OSORA-393-2020-0003 Statement of Work.docx

Statement of Work Consulting Services Project Number – 008807 01/10/2020

SCOPE

The individual contractor will operate in a staff advisory capacity in the Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs (OSORA). He/she will participate in meetings with senior CMS staff and receive short-notice assignments to analyze regulatory or other polices during the formulation of those policies. The contractor shall participate and advise on all aspects of the regulatory planning and development processes for selected, highly critical and complex Medicare and/or Medicaid regulations. This work shall include input into regulatory and preamble language associated with the analyses conducted by the contractor as well as identifying options and alternatives based upon the analyses. The contractor shall discuss issues and the status of regulations under development with the Director of OSORA, Administrator, Office of the Secretary.

A. Background: Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act we have experienced a tremendous increase in the volume of regulations that will be published that will require an economic impact analysis. Implementing the legislation will involve a tremendous amount of work as many of the CMS components work with the Department and White House to analyze the changes to the Medicare & Medicaid programs and other health related Federal programs/issues. In order for the CMS to achieve its mission, OSORA serves in a neutral broker coordination role which includes: scheduling meetings and briefings for the Administrator and Principal Deputy Administrator, and coordinating communications between and among central and regional offices to ensure that emerging issues are identified early, all concerned components are directly and fully involved in policy development/decision making, and that all points of view are presented. OSORA provides leadership, direction, and advocacy, on behalf of top CMS officials and is the focal point with the Office of Management and Budget and the Department to facilitate the clearance process for documents requiring their approval that have an impact on the implementation of the various legislations.

B. Purpose: To ensure timely regulatory impact analyses and regulatory flexibility analyses for CMS critical priority regulations that impacts the health care sector and components thereof (e.g., hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, and insurance firms).

II. REQUIREMENTS

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government, as needed to perform the requirements of this Statement of Work. The contractor will provide analytical and technical support to OSORA by completing a myriad of tasks required for CMS to achieve its mission. The contractor shall provide technical reviews, analysis and/or guidance on information (including books, reports, journal articles, conference proceedings, unpublished documents and research reports selected by OSORA) related to the subject areas covered by this scope of work. The contractor shall have the capability for quick turnaround reviews, as well as reviews requiring a more structured and longer process. The contractor will conduct a wide array of research using economic analytic methods to provide guidance and support for a variety of Medicare and Medicaid policies and programs. The contractor will perform cost-benefit analyses, for the purpose of developing and testing economic impact on CMS programs. The contractor shall conduct economic impact analysis that includes regulatory and non-regulatory guidance documents. The contractor will analyze the cost impacts and unanticipated outcomes associated with the implementation of various regulatory and non-regulatory documents and provide data to be used by the Agency in the analysis of regulatory and non-regulatory documents. The contract must attend meetings and participate in the strategic work planning of the regulations writing process and collaborate with the various CMS components to incorporate written specifications and legislative language in publications for the Federal Register. The contractor shall write and review CMS Rate Setting Rules along with other high visibility regulations. The contractor shall focus specifically on working with the Office of Strategic Operations & Regulatory Affairs (OSORA) to conduct time sensitive economic and impact analysis for select critical regulations as identified by the OSORA Director. This work shall include input into regulatory and preamble language associated with the analyses conducted by the contractor as well as identifying options and alternatives based upon the analyses. In addition, the contractor shall be involved in the development of other materials relating to the analyses and meetings as required by the OSORA Director in order to ensure that all critical, short-term regulatory plans, draft Regulatory documents, all decision documents and relevant research studies and communications are completed in a timely manner. The contractor must develop the most appropriate evaluation/plan to assist with the updating of policy instructions and other written correspondence requested by the Director/Deputy Director. The contractor must ensure policies are consistently represented throughout the various business functions in OSORA.