Justification Approval -LFO MAC Scorecard.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Acquisition Title: Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Scorecard:

Project Management and Technical Assistance Contract (“MAC Scorecard”) Agency: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) Acquisition Year: FY 2025 Author: Roxanne Dupert-Frank

1. Description of Action:

A. Nature

New Requirement Follow-On Order Modification of Existing Purchase Order / Contract Number

B. Order Against

75FCMC19D0091 RESEARCH, MEASUREMENT, ASSESSMENT, DESIGN, AND

ANALYSIS (RMADA) 2Contract Type Firm-Fixed Price Time and Materials Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)

Term Completion

Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) Other:

C. Projected Cost / Price of contract (Base & All Options): $2,927,616 D. The total estimated value of the proposed sole source action (for modifications only):

E. Funding Source (s): 0511: Program Operations

F. Basis for Approval (Far 6.303-1(d)) Individual Basis

Class Basis

CMS seeks consideration to award an 18-month logical follow-on (LFO) task order from August 13, 2025 through February 12, 2027 (6 month base + 12 month option period). Award of an LFO task order is requested after consideration of the following:

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) allows for a task order to be issued on a sole-source basis under an IDIQ contract in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

The current MAC Scorecard task order was competed amongst all active RMADA 2 contract holders in fiscal year 2020.

Medicaid and CHIP (MAC) Scorecard: Project Management and Technical Assistance Contract

(75FCMC19D0091/75FCMC20F0002)

The task order was awarded to Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. on July 30, 2020. To date, a total of approximately $10.7 million has been obligated across the five (5) periods of performance as denoted below. The period of performance of 75FCMC19D0091/75FCMC20F0002 is:

CLIN/SLIN Description Period of Performance 0001 Base Year 8/13/2020 - 8/12/2021 0002 Option Year 1 8/13/2021 - 8/12/2022 0003 Option Year 2 8/13/2022 - 8/12/2023 0004 Option Year 3 8/13/2023 - 8/12/2024 0005 Option Year 4 8/13/2024 - 8/12/2025 Total 8/13/2020 - 8/12/2025

2. Description of Supplies or Services:

The estimated value of the proposed LFO is: $2,927,616 to include the following periods of performance:

CLIN/SLIN Description Period of Performance 0001 Base Period 8/13/2025 - 2/12/2026 0002 Option Period 1 2/13/2026 - 2/12/2027 Total 8/13/2025 – 2/12/2027

The purpose of the proposed logical follow-on MAC Scorecard task order is to provide CMS with day-to-day project management, content development, and where relevant, provide states with technical support on implementing the MAC scorecard.

In the summer of 2017, CMS developed the Medicaid and CHIP “MAC Scorecard” initiative to provide greater public transparency about Medicaid and CHIP program administration and outcomes. The Scorecard is also a resource to assist state Medicaid/CHIP agencies and CMS in aligning efforts to drive improvements, at the federal and state-levels, in the health outcomes of the Medicaid/CHIP beneficiaries and in the administration of these programs. The Scorecard includes state and federally-reported measures.

The Scorecard needs to be flexible—CMS may add new areas of emphasis important to the Medicaid and CHIP programs or replace measures as more outcome-focused ones become available. It is unknown how many measures will be added or removed from the Scorecard annually. The contract begins in mid-production, so many of the requirements are describing work that is in midstream that will need to be picked up quickly and seamlessly by the Contractor. The Scorecard is scheduled for release in early December and annually thereafter.

The Scorecard is produced by a cross-CMCS effort with two (2) CMCS teams leading the development effort (a content team and a web development team). This contract is for the content team support, but requires the Contractor to provide key project management support the entire Scorecard annual production cycle, as detailed below.

The requirement number is 251395J.

3. Authority and Rationale:

The Contracting Officer shall give every awardee a fair opportunity to be considered for a delivery/task order exceeding $3,500 unless one of the following statutory exceptions applies. FAR 16.505(b)(2). Mark the applicable exception:

The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays [FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A)];

Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized [FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B)];

The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order [FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)]; or

The activities under the proposed LFO task order are essentially the same as those under the existing task order 75FCMC19D0091/75FCMC20F0002. As described in Section 2 above, the proposed LFO tasks Mathematica with continuing to provide CMS with services and deliverables related to project management, content development, and where relevant, providing states with technical support on implementing the MAC scorecard.

CMCS requires this LFO task order to align the period of performance with the Scorecard’s annual production cycle. The current period of performance ends in mid-August which occurs during a critical period of the Scorecard production cycle. If we do not better align the timelines, onboarding a contractor mid-cycle will significantly increase unnecessary risks to the government for delays and quality control issues.

CMCS’ experiences with the transition of other Scorecard contractors have taught us that having a long onboarding glidepath for new Scorecard contractors ensures that they have the necessary time to learn the processes; understand the project requirements; take on the data integration and ingestion activities;

and prepare a new project manager who will be responsible for overall successful delivery of all Scorecard and its related products. Onboarding after the Scorecard release will reduce these risks substantially.

Further, the ordering period for the existing RMADA 2 IDIQ ends July 31, 2025 and the competition and award of a new RMADA 3 IDIQ is ongoing. Because of this, there is a risk that procuring a task order by the end of the 6-month LFO Base Period will be challenging. To mitigate this procurement risk and to ensure the successful and timely annual release of the MAC Scorecard without a lapse in service, CMCS has included an optional period to the LFO to avoid the development and approval of additional justifications. Aligning the contracting and production cycles will reduce the quality and timeline risks associated with a mid-production project management change. No statutory exemptions to competition have been applied in the past.

Mathematica has been successfully performing under the competitively awarded MAC Scorecard task order 75FCMC19D0091/75FCMC20F0002 since August of 2020. It is expected that they will continue to provide CMS with high quality services and deliverables related to project management, content development, and where relevant, providing states with technical support on implementing the MAC scorecard.

It is necessary to place the order to satisfy a minimum guarantee [FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D)].

A statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source. [FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(E)].

4. Provide a statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made:

The period of performance for this effort is limited to 18 months, including a 6-month Base Period and one (1) 12-month Option Period. Any future needs to continue services related to the MAC Scorecard program , beyond this LFO, will be procured through competitive means.

5. State any other facts supporting the justification:

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) allows a task order to be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order and 75FCMC19D0091/75FCMC20F0002 was competitively awarded. At the conclusion of the 18-month proposed LFO period of performance it is anticipated that the new RMADA 3 IDIQ contract will be in place.

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 for Exceptions to Fair Opportunity, which form the basis for this 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 Justification represents the best value for the Government as set forth in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(5), and constitutes a fair and reasonable price. The basis for my determination is as follows:

The RMADA 2 IDIQ was awarded in 2019. CMS has generated a strong knowledge base in regard to fair and reasonable pricing under the IDIQ. The proposal submitted by Mathematica will be evaluated against the pricing that was determined to be fair and reasonable under the existing MAC Scorecard task order and the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) that the program team in CMCS will produce. The evaluation of the proposal against those items will enable CMS to make a fair and reasonable determination of the contractor’s price.

Taking into account the information provided above, the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government of the MAC Scorecard LFO task order will be fair and reasonable.

Contracting Officer / Date

Roxanne R. Dupert-frank - S

Digitally signed by Roxanne R. Dupert-frank -S Date: 2025.05.20 15:39:39 -04'00'

LEONARD A. WRIGHT JR

-S

Digitally signed by LEONARD A.

WRIGHT JR -S

Date: 2025.05.22 09:19:46 -04'00'

Matthew C. Waskiewicz -S

2025.05.22 12:39:32 -04'00'

Name / Date

4. Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) Approval I hereby confirm that the circumstances described above apply and approve this Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity.

N/A – proposed LFO is less than $15 million in total contract value.

HCA Name / Date

5. Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

N/A – proposed LFO is less than $75 million in total contract value.

Name / Date

6. OGC Legal Review

N/A – proposed LFO is less than $75 million in total contract value.

Name / Date

7. HHS Competition Advocate Approval N/A – proposed LFO is less than $75 million in total contract value.

Name / Date

8. Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby confirm the circumstances described above apply and approve the Justification for Exceptions to Fair Opportunity.

N/A – proposed LFO is less than $75 million in total contract value.

3. CMS Competition Advocate Approval I have reviewed this Exception to Fair Opportunity and find that it adequately supports other than full and open competition.

SPE Name / Date