Incarceration, Income & Employment, and others?

Answer: South Carolina Medicaid does not anticipate requiring data sets in addition to what is contained in this solicitation.

2. Will South Carolina Medicaid require returned data to be shared with sister agencies to perhaps include but not limited to SNAP, TANF, Cash Allowance, LIHEAP, Social Services (Child Support), Audit, Recovery, Compliance and others?

Answer: South Carolina Medicaid will not be sharing this information with other state agencies.

3. Does South Carolina Medicaid expect to, now or in the future, integrate the AVS platform into their established Integrated Eligibility System (IES) or MMIS?

Answer: South Carolina Medicaid does not have any immediate plans to integrate the AVS platform into their current systems. This does not preclude the possibility of integration within the term of the contract.

4. SERVICE PROVIDER SECURITY ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE - REQUIRED (FEB 2015) (ATTM 004):

In order for the State to accurately evaluate the strength and viability of the Contractor's security policies, procedures and practices related to confidentiality, integrity and availability, Offerors must submit with their offers a thorough and complete written response to the Service Provider Security Assessment Questionnaire ("Response to SPSAQ") attached to this Solicitation, which must address all applicable organizations and applicable information systems. The terms used in this clause shall have the same meaning as the terms defined in the clause titled Information Security - Definitions.

Would the Agency accept a SOC II from a qualified third party in lieu of providing responses to the Service Provider Security Assessment Questionnaire?

Answer: Yes

5. RFP page 8 states that the number of submission copies is one (1) and that the USB drive is to contain three (3) files yet RFP Section 2.35, page 19, states: “Your business proposals and technical proposals must be on separate media.” Will the State please clarify the amount of USB drives the bidder is to submit as well as the contents to be included on each USB drive?

Answer: Please submit as outlined on page 8

6. RFP Section 2.34.d, page 19, states: “If your offer includes any comment over and above the specific information requested in the solicitation, you are to include this information as a separate appendix to your offer.” Is the State willing to negotiate revisions to the Solicitation’s contractual terms?

Answer: The following clause has been added to the solicitation document:

DISCUSSIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS – OPTIONAL (FEB 2015)

Submit your best terms from both a price and a technical standpoint. Your proposal may be evaluated and your offer accepted without any discussions, negotiations, or prior notice. Ordinarily, nonresponsive proposals will be rejected outright without prior notice. Nevertheless, the State may elect to conduct discussions, including the possibility of limited proposal revisions, but only for those proposals reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. [11-35-1530(6); R.19-445.2095(I)] If improper revisions are submitted during discussions, the State may elect to consider only your unrevised initial proposal, provided your initial offer is responsive. The State may also elect to conduct negotiations, beginning with the highest ranked offeror, or seek best and final offers, as provided in Section 11-35-1530(8). Negotiations may involve both price and matters affecting the scope of the contract, so long as changes are within the general scope of the request for proposals. If negotiations are conducted, the State may elect to disregard the negotiations and accept your original proposal. [06- 6058-1] Note:

Offerors responses must not include either modifications to any of the solicitation’s contractual requirements or an offeror’s standard terms and conditions. Offerors must ensure not to condition their response. Offers that include such elements may be deemed non-responsive and not considered for award.

If the State elects to conduct negotiations, the negotiation process begins after the State finishes the evaluation of the responses to the RFP. During this phase, the Offeror chosen to move into the negotiation process is given an opportunity to develop a list of points for the State to consider for negotiations.

In addition, during the negotiation process, the highest ranked offeror will be asked to provide all necessary agreements to access and utilize any of the services included in their proposal. There are certain terms and conditions, however, that are unacceptable to the State and will not be contemplated even during the negotiation process. These are listed below.

1. Choice of law provisions applying the laws of any state other than the State of South Carolina

2. Forum selection clauses that designate venue or jurisdiction, other than as provided by South Carolina law

3. Clauses requiring the State to indemnify, defend, or hold harmless the Offeror or any other party

4. Clauses that require binding arbitration of disputes

5. Confidentiality requirements that conflict with disclosure requirements under South Carolina law, including under the SC Freedom of Information Act (SC Code of Laws, Title 30, Chapter 4)

6. Clauses that prevent the State’s termination of any contract due to non-appropriation of funds

7. Clauses that require the waiver of the State’s sovereign immunity

The negotiation process is pursuant to the following requirements as set forth in the South Carolina Procurement Code and Regulations:

Section § 11-35-1530. Competitive Sealed Proposals (8) Negotiations. Whether price was an evaluation factor or not, the procurement officer, in his sole discretion and not subject to review under Article 17, may proceed in any of the manners indicated below, except that in no case may confidential information derived from proposals and negotiations submitted by competing offerors be disclosed:

(a) negotiate with the highest-ranking offeror on price, on matters affecting the scope of the contract, so long as the changes are within the general scope of the request for proposals, or on both. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the highest ranking offeror, negotiations may be conducted, in the sole discretion of the procurement officer, with the second, and then the third, and so on, ranked offerors to the level of ranking determined by the procurement officer in its sole discretion;

(b) during the negotiation process as outlined in item (a) above, if the procurement officer is unsuccessful in its first round of negotiations, he may reopen negotiations with any offeror with whom it previously negotiated; or

(c) the procurement officer may make changes within the general scope of the request for proposals and may provide all responsive offerors an opportunity to submit their best and final offers.

7. RFP Section 4.2.2, page 35, identifies the required structure of Offerors’ Proposal. However, this information does not include the placement in the proposal for responses to RFP items 4.3, 4.4, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5. Will the State please clarify where in the proposal Offerors should provide their responses to these RFP requirements?

Answer: The proposal shall include responses in the order in which they appear in the RFP.

8. RFP Section 4.4, page 41, states: “Offerors must submit with their offers a thorough and complete written response to the Service Provider Security Assessment Questionnaire (“Response to SPSAQ”) attached to this Solicitation.” If the proposed AVS solution is covered by a current HITRUST certification or SOC report, will the State accept such certification or report in lieu of the requirement to provide a written response to the Service Provider Security Assessment Questionnaire?

Answer: Yes

All other terms, condition, bidding instruction, and specifications remain unchanged. If there are any question or if any confusion or uncertainty arises as a result of this amendment, it is the sole responsibility of the Offeror to contact the procurement officer for clarification. Contact information can be found in the top right-hand corner of the cover page of this amendment reference the “Duty to Inquire” in the original Request for Proposal (RFP).

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