JA Limited Source Justification_LSS_08-26-2025.pdf

FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

Acquisition Title: Litigation Support Services (LSS)

Agency: HHS/CMS/OSORA/IRISG

Acquisition Year: 2026

Author: Felipe Pech, Yadira Kelly

1. Description of Action:

Nature

☒ New Requirement

☐ Follow-On Order

☐ Modification of Existing Purchase Order / Contract Number

Contract Type

☒ Firm-Fixed Price

☐ Time and Materials

☐ Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)

☐ Term

☐ Completion

☐ Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF)

☐ Other:

Total Projected Cost / Price: $3,900,819.00

Funding Source (s):

Project Number 000102, Funding Source 0511: Federal Administration_Direct:Disc $32,861.00

Project Number 000102, Funding Source 8393: Medicare Program Integrity_Direct:Mand $249,969.00

Project Number 001595, Funding Source 0511: Program Operations_Direct:Disc $291,072.00 Project Number 002965, Funding Source 8393: Medicare Program Integrity_Direct:Mand $168,217.00

Name of Proposed Contractor(s):

Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, LLP 1919 North Lynn Street

Arlington VA 222091742

This justification contemplates the award of a sole source task order under the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) in support of the CMS Enterprise-wide Litigation Support Services (LSS) requirement. In accordance with FAR 8.405-6, limited-sources procedures are applicable because only one source can provide the brand-name supplies and services necessary to ensure continuity and avoid unacceptable risk to CMS operations necessary to ensure continuity and avoid unacceptable risk to CMS operations.

The requirement is currently fulfilled under the CMS Enterprise-wide Litigation Support Services Contract No. 47QSMA19D08PL, Task Order No. 75FCMC21F0010. To date, $3,209,790.28 has been obligated under this task order. The period of performance is from December 23, 2020, through December 22, 2025.

2. Description of Supplies or Services:

The estimated value of the proposed action, including all options, is: $3,900,819.00.

This contract provides specialized litigation support services leveraging the Relativity platform (a brand-name requirement) integrated with Deloitte’s proprietary Secure Release case management system. These services are unique to this contractor due to the customized integration of Relativity with CMS-specific workflows, ethical barriers, and automated data transfer capabilities that cannot be replicated by other vendors without significant cost and delay.

Within the Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs (OSORA), the Freedom of Information Group (FIG) uses Relativity to de-duplicate large-scale document sets of over one million pages for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and to implement customized workflows with cascading review processes that batch documents by page count. The Office of the Attorney Advisor (OAA) relies on the customized case management system to support Level III Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) appeal reviews, managing between 20 million and 200 million PDF pages for as many as 100,000 Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) appeals, while maintaining complete separation from Levels I and II to preserve the ethical barriers required by law. The Office of Hearings (OHI) depends on the automated data transfer capabilities to move designated data elements directly to the Center for Program Integrity (CPI) for effectuation of final actions, which significantly reduces manual data entry errors and accelerates processing times. Finally, CPI utilizes Relativity to process and review massive document collections often exceeding one million pages in support of Level I RADV program rulemaking activities and related litigation support, while also receiving automated data transfers from OHI to complete final action processing.

CMS has determined that ongoing litigation support is required to ensure a long-term, sustainable solution for meeting the Agency’s immediate and continuing need to respond to ongoing, pending, imminent, reasonably anticipated, and high-priority document requests. The anticipated period of performance, inclusive of a base period and four option periods, is five years, beginning December 23, 2025, through December 22, 2030. The requirement number associated with this action is 260149J.

3. Authority:

☐:ORDER AGAINST FSS: Authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program, Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251, et seq.); Title 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies; and Section 803 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 (PL 107-107) and implemented by FAR 8.405-6. Mark the applicable exception and for each discuss how the cited authority applies in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(iv).

☐ An urgent and compelling need exists, and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays (FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A));

☒ Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level or quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized (FAR 8.405-6(a)(i)(B)); or

The intended contractor, Deloitte, is the only responsible source capable of providing the required litigation support services based on its demonstrated market capability from the previous competitive procurement.

Awarding this requirement to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in mission-critical litigation support and a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that could not be recovered through competition.

The LSS contract requires an unprecedented integration of highly specialized litigation support capabilities that few vendors can provide. Deloitte has demonstrated unique expertise in several critical areas. It possesses advanced eDiscovery integration capabilities, including the ability to seamlessly integrate Relativity with customized case management applications while maintaining data integrity across complex workflows involving between 180,000 and 1.8 million pages annually for HCC Level III appeals alone. Deloitte also has proven federal security compliance, with the capability to operate within the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Authorized Moderate environments while simultaneously meeting the requirements of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), NIST Special Publication 800-53, Revision 4, and the Department of Defense (DoD) Mission Assurance Category (MAC) II sensitive security baselines a combination that requires highly specialized infrastructure and security expertise. Additionally, Deloitte possesses deep institutional knowledge of CMS’s unique business processes, including complex coordination between OSORA, Office of Litigation (OL), and CPI components, and has demonstrated the ability to develop customized FOIA workflows using cascading saved-search logic for page-count batching.

Beyond these unique qualifications, Deloitte has developed a proprietary, customized case management solution known as Secure Release, which is specifically tailored to CMS’s RADV Level III review workflow and administrative records requirements. This solution includes automated data transfer capabilities between OHI and CPI, which eliminate human data entry errors and reduce processing time. The Secure Release platform represents significant intellectual capital and institutional knowledge that cannot be replicated by another vendor without incurring substantial costs, schedule delays, and increased performance risk to CMS operations.

☐ In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal

Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable

Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited sources procedures (FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C)); or

☒ An item peculiar to one manufacturer can be a particular brand name, product, or a feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer). A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer. (FAR 8.405-6(b);

The litigation support solution required by CMS necessitates a particular brand-name product, specifically the Relativity platform integrated with Deloitte’s proprietary case management system that is peculiar to one manufacturer and essential to the Government’s requirements. The Statement of Work specifies “a litigation support solution, such as Relativity,” integrated with a customized case management application. However, the “such as” language is misleading, as CMS’s needs are not for a generic litigation support tool. The requirement is specific to the Relativity platform because https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/current/far/html/Subpart%208_4.html https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/current/far/html/Subpart%208_4.html

CMS’s existing workflows, user training, data structures, and quality control procedures are built around its functionality and interface. CMS has already established more than 30 user licenses, invested in 5.5TB of data storage, and developed complex review workflows that cannot be migrated to another platform without substantial disruption and cost. In addition, the case management system required by CMS is not a commercial off-the-shelf product but a highly customized solution that integrates with Relativity to deliver the specific UX Dashboard and automated workflows necessary for RADV Level III reviews.

If a different brand name product were proposed, it is not reasonable to believe that any cost or performance benefit CMS may realize would offset the cost, time and risk that would come from transition from the tools already in use in a best value context.

4. Market Research:

CMS conducted a competitive procurement under the prior Enterprise-wide Litigation Support Services requirement among large business holders of the GSA MAS. The solicitation was widely advertised on GSA eBuy, and multiple quoters responded; however, the technical evaluation determined that all quoters other than Deloitte were technically unacceptable because they could not meet the integration, security, and workflow requirements unique to CMS operations. As a result, CMS awarded Deloitte the current task order following the fair opportunity process, and subsequent performance has validated its unique capabilities.

The results of this competition further demonstrated that other companies’ similar products cannot meet CMS’s integrated requirements. Alternative litigation support platforms lacked the ability to integrate with CMS’s existing data structures and workflows, could not provide the cascading review logic required for FOIA responses with page-count batching, and failed to deliver the seamless coordination between litigation support and case management functions required by CMS. In addition, other products did not possess the established security authorizations and compliance frameworks already in place under the Relativity-based solution.

Re-soliciting the requirement without a brand name requirement at this time would not generate additional viable competition and would instead impose substantial duplication of cost, unacceptable delays, and significant operational risks. Therefore, efforts to obtain competition have already been exhausted, and this sole-source action represents a continuation of essential services with the only vendor demonstrated to be technically capable of meeting CMS’s requirements.

5. Actions to Increase Competition:

In 2017, CMS initially leveraged various contract vehicles, including an interagency agreement and a simplified acquisition, to support the continued and ongoing use of Relativity for FOIA de-duplication efforts. At that time, the use of a shared information system solution integrated with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) was required. In 2019, when HHS determined that the interagency agreement could no longer be used by its Operating Divisions (OpDivs), CMS pursued a simplified acquisition as a stop-gap, triage solution to continue using Relativity. By 2021, OSORA was able to establish a sustainable instance of Relativity under a proper contract vehicle. This continuous interconnectivity of Relativity instances shared across multiple federal agencies enabled CMS to integrate seamlessly into FOIA workstreams across the government.

In 2023, CMS’s Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) requirements were established, which mandated three distinct and independent levels of RADV case appeal reviews: Level I to be conducted by CPI, Level II by

OHI, and Level III by OSORA/OAA. To meet these requirements, OSORA/OAA leveraged the Relativity platform through Deloitte’s proprietary Secure Release case management system. From December 2023 through August 2025, OSORA/OAA worked closely with Deloitte to configure and tailor Secure Release to address the unique needs of RADV Level III reviews.

Prior to implementing the RADV Level III case management application in Secure Release, OSORA/IRISG conducted extensive research, demonstrations, and vendor capability reviews to identify alternative solutions for housing the case management tool. Initially, OSORA/IRISG sought to leverage existing technologies within the CMS domain, such as SharePoint. However, the requirements set forth in the RADV Final Rule necessitated complete isolation from CPI and OHI to preserve the independence of Level III appeals, rendering SharePoint an unsuitable option. Similarly, CMS’s existing Salesforce instance was explored but ultimately rejected, as CPI had already implemented Level I reviews within that environment, creating conflicts with the need for independence at Level III. As a result, OSORA/IRISG determined that only the Relativity platform, configured with Deloitte’s Secure Release tool, could meet the requirements. Relativity’s inherent ability to establish ethical walls provided the necessary isolation for OAA’s Level III reviews, making it the only viable solution to meet CMS’s RADV case review needs.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification:

Modifying alternative platforms or attempting to develop equivalent integrated capabilities would require significant Government investment in system development, data migration, user retraining, and workflow redesign. The results of the prior procurement confirmed that this approach is not economically feasible, as all alternative quotes were deemed technically unacceptable. Without a sole-source award, CMS would be forced to restart system development entirely, resulting in sunk costs and the loss of prior Government investment, with no reasonable expectation of recovering these expenditures through competition.

Furthermore, CMS is in the process of a significant increase in RADV audits which in turn may add pressure to increase the throughput of existing case management solutions supporting the program. Accordingly, the additional program risk from changing tools would be unacceptable given the underlying context.

Approvals:

1. Program Office Certification: This is to certify that portions of this justification have been developed by the undersigned program office personnel, including supporting information and/or data verifying the Government’s minimum needs, schedule requirements and other rationale, which form the basis for this Limited Source Justification.

Contracting Officer Representative (COR) / Date

Program/Project Manager (P/PM) / Date

2. Contracting Officer Certification and Best Value Determination:

This is to certify that the justification for the proposed acquisition has been reviewed and that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the information and/or data provided to support the rationale and recommendation for approval, is accurate and complete.

By my signature below, after review of the relevant documents, I have determined that the order subject to this Limited-Sources Justification represents the best value for the Government as set forth in FAR 8.404(d), and constitutes a fair and reasonable price. The basis for my determination is as follows:

The estimated price for this procurement appears to be fair and reasonable, as it is based on the historical data gathered from the previous contract over a five (5) year period and Deloitte Financial Advisory Services’ current GSA Schedule contract pricing. GSA has already determined its schedule pricing to be fair and reasonable; however, the Contracting Officer will seek further price discounts.

Contracting Officer / Date

3. CMS Competition Advocate Approval

I hereby confirm the circumstances described above apply and approve the Limited Source Justification.

Name / Date

4. Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) Approval I hereby confirm the circumstances described above apply and approve the Limited Source Justification.

N/A

5. Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

6. OGC Legal Review

7. HHS Competition Advocate Approval

8. Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby confirm the circumstances described above apply and approve the Limited Source Justification.