OMAS-01-2026_Amendment_0001_Consolidated_QA.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES | OFFICE OF MISSION ACQUISITION SOLUTIONS

RFQ OMAS-01-2026 | Amendment 0001 | Page 1

AMENDMENT 0001

Request for Quotations OMAS-01-2026 HHS Modernization Discovery, Prototyping, and Implementation Planning

100% Total Small Business Set-Aside | Amendment Date: September 25, 2026

1. PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT

This amendment: (1) resolves conflicting administrative information in the RFQ and SAM.gov posting; (2) provides the Government's consolidated responses to industry questions; (3) clarifies the technical requirement based on program-office responses; and (4) provides instructions for quotations submitted before issuance of this amendment.

Except as expressly revised or clarified by this Amendment 0001, all other RFQ terms and conditions remain unchanged.

2. CONTROLLING ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

Item Controlling Requirement

Solicitation Number OMAS-01-2026. References to FY26-ASA as the RFQ number are superseded.

Questions Due September 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time.

Quotations Due September 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time.

Submission Email mesfin.alemayehu@hhs.gov

Required Email Subject RFQ OMAS-01-2026 - [Company Name] - HHS Modernization

Place of Performance No fixed recurring on-site work location or minimum on-site schedule is established. Performance may be remote and at HHS Government sites as authorized for the selected workstreams. The specific mix will be coordinated during performance. See Technical Q&A T11.

Previously Submitted Quotations Quotations received before issuance of Amendment 0001 remain on file. By the September 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time quotation deadline, a quoter that submitted before this amendment shall either: (1) submit a revised quotation; or (2) send written acknowledgment confirming that its previously submitted quotation remains unchanged and is submitted on the basis of RFQ OMAS-01-2026 as amended by Amendment 0001. A revised quotation supersedes the quoter's prior submission. If more than one revised quotation is timely received, the latest complete timely submission will control. A quoter does not need to withdraw its earlier quotation before submitting a revision.

Order of Precedence This Amendment 0001 supersedes inconsistent administrative information in the original RFQ or SAM.gov posting. Except as revised or clarified herein, the RFQ remains unchanged.

Acknowledgment: All quoters shall acknowledge Amendment 0001 by the quotation deadline. A quoter submitting or revising a quotation after issuance of this amendment may state "Amendment 0001 acknowledged" on the quotation cover page or in the submission email. A quoter that submitted before issuance of this amendment may instead send a separate written acknowledgment confirming that its existing quotation remains unchanged and is based on the RFQ as amended. See the "Previously Submitted Quotations" instruction in the table above.

RFQ OMAS-01-2026 | Amendment 0001 | Page 2

3. CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRY QUESTIONS AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

Substantially similar industry questions have been consolidated. The Government responses below apply to all quoters. Cross-references are provided where a business/administrative question is answered by the program's technical response.

A. Administrative / Business Questions

A1. Controlling Deadlines and Publication of Q&A Industry question: The RFQ and SAM.gov contained conflicting question and quotation deadlines. Please confirm the controlling deadlines, whether the consolidated Q&A will be posted on SAM.gov, and whether the quotation deadline will be extended further.

Government response: The controlling deadlines are: Questions Due - September 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time; Quotations Due - September 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. Amendment 0001 supersedes any inconsistent date or time appearing in the original RFQ or SAM.gov fields. The consolidated questions and answers are issued with this Amendment 0001. The quotation deadline is not extended further by this amendment.

A2. Solicitation Number and Email Subject Line Industry question: The RFQ and SAM.gov use both OMAS-01-2026 and FY26-ASA. Please confirm the controlling solicitation number and required quotation email subject line.

Government response: The controlling solicitation number is OMAS-01-2026. References to FY26-ASA as the RFQ number are superseded. Use the email subject line: "RFQ OMAS-01-2026 - [Company Name] - HHS Modernization."

A quotation otherwise timely received and clearly identifiable will not be rejected solely because it uses the prior FY26-ASA identifier in the email subject or quotation.

A3. Electronic Submission Format and File Organization Industry question: Please clarify acceptable electronic file formats, whether the two quotation volumes must be separate files, whether resumes and accessibility attachments may be separate, file naming, multiple-email submissions, and receipt acknowledgments.

Government response: Submit quotations electronically to mesfin.alemayehu@hhs.gov by the deadline. PDF or Microsoft Word is acceptable for narrative content; Microsoft Excel may also be used for price or administrative schedules. Volume I and Volume II may be separate files or a single clearly separated file. Resumes and ACR/VPAT or other accessibility attachments may be separate files. No mandatory file naming convention is established, but file names should clearly identify the company and content. A quotation may be split across multiple emails if necessary;

label each email "Part X of Y" and ensure all parts are received by the deadline. Quoters are responsible for timely receipt. The Government may acknowledge receipt, but absence of an acknowledgment does not extend the deadline.

A4. Formatting and Page Limits Industry question: Please clarify page size, font, margins, spacing, tables and graphics, and the treatment of material exceeding stated page limits.

Government response: No additional font, margin, or line-spacing requirement is imposed by this amendment. Use standard 8.5 by 11 inch pages and a readable format. Tables, figures, charts, and captions containing substantive content are part of the applicable section page limit. Resumes, limited to two pages per resume, and accessibility-conformance attachments remain excluded as stated in the RFQ. Substantive material beyond a stated page limit may not be evaluated.

A5. Key Personnel, Resumes, and Availability Industry question: Please clarify resume limits, the expected number of key personnel, minimum qualifications, letters of commitment, and whether the Government will designate key personnel in the resulting order.

Government response: The senior engagement lead must be identified. The Government has not prescribed a fixed number of additional key personnel. Resumes are excluded from the section page limit and are limited to two pages per person. No additional minimum years of experience, certifications, or degree requirements are established beyond the RFQ. A separate letter of commitment is not required; however, the quotation must clearly demonstrate the proposed personnel's availability for the proposed role. The Government may designate personnel accepted in the quotation as key personnel in the resulting order. Personnel security and access requirements are addressed in Technical Q&A T10.

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A6. Relevant Experience and Past Performance Industry question: Please clarify how the Government will consider CPARS, references, questionnaires, commercial or state/local work, subcontractor or teaming-partner experience, ongoing efforts, recency, and work performed by proposed key personnel under prior employers.

Government response: Quoters may submit up to three relevant experience examples as stated in the RFQ. The Government may consider CPARS, customer references, information in the quotation, and other reasonably available sources and is not committing to use a specific questionnaire. CPARS evaluations may be provided but are not required. No fixed recency window is established; recency and relevance will be considered in context. Ongoing work may be cited when sufficient performance has occurred to evaluate relevance and results. Comparable commercial, state, or local government experience may be considered. Relevant experience of a named subcontractor or teaming partner may be considered to the extent it is relevant to the work that entity is proposed to perform; the quotation must identify the performing entity and its proposed role. Experience performed by key personnel while employed by another organization may be considered as individual experience when the prior employer, role, and contribution are clearly identified, but it should not be represented as the prime contractor's corporate past performance.

A7. Prior Special Notice, New Requirement, and Market Research Industry question: Please identify the firm named in the prior notice, whether there is an incumbent or predecessor contract, how many firms responded to the prior notice, and whether predecessor work products or knowledge transfer will be available.

Government response: The prior public Notice of Intent identified Yat Choi LLC. This is a new requirement, and no predecessor contract or order for the same scope has been identified. Seven distinct small businesses submitted responses to the prior notice. Those responses were used for market research and did not constitute formal qualification determinations or quotations under this RFQ. No funded incumbent knowledge-transfer obligation has been identified. Available and releasable prior documentation or work products, if any, will be handled as described in Technical Q&A T5.

A8. Equal Treatment of Prior Notice Respondents Industry question: Please confirm that firms that did not respond to the prior Notice of Intent are on equal footing and that prior participation does not provide evaluation credit.

Government response: Confirmed. Prior-notice participation provides no evaluation preference or credit. A firm that did not respond to the prior notice is evaluated under the same RFQ criteria as every other quoter. Prior respondents may incorporate specifically identified unchanged material by reference as permitted by RFQ Section 7.4; such material will be considered only as part of that quoter's current RFQ submission. The Government will not release proprietary contents of other firms' market-research submissions. Information material to preparation of quotations is contained in the RFQ and this amendment.

A9. Firm-Fixed-Price Basis, IGCE, and Quoter Assumptions Industry question: Please provide the Government's estimated labor categories, hours, team size, IGCE or budget range, and fixed quantities for workstreams or prototypes, or confirm how quoters should state pricing assumptions.

Government response: The Government will not release the IGCE, Government labor categories or hours, or a prescribed contractor team size. The Government has not established fixed quantities for programs, workstreams, prototypes, or detailed implementation plans; see Technical Q&A T1 through T4 and T14. Each quoter is responsible for proposing a sufficient team and one total firm-fixed price for the requirement. Material pricing, capacity, and delivery assumptions may be identified under RFQ Section 7.5. An assumption that materially limits or conditions a mandatory requirement may be treated as an exception and evaluated accordingly.

A10. Teaming, Subcontracting, Joint Ventures, and Limitations on Subcontracting Industry question: Please confirm whether teaming, subcontracting, and joint ventures are permitted, whether FAR 52.219-14 applies, and what subcontractor information should be included.

Government response: Teaming, subcontracting, and eligible joint ventures are permitted, subject to applicable SBA, FAR, HHS, size, responsibility, and solicitation requirements. Because the anticipated $200,000 value is below the current Simplified Acquisition Threshold, FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting, is not prescribed for this general total small business set-aside under HHS RFO FAR 19.104-3(c). Quoters should identify proposed subcontractors, teaming partners, or joint-venture members that will perform a meaningful portion of the work and describe their roles and expected workshare. Any joint venture must be eligible for award as a small business under the NAICS code assigned to the acquisition.

RFQ OMAS-01-2026 | Amendment 0001 | Page 4

A11. Software, Cloud, License, Tooling, and Travel Costs Industry question: Please clarify whether the Government or contractor bears software, cloud-consumption, platform-license, tooling, and travel costs and how a contractor-provided commercial platform or time-limited license should be priced.

Government response: Unless the RFQ, this amendment, or written Government direction expressly identifies a resource as Government-furnished, the quoter shall include in its total firm-fixed price the costs it determines are necessary for its proposed approach, including contractor-provided tools, licenses, cloud consumption, and travel.

Technical Q&A T6, T7, and T11 clarify that no particular Government platform, license, or on-site schedule is guaranteed. Any contractor-provided commercial platform or time-limited license must be identified with its applicable cost, term, and restrictions, even if the proposed cost to the Government during the period of performance is zero.

The Government is not committing through this RFQ to purchase or extend a commercial license beyond the period of performance.

A12. Use and Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence Tools Industry question: Please clarify whether AI-assisted tools may be used to prepare the quotation, whether such use must be disclosed, and what must be disclosed for AI tools proposed during contract performance.

Government response: The RFQ does not prohibit use of AI-assisted tools to prepare a quotation using public, contractor-owned, or otherwise authorized information, and it does not require a separate disclosure solely because an AI tool was used in quotation preparation. The quoter remains responsible for the accuracy, completeness, confidentiality, and intellectual-property compliance of its submission. AI tools proposed as part of contract performance that are material to the technical approach, hosting, licensing, data handling, security, or Government use should be identified in the quotation. Restrictions on use of non-public HHS information remain as stated in the RFQ and Technical Q&A T9.

A13. Data Rights, Pre-Existing Platforms, Commercial and Open-Source Components Industry question: Please clarify treatment of pre-existing contractor intellectual property, commercial license terms, open-source components, project-specific source code and technical artifacts, and any alternate to FAR 52.227-14.

Government response: Amendment 0001 does not add a specific alternate to FAR 52.227-14. Pre-existing, proprietary, commercial, third-party, and open-source components may be proposed when they are appropriate to the solution and their applicable restrictions and license terms are clearly identified. Disclosure of pre-existing intellectual property does not by itself transfer ownership of that property to HHS. Government rights in delivered data, software, code, configurations, models, documentation, and technical artifacts will be governed by the resulting order and applicable clauses. Standard commercial or click-through terms do not bind the Government unless expressly accepted in writing by the Contracting Officer. Source code, configurations, schemas, interface information, and related artifacts are required when applicable to an authorized prototype and necessary for the Government's intended use, consistent with the RFQ.

A14. Security Clauses and Quote-Stage Security Documentation Industry question: Please clarify when the RFQ security clauses apply and what security documentation must be submitted with the quotation versus after award.

Government response: Applicability of workstream-specific security requirements will depend on the systems, information, hosting arrangement, and access involved. At the quotation stage, quoters shall provide the security and privacy approach and disclosures required by RFQ Section 7.2(D). A separate system security plan, authorization package, or equivalent is not required with the quotation unless the quoter chooses to provide it as relevant supporting information. Before any contractor-controlled system or environment processes non-public HHS information, all applicable HHS security, privacy, access, and authorization requirements must be satisfied. Work performed in HHS-authorized environments remains subject to applicable HHS access and security controls.

A15. Invoicing and Payment Schedule Industry question: Please clarify the four 25 percent performance-period invoices, whether payment depends on a fixed number of prototypes or deliverables, and whether HHS will permit a separate milestone payment at acceptance of the Integrated Work Plan after mobilization.

Government response: Section 3.1 remains unchanged. Mobilization and Readiness is included in the total firm-fixed price and is not separately invoiced; Amendment 0001 does not add a milestone payment for D1. After mobilization, the awarded firm-fixed price is invoiced in four equal 25 percent installments subject to Government acceptance of the applicable period services, required progress information, and access to work products in progress. Payment is not conditioned on a predetermined fixed number of prototypes. There is no deemed

RFQ OMAS-01-2026 | Amendment 0001 | Page 5 acceptance provision. If Government actions materially affect the planned schedule, the contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer promptly and the Contracting Officer will address any appropriate contract action.

A16. Award Date, Period of Performance, and Government-Caused Delays Industry question: Please clarify what happens if award occurs after September 30, 2026, whether performance dates automatically shift, and how Government-caused access, review, or decision delays will be handled.

Government response: The Government continues to intend award and commencement of performance on September 30, 2026. Contractor performance may not begin before issuance and acceptance of the purchase order or other written Contracting Officer authorization. If award timing requires a change to the stated performance dates, the Government will establish the controlling dates in the purchase order or a solicitation/contract amendment;

quoters should not assume an automatic shift. During performance, the contractor shall promptly identify Government-caused access, stakeholder, review, or decision delays that materially affect the schedule. The Contracting Officer may authorize appropriate resequencing or other contract action based on the facts. Work that materially changes awarded scope, price, or period of performance requires written Contracting Officer authorization.

A17. Service Contract Labor Standards Industry question: Please confirm the current Service Contract Labor Standards position and whether a wage determination will be incorporated before award if applicable.

Government response: As of Amendment 0001, no wage determination is incorporated into the RFQ. Quoters should price the solicitation as currently issued. The Contracting Officer will make the final applicability determination before award. If that determination requires a wage determination or another material solicitation change, the Government will amend the solicitation as necessary before award.

A18. SAM Representations, Certifications, and Signature Requirements Industry question: Please clarify whether current SAM.gov representations and certifications satisfy the solicitation provisions and whether a separately signed cover letter, SF 1449, or other signed form must be returned with the quotation.

Government response: The Government may rely on current SAM.gov representations and certifications to the extent the applicable representation or certification is captured in SAM and remains current. If a required solicitation-specific representation is not captured in SAM or requires additional information, the Government may request it before award. No SF 1449 or separately signed cover letter is required with the quotation unless subsequently requested by the Contracting Officer. The quotation shall include the legal business name, address, UEI, CAGE, current SAM status, small-business representation under NAICS 541512, and an authorized point of contact as required by the RFQ.

A19. Organizational Conflict of Interest and Future Implementation Work Industry question: Will preparation of implementation plans, roadmaps, or recommendations under this requirement automatically preclude the awardee from competing for future implementation work?

Government response: No blanket exclusion from future implementation work is established by this RFQ. Any organizational conflict of interest associated with a future acquisition will be evaluated based on the facts of that future requirement and the applicable acquisition rules. Award of this requirement neither guarantees nor automatically precludes eligibility for future work.

A20. Comparative Evaluation and Selection Industry question: Please provide additional detail on the comparative evaluation, principal discriminators, use of program personnel, and how meaningful differences will be documented without numerical scoring.

Government response: RFQ Section 8 controls. Quotations will not be numerically scored. Factors 1 through 4, when combined, are more important than price; Technical Approach is the most important non-price factor; Relevant Experience/Past Performance and Key Personnel/Mobilization follow in importance; and Digital Accessibility/Security is evaluated for adequacy and risk. The Government has not established an undisclosed point system or additional weighted subfactors. The Government may use program and technical personnel to support the evaluation, and the Contracting Officer will make and document the award decision using a comparative assessment appropriate to simplified acquisition procedures. After the Amendment 0001 quotation deadline, the Government may issue the purchase order based on the quotations then on file without requesting further revisions.

RFQ OMAS-01-2026 | Amendment 0001 | Page 6

B. Technical / Program Questions The following technical responses are the program office's consolidated responses and are incorporated into Amendment 0001 without substantive change.

T1. Initial Scope and Scale Industry question: Approximately how many programs, workflows, systems, or technical operations does HHS anticipate placing in scope during the 25-week engagement? To the extent known, what functional areas are initially contemplated? Approximately how many HHS organizations or stakeholder groups, interviews, and working sessions should the contractor anticipate?

Government response: HHS has not established a fixed number of programs, workflows, systems, technical operations, stakeholder groups, interviews, or working sessions. The initial portfolio will be identified and prioritized during the five-week Mobilization and Readiness Phase based on mission value, feasibility, stakeholder availability, access, and the capacity available under the firm-fixed-price engagement. The contemplated work may involve selected administrative, operational, business-management, data, workflow, and technical functions within HHS.

Specific functional areas and participating organizations will be confirmed after award.

T2. Concurrent Workstreams and Capacity Industry question: Approximately how many discovery or modernization workstreams does HHS anticipate proceeding concurrently at peak? If additional opportunities are identified beyond available contractor capacity, does HHS expect to reprioritize work within the available capacity?

Government response: HHS has not established a required peak number of concurrent workstreams. Workstreams may proceed concurrently and iteratively when doing so is practical. If discovery identifies more opportunities than can be addressed within the period of performance and available contract capacity, HHS will prioritize or reprioritize the work rather than expand the requirement automatically.

T3. Prototypes and Proofs of Concept Industry question: Approximately how many prototypes or proofs of concept does HHS anticipate authorizing?

What level of maturity and complexity should contractors assume? Does HHS anticipate integration with live or production-adjacent systems, or primarily sandbox and non-production validation?

Government response: HHS has not established a fixed number of prototypes or proofs of concept. The number, maturity, and complexity will depend on discovery findings, technical feasibility, mission value, risk, and available capacity. Prototypes may range from functional demonstrations to integrated working prototypes. Contractors should assume that initial validation will occur in a sandbox or other non-production setting unless HHS specifically authorizes access to a production-adjacent environment. No prototype may connect to, alter, or enter production without prior Government authorization and completion of applicable security, privacy, accessibility, records-management, testing, and change-control requirements.

T4. Implementation Plans and Deliverable Scale Industry question: Approximately how many opportunities or prototypes does HHS anticipate selecting for detailed implementation planning? Are Deliverables D2 through D9 generally intended to be engagement-level deliverables incorporating multiple workstreams, or separate complete deliverables for each workflow or prototype?

Government response: HHS has not established a fixed number of opportunities or prototypes for detailed implementation planning. Selection will occur during performance based on validated findings and Government priorities. Unless HHS directs otherwise for a particular workstream, Deliverables D2 through D9 should be treated as engagement-level deliverables that consolidate and clearly distinguish the workstreams, prototypes, findings, recommendations, and implementation considerations covered by the engagement.

T5. Existing Documentation and Prior Technical Work Industry question: What existing documentation does HHS anticipate providing? Are there existing modernization initiatives, pilots, plans of action and milestones, oversight findings, or modernization backlogs that may inform discovery?

Government response: HHS will provide available and releasable documentation relevant to each authorized workstream. The completeness and currency of architecture diagrams, system inventories, process maps, interface documentation, data flows, data dictionaries, prior assessments, modernization plans, and prior contractor work products will vary. The specific documentation, existing initiatives, pilots, plans of action and milestones, oversight findings, and backlogs available for review are not yet known and will be identified during mobilization and discovery.

Contractors should not assume that complete or current documentation exists for every selected workstream.

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T6. Development Environment and Government Furnished Resources Industry question: Will HHS provide development, test, sandbox, cloud, source-control, or collaboration environments for prototype work? What Government-furnished equipment, accounts, network access, collaboration access, or other resources should contractors assume HHS will provide?

Government response: The specific development, test, sandbox, cloud, source-control, collaboration, equipment, account, and network resources that HHS can provide have not yet been determined. They will depend on the selected workstreams and applicable security and access requirements. HHS will coordinate access to authorized Government resources needed for approved work, subject to availability and required approvals. Offerors should identify material assumptions and dependencies in their quotations and should not assume access to a particular platform, environment, license, or Government-furnished device unless expressly provided by HHS.

T7. Enterprise Platforms and Licenses Industry question: What HHS enterprise platforms or licenses are expected to be available for authorized work?

Are contractors expected to provide their own development tools or platforms where an HHS environment is not available?

Government response: HHS has not committed to making any particular enterprise platform or license available for all workstreams. Access to Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Azure, ServiceNow, Salesforce, or another platform will depend on the selected workstream, existing HHS capabilities, licensing, security authorization, and availability.

Where an HHS environment is not available, the contractor may propose its own tools or environments, but they may be used only after HHS review and authorization and must not be used to process non-public HHS information without approval.

T8. Prototype Data and Interfaces Industry question: Will HHS provide representative non-production or test data, APIs, interfaces, or other technical resources for prototype development? Where access is delayed or non-public HHS information is not required, may contractors use synthetic, masked, or de-identified data?

Government response: HHS will make available authorized data, interfaces, and technical resources when they exist, are relevant to an approved workstream, and can be provided consistent with security, privacy, legal, and operational requirements. Availability is not guaranteed and may vary by workstream. Synthetic, masked, or de-identified data may be used when approved by HHS and when it is sufficient for the intended validation. Use of such data does not authorize access to or processing of non-public HHS information in an unapproved environment.

T9. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Tools Industry question: What HHS-authorized artificial intelligence or machine-learning services, if any, are available for work involving non-public HHS information? Is there an established process and expected timeline for requesting authorization of contractor-provided tools or isolated environments? What information would HHS require?

Government response: The specific HHS-authorized artificial intelligence or machine-learning services available to this engagement have not yet been determined. Non-public HHS information may be processed only with tools and in environments authorized by HHS for that information. The review process, required submission information, and approval timeline for a contractor-provided tool or environment will depend on the proposed use case, data, architecture, hosting arrangement, and applicable HHS security, privacy, records-management, and acquisition requirements. Contractors should not assume that a proposed artificial intelligence tool will be approved within a particular timeframe.

T10. Personnel Security Credentialing and Onboarding Industry question: What background investigation or suitability level, credentialing, badging, cybersecurity training, or other onboarding requirements are anticipated? Will HHS sponsor required credentials? What processing timeline should contractors assume? May personnel begin non-sensitive work while access is pending?

Government response: Personnel security, suitability, credentialing, badging, training, and system-access requirements will depend on the authorized workstreams, systems, facilities, and information involved. HHS will sponsor Government credentials that it determines are required for contract performance. No specific processing timeline can be guaranteed. Subject to Government direction, personnel may begin approved non-sensitive discovery, planning, document review, or other work that does not require pending credentials or system access.

Personnel may not access restricted systems, facilities, or information before required approvals are completed.

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T11. On Site versus Remote Performance Industry question: What level of on-site performance does the program anticipate? Please identify the expected Government site, approximate frequency of in-person activities, whether most technical work may be performed remotely, and whether travel outside the National Capital Region is anticipated.

Government response: The Government has not established a fixed on-site schedule, designated a recurring work location, or identified required travel outside the National Capital Region. The appropriate mix of remote and in-person performance will depend on the selected workstreams, stakeholder needs, facility or system access, and the activities being performed. Offerors should state their travel and on-site-performance assumptions in their firm-fixed-price quotations. Any travel not expressly authorized by the contract or contracting officer will not create an entitlement to additional payment.

T12. Government Stakeholder Access and Decision Turnaround Industry question: What turnaround should contractors anticipate for HHS prioritization, workstream authorization, solution-selection decisions, stakeholder availability, and review of interim work products? Will HHS facilitate access to subject-matter experts, system owners, documentation, technical environments, and Government decision-makers?

Government response: HHS has not established a uniform turnaround time for all decisions or reviews. Timing will depend on the subject, participating organizations, availability of Government personnel, security and access requirements, and the significance of the decision. HHS intends to facilitate reasonable access to available subject-matter experts, system owners, documentation, technical environments, and decision-makers for authorized workstreams. The contractor should identify schedule risks promptly and structure the work so progress can continue when a particular decision, stakeholder, or access request is pending.

T13. Section 508 and Accessibility Industry question: For exploratory prototypes or proofs of concept that are not intended for production deployment, what level of Section 508 conformance and testing does HHS expect? Is a platform accessibility report plus prototype-specific information sufficient? Should document deliverables be accessible?

Government response: All deliverables must address applicable Section 508 and HHS accessibility requirements.

The specific level of conformance testing required for an exploratory prototype will depend on its intended use, maturity, audience, and potential for continued development or deployment. An Accessibility Conformance Report or Voluntary Product Accessibility Template for a commercial platform, together with prototype-specific accessibility information, may inform HHS review but does not by itself establish acceptance or waive applicable requirements.

Reports, roadmaps, presentations, and other document deliverables shall be provided in accessible electronic formats.

T14. Staffing Expectations Industry question: Does the program have an anticipated contractor team size or level of effort? Must the senior engagement lead be dedicated full-time for the 25-week period, or may contractors propose a core team supplemented by specialized personnel as workstreams are selected?

Government response: HHS has not prescribed a specific team size or labor-hour level of effort. The contractor is responsible for proposing and providing sufficient qualified personnel to perform the firm-fixed-price requirement and meet the delivery schedule. The engagement must remain senior-led, with the proposed senior lead personally and continuously involved in discovery, prioritization, product and technical decisions, prototyping oversight, and implementation planning. The senior lead is not required to be dedicated full-time unless the contractor determines that full-time participation is necessary to meet its proposed approach. A core team supplemented by specialized personnel is acceptable, provided continuity, accountability, and required expertise are maintained.

T15. Deliverable Review and Acceptance Industry question: What Government review period should contractors assume for interim and final deliverables?

Will the Government provide consolidated comments? What correction period should apply to material deficiencies?

Does HHS expect any prototype to remain operational or supported after March 23, 2027?

Government response: The Government has not established a single review or correction period that will apply to every deliverable. Review and acceptance will follow the contract, the approved integrated work plan, and the acceptance criteria established for each deliverable. HHS intends to provide coordinated Government comments when practicable. The contracting officer or contracting officer's representative will establish a reasonable correction period based on the nature and materiality of any deficiency. Unless HHS expressly authorizes production use or establishes a separate support requirement, contractors should not assume that a prototype must remain operational

RFQ OMAS-01-2026 | Amendment 0001 | Page 9 or supported after March 23, 2027. Required source code, documentation, configurations, and technical artifacts must nevertheless be delivered so HHS can understand, maintain, extend, or competitively procure future work.

T16. Program Governance and Technical Direction Industry question: Please identify, to the extent known, the Government program sponsor or owner, technical lead, contracting officer's representative or program representative, participating HHS organizations, and any preferred or mandated enterprise technologies, architectures, or modernization standards.

Government response: The program office is the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration, Immediate Office. The contracting officer's representative, technical lead, participating HHS organizations, and additional Government representatives will be identified at or after award as appropriate. No single technology platform or architecture has been mandated for every workstream. Recommendations and prototypes must align with applicable HHS enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, privacy, accessibility, records-management, data-governance, interoperability, and technology-authorization requirements. Any workstream-specific preferred or required technologies will be communicated when that workstream is authorized.

4. EFFECT OF AMENDMENT

This Amendment 0001 is part of RFQ OMAS-01-2026. Quoters shall prepare, revise, or confirm quotations using the RFQ as amended and clarified herein. Quotations submitted before issuance of this amendment remain on file subject to the acknowledgment/revision instructions in Section 2. No other RFQ terms are changed unless expressly stated in this amendment.

Contracting Officer: Mesfin Alemayehu | mesfin.alemayehu@hhs.gov

4. EFFECT OF AMENDMENT