Draft_RFP.docx

RFP 13-100-SOL-00016

EMERGENCY PRESCRIPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EPAP) SUPPORT

In accordance with the procedures in FAR 12.603 Streamlined solicitation for commercial items, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Office of Acquisition Management, Contracts, and Grants (AMCG) is announcing the following requirement on behalf of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM):

i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

ii) This solicitation is being competed as a Request for Proposal (RFP) under solicitation number _________________.

iii) This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-70 effective September 30, 2013.

iv) This is a full and open competition, under NAICS code 524291 with a small business size standard of $7M.

v) This is a solicitation for a single-award, IDIQ contract that provides services in conjunction with the statement of work. Task orders will be awarded based on the services requested. The contractor shall provide its quote in conjunction with the Pricing Scheduled, attached to this package under ATTACHMENT 2 – PRICING SCHEDULE.

vi) The requirements can be found as an attachment to this solicitation package, under ATTACHMENT 1 – STATEMENT OF WORK.

vii) The government intends to award an IDIQ for 12 months from the date of the award, with four (4) 12-month option periods.

viii) The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial, applies to this acquisition. The addenda to those instructions are listed below:

ADDENDA TO 52.212-1

Please submit offers in three separate volumes: Technical Proposal, Business Proposal, and Past Performance Information. Any submission for this RFP shall include “RFP 13-100-SOL-00016” or may be considered non-responsive. Please submit proposals electronically to Brendan.miller@hhs.gov. Please do not exceed 10MB in your submission. Proposals must be received no later than 3PM, _________. Please submit questions no later than____ Below are instructions for how to develop proposals in accordance with each evaluation factor. Offerors should be sure to include the minimum information listed. Proposals that go over and above the minimum guidance will received better ratings in accordance with the evaluation ratings.

FACTOR 1: TECHNICAL APPROACH

Sub Factor 1.1 – Establishing and Maintaining a Nation-wide Pharmacy Network for EPAP Enrollees:

The Offeror shall demonstrate an ability to access a network of pharmacies that will be available to enroll in the EPAP network.

Sub Factor 1.2 – Approach to Handling Multiple Disasters or Large Scale Events (3 pages maximum):

Please describe your ability and approach to adjudicating claims to be defined as part of the base contract. If the Offeror plans to subcontract as part of its solution, please describe the role and scope of the subcontractor. Ratings will be based upon the plan itself, and the ability that the offeror demonstrates in how they plan to handle multiple disasters.

Sub Factor 1.3 – Claims Processing Technology (4 pages maximum The Offeror shall name their network of partner(s) in which they will utilize for claims processing and shall detail how this network of partner(s) will be utilized. The most accurate, efficient, and innovative systems shall receive the highest ratings.

Sub Factor 1.4 – Claims Adjudication Process (5 pages maximum):

The workflow should outline how the Offeror intends to validate that the pharmacies have validated to participate in the EPAP. Plans that utilize the most logical, efficient distribution of resources shall receive the highest ratings.

Sub Factor 1.5 – Provider Payment Processing (4 pages maximum The response should describe the payment techniques available and any vendor registration process required by the Offeror from pharmacies. Please describe the content of a remittance advice and other communication to be provided by the Offeror to pharmacies that will facilitate payment posting and reconciliation by pharmacies. The Offeror should describe what documents will be submitted to the Government as proof of payment for reimbursement purposes. Offerors that address all the necessary documentation and provide an efficient reimbursement system that pays pharmacies within the timeframes established in the SOW shall receive the highest ratings.

Sub Factor 1.6 – Data Access and Reporting (2 pages maximum): The Government’s assumption is that the adjudication of claims and production of remittance advices will occur using systems from the Offeror. Please describe the content and format of any information regarding claims, remittance advices and payments that can be supplied to the Government in electronic format to facilitate tracking, claim denial reviews and further investigation as needed.

Sub Factor 1.7 – Customer Service and Communication Process (2 pages maximum):

In order to communicate information about the program to pharmacies , the Offeror shall be responsible for establishing a dedicated phone line. Describe the mechanisms and processes for how program related information will be provided during steady state and an emergency response to increase the public awareness of the emergency prescription program. . Describe how inquiries from pharmacies will be tracked, serviced and escalated as needed. The Offeror shall detail all other customer service techniques and tools it plans to implement to support the program. The most comprehensive customer service communication plans will be rated most highly.

Sub Factor 1.8 – Fraud and Abuse Prevention (3 pages maximum):

Using the assumptions about access to patient lists and previous claims as outlined in the Statement of Work, the Offeror shall describe how these data sources will be combined with the Offeror’s own processes and tools to facilitate Fraud and Abuse Prevention before claim payment is made. The comprehensiveness of the plans and its relation to the Government’s minimum standard shall be the basis for this rating.

FACTOR 2: MANAGEMENT APPROACH

Sub Factor 2.1 – Management Structure (3 pages maximum) The experience of the management team, the clarity of the roles and responsibilities, and the manner in which those roles and responsibilities will affect the desired outcomes of the statement of work shall be the basis for this rating.

Sub Factor 2.2 – Project Management Plan (Draft Project Management Plan) (8 pages maximum):

The Project Management Plan shall include the Offeror’s approach for risk management, and identify the top risks and associated mitigation strategies that the Offeror sees for the project. The clarity and the relation with how the plan will aid in achieving the goals of this program shall be the basis for the rating of this element.

FACTOR 3: RELEVANT PAST PERFORMANCE

The Offeror shall send the past performance survey (See Attachment 3) to up to three references and have them submit completed surveys to the contracting officer via email prior to the date for submission of proposals. Offerors shall provide surveys to references for which they provided work similar in size, scope, and nature to that required in the statement of work as prime contractors or significant subcontractors, whether for Government or private entities. The surveys will not count towards the page limitation. The Offeror shall submit with its proposal the name and address of the firms to whom the questionnaires were sent. If the Offeror has no relevant past performance, it should state so in this section. Under this factor, the Government shall consider information made available in the questionnaires and may consider information from Government databases and other Government sources.

FACTOR 4: PRICE

The template in the Price Schedule entitled “Cost Eval” shall be the basis for determining the offeror’s price proposal. In addition, the government will evaluate the unit costs in the yearly pricing template to determine best value. The “Cost Eval” tab is simply being used for evaluation purposes, and is not reflective of the government’s commitment to award a Task Order based off of that pricing proposal.

ix) The provision at 52.212-2, Evaluation—Commercial Items is applicable to this solicitation.

52.212-2 Evaluation—Commercial Items.

As prescribed in 12.301(c), the Contracting Officer may insert a provision substantially as follows:

EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA (FACTORS 1 AND 2):

FACTOR 1: TECHNICAL APPROACH

Sub Factor 1.1 – Establishing and Maintaining a Nation-wide Pharmacy Network for EPAP Enrollees: The contractor will be required to establish a Reimbursement Limit no less than $1,000,000 although the contractor may choose to propose a higher Reimbursement Limit if desired.

Sub Factor 1.2 – Approach to Handling Multiple Disasters or Large Scale Events: The Offeror shall describe their approach to expanding their solution to accommodate a large scale disaster or the possibility of multiple disasters requiring reimbursement services simultaneously.

Sub Factor 1.3 – Claims Processing Technology: The Offeror should have access to a claims processing software system capable of adjudicating claims.

Sub Factor 1.4 – Claims Adjudication Process: The Offeror shall detail the proposed workflow for processing claims once received.

Sub Factor 1.5 – Provider Payment Processing: The Offeror shall detail how it will make payments to pharmacies for adjudicated claims approved by the Government.

Sub Factor 1.6 – Data Access and Reporting: The offeror shall detail how the adjudication of claims and remittance advices will be generated.

Sub Factor 1.7 – Customer Service and Communication Process: The offeror shall demonstrate how they will deal with communications from both pharmacies and the government Sub Factor 1.8 – Fraud and Abuse Prevention: The Offeror shall detail those processing and due diligence steps required to meet or exceed the Government’s minimum requirements for Fraud and Abuse Prevention.

FACTOR 2: MANAGEMENT APPROACH

Sub Factor 2.1 – Management Structure : The Offeror shall identify the management structure for this project--including the project manager and the corporate executive who will be responsible for the account Sub Factor 2.2 – Project Management Plan (Draft Project Management Plan): A draft Project Management Plan shall be provided as an attachment to the proposal.

FACTOR 3: RELEVANT PAST PERFORMANCE

Under this factor, the Government shall consider information made available in the questionnaires and may consider information from Government databases and other Government sources.

FACTOR 4: PRICE

Price shall be used as the final evaluation factor for those vendors judged to be technically qualified to achieve the goals of this program based on their technical proposal and past performance.

The technical evaluation will be based on a best value determination. The evaluation will be based on the following criteria: Factor 1) technical approach; Factor 2) management approach. See below for elaboration on the factors. The proposals will be evaluated using the following rating scale:

1) Excellent. Exceeds the requirements in a way which yields significant benefits to the Government; weaknesses, if any, are of small impact and NO significant weaknesses or deficiencies.

2) Satisfactory. Meets all requirements; proposal offers no significant benefits beyond the stated requirements, yet NO significant weaknesses or deficiencies exist.

3) Marginal. Fails to meet the minimum requirements or has one or more significant weaknesses. Deficiencies and significant weaknesses are correctable without major revisions to the proposals.

4) Unsatisfactory. Fails to meet the requirement; one or more deficiencies for which correction would require a major revision or redirection of the proposal.

Past performance:

1) Excellent. Based on an offeror’s past performance record, essentially no doubt exists that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

2) Satisfactory. Based on an offeror’s past performance record, some doubt exists that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

3) Unsatisfactory. Based on an offeror’s past performance record, extreme doubt exists that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

4) Neutral rating. No relevant performance record is identifiable upon which to base a meaningful performance rating. A search was unable to identify any relevant past performance information for the offeror or key team members/subcontractors or their key personnel. This is neither a negative or positive assessment.

Price The government intends to examine all of the pricing for the tasks listed in the attached pricing schedule for reasonableness. In addition, the government has provided a template under the Tab “Cost Eval” with a sample of tasks to be requested in the base and all option years. The offeror shall complete this template based on its pricing schedule. The government intends to compare the total of all years to use as its ultimate comparison of cost.

Basis for Award:

The government will make award to the offeror whose proposal provides the best value to the government, using tradeoffs. This means that the government is willing to award to an offeror whose cost proposal may be higher in exchange for better meeting the government’s technical requirements. Technical and Past Performance, when combined, are more important than Price.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End of provision)

x) Please include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items, with its offer.

xi) A statement that the clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. A list of all of the clauses applicable to this solicitation, including 52.212-5, is included within ATTACHMENT 1 – STATEMENT OF WORK.

xii) The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition is included in full text in ATTACHMENT 1 – STATEMENT OF WORK.

xiii) A statement regarding any additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions (such as contract financing arrangements or warranty requirements) determined by the contracting officer to be necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices.

xiv) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) has not been assigned to this requirement

xv) Offers may be submitted electronically to Brendan.miller@hhs.gov no later than 3PM ET, ___________.

xvi) Please submit questions in writing referencing the solicitation number “________________” no later than COB __________________.