RFP May 15 - Pueblo.doc

SECTION B. SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

B.1 DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide the necessary Field Benefit Administration services to perform the effort described in Section C, Work Statement (WS).

B.2 PRICING SCHEDULE

The price schedule below is inclusive of all Contractor costs (direct and indirect) for performing services outlined in the WS.

The CLINs identified below indicate the number of hours for each labor category in the Base year and each of the Option years.

Section B

Supplies or Service and Prices/Costs

LEVEL OF EFFORT

Base Period

Pueblo Facility

Pueblo Facility Capacity (39)

NTE $250,000

Total Value of Base Year

Option Year 1

Pueblo Facility Capacity (39)

NTE $250,000

Total Value of Option Year 1

Option Year 2

Pueblo Facility Capacity (39)

NTE $250,000

Total Value of Option Year 2

Option Year 3

Pueblo Facility Capacity (39)

NTE $250,000

Total Value of Option Year 3

Option Year 4

Pueblo Facility Capacity (39)

NTE $250,000

Total Value of Option Year 4

B.4

PBGC-16-003

CEILING PRICE

It is anticipated that the total cost to the Government for performance of this contract shall not exceed the ceiling price set forth in this clause and the contractor agrees to use its best efforts to perform the work specified in the schedule and all obligations under this contract within the ceiling price. It is expected that the actual price of the contract will be aligned with the workload which will be within the ceiling price. The field benefit administration location ceiling price is set at the maximum capacity for the site. It is set as such to allow provisions in the event that the workload requires full capacity. If at any time the contractor has reason to believe that the hourly rate payments and material costs that will accrue in performing this contract in the succeeding 30 days, if added to all other payments and costs previously accrued, will exceed 85 percent of the ceiling price set forth in this clause, the contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing, giving a revised estimate of the total price to the Government for performing this contract, with supporting reasons and documentation. If at any time during the performance of this contract, the contractor has reason to believe the total price to the Government for performing this contract will be substantially greater or less than the stated ceiling price the contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing, giving a revised estimate of the total price to the Government for performing this contract, with supporting reasons and documentation. If, at any time during the performance of this contract, the Government has reason to believe the work required in performing this contract will be substantially greater or less than the stated ceiling price, the Contracting Officer will so advise the contractor, giving them the revised estimate of the total amount of effort to be required under this contract. The ceiling price for each contract period is shown in the clause title Price/Cost. The Government shall not be obligated to pay the contractor any amount in excess of the ceiling price, and the contractor will not be obligated to continue performance, if to do so would exceed the ceiling price, unless and until the Contracting Officer notifies the contractor in writing that the ceiling price has been increased and of the new ceiling price. Once the Contracting Officer increases the ceiling price, any otherwise allowable hours and material costs incurred by the contractor which were in excess of the previous ceiling price before the increase shall be allowable to the same extent as if the hours had been expended or costs incurred after the increase in the ceiling price.

B. 5.

PBGC-44-001

OTHER DIRECT COSTS

The Contractor shall be reimbursed for the actual cost of other direct costs determined to be allowable in accordance with Part 31 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and authorized by the Contracting Officer or his designee prior to the contractor incurring the charge. If Travel and Per Diem are authorized they will be reimbursed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) in effect at the time the travel is authorized by PBGC. All travel requirements must be met using the most economical form of transportation available and must be scheduled sufficiently in advance to take advantage of offered discount rates unless waived by the Contracting Officer.

SECTION C

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/WORK STATEMENT

C.1 Introduction: The contractor shall provide all personnel, supervision and non-personal services necessary to perform defined pension benefit administration services for the Benefits Administration & Payment Department (BAPD) of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) as defined in this Work Statement (WS) except as specified in Part 3 as Government furnished property and services at PBGC’s established Field Benefits Administration Office located at:

La Placita II

304 South Victoria Avenue, Suite B

Pueblo, CO 81003

C.2 Background: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), is a Government-owned corporation, established under Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974. Background and mission information is available at http://www.pbgc.gov/about/about.html The Field Benefits Administrators (FBAs) serve a vital role in performing almost 100% of the participant administration on PBGC's trusteed plans. The work of the FBA typically begins when a plan is recommended for termination by the PBGC. The FBA is responsible for participant administration of the plan from trusteeship until a plan goes to Post Valuation Administration (PVA). In some instances, the FBA has also provided services during the PVA phase of processing. Typically the case processing cycle lasts on average 2.5 to 3.5 years. Once the plan has gone through the Plan Closing Process, the plan is transferred to a Post Valuation Administration center.

The exact number of plan terminations each year cannot be predicted by BAPD. Workloads are impacted by economic conditions. A goal of this solicitation is to provide PBGC with enough flexibility within the Field Benefit Administration services to accommodate both the increased and decreased workloads.

This contract will support PBGC’s Strategic Goal #2: The PBGC will provide exceptional service to customers and stakeholders and Goal # 3: The PBGC will exercise effective and efficient stewardship of PBGC resources. The strategic goals provide for the following outcome results respectively.

· Outcome for Goal #1: Timely, accurate and responsive customer service and self service tools.

· Outcome for Goal # 2: Efficient operational processes, procedures and systems that have capacity to handle variable workloads.

C.3 Objectives: The primary objective of this contract effort is to provide participant focused defined benefit pension administration services to PBGC’s trusteed plans until the plans are transferred to a Post Valuation Administration center. The Contractor shall provide services which include but are not limited to:

1.3.1 Gathering and maintaining participant data;

1.3.2 Processing and authorizing benefit payments to eligible participants and beneficiaries;

1.3.3 Processing deceased notifications, address and direct deposit changes;

1.3.4 Issuing benefit determination letters;

1.3.5 Maintaining participant documentation;

1.3.6 Handling oral and written inquiries from plan participants;

1.3.7 Performing plan closing;

1.3.8 Providing case processing audit support, to include database building, etc.

1.3.9 LAN Administration Support;

1.3.10 Special projects such as; supporting systems testing, participant meetings, etc.

The Contractor shall be required to provide transition support for plans transferred from “estimated status” (once the plan has been closed) to the Post Valuation Administration (PVA) center. This support may be in the form of ongoing communications on plan specific issues not addressed in the plan closing memo and may require travel to the PVA center to ensure a successful and efficient case transfer. Generally, this post valuation processing support could last for up to 90 days after the initial case transfer, but may be extended if necessary.

C.4 Scope: Under this contract, the contractor shall provide strictly non-personal services and shall work as an independent contractor not subject to the supervision of the government. The Contractor shall be required to work in a collaborative effort with the various divisions within BAPD as well as other contractors that support the mission of the department. The Contractor may be required to work with all eight (8) of BAPD’s Trusteeship Processing Divisions (TPDs) simultaneously on the case inventory that is awarded. The TPDs are responsible for establishing and monitoring workplan dates, providing technical guidance on specific plan pension provisions, executing on work deliverables, review of work products, etc on Contractor assigned cases.

C.5 Performance Period: The period of performance shall be for one (1) Base Year and four (4) option years commencing on the contract award date. The 4th option year will consist of a six (6) month option period and a 6 month transition period as described below. The Period of Performance reads as follows:

Base Year:

Contract Award date +12 months

Option Year 1:

12 months

Option Year 2:

12 months

Option Year 3:

12 months

Option Year 4:

6 months

Transition Period:

6 months

A transition is expected to occur during the last six (6) months of the performance period. However, the transition period can occur at an earlier date. If the government requires a transition earlier than the end of the performance period, the contractor may have up to six months to complete the transition. The transition time will be dependent on case inventory and the processing stage of cases in the inventory. The Contractor shall fulfill the terms of the contract, resolve issues concerning government property, submit all necessary reports (e.g., technical or progress reports), receive final technical acceptance and submit all necessary financial information at the end of the transition period.

The government reserves the right to extend the term of this contract at the prices set forth in Section B in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in clause 52.217-9 entitled, “Option to Extend the Term of the Contract”.

C.6 Quality Control: The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this WS and BAPD On-Line Procedures Manual (BAPD Manual) (see attachment # 1). The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which the contractor assures himself that his work complies with the requirements of the contract. At a minimum, the contractor shall develop quality control procedures that address the areas identified in Technical Exhibit 1, “Performance Matrix Summary”. After PBGC acceptance of the quality control plan the contractor must receive the contracting officer’s acceptance in writing of any proposed change to the QC system. The contractor’s QC plan must be submitted with their proposal. The QC plan should be submitted in a word document, following the format outlined in Section L, and will not count against the allowable pages for the technical portion of the proposal.

C.7 Performance Matrix Summary: The government shall evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the Performance Matrix Summary provided in Technical Exhibit 1. This plan is primarily focused on what the government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

The government reserves the right to change the performance measures and/or performance targets throughout the contract performance period. The government will provide the contractor with a 30 day notice of any changes to the stated performance measures or targets.

C.9 Hours of Operation: At a minimum, the hours of operation for which the Contractor shall provide coverage are Monday through Friday, 8AM to 5PM for the time zone of the PBGC facility. The Contractor shall have staff available to cover all lunch periods during the hours of operation.

In the event of inclement weather, other temporary office closures, or COOP situations that are particular to the facility, the Contractor shall contact the COTR, the COTR Coordinator, and the Customer Contact Center to inform them of the office closing, the reason for closing and to have phone calls held. The Contractor shall also contact the PBGC Facilities and Service Division (FASD) with any concerns regarding their facilities. The Contractor shall contact the Service Desk for all equipment, server, router, or switch, etc concerns. In all cases referenced above the COTR and the COTR Coordinator should be contacted and apprised of the situation. Under this contract, PBGC shall only reimburse the contractor for direct labor costs for hours actually worked.

C.10 Physical Security: The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government property provided for contractor use. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

C.11 Key Control: The Contractor shall establish and implement methods of making sure all keys/key cards issued to the contractor by the Government are not lost or misplaced and are not used by unauthorized persons. NOTE: All references to keys include key cards. No keys issued to the contractor by the government shall be duplicated. The contractor shall develop procedures covering key control that shall be included in the Quality Control Plan. Such procedures shall include turn-in of any issued keys by personnel who no longer require access to locked areas. The Contractor shall immediately report any occurrences of lost or duplicate keys/key cards to the Contracting Officer.

In the event keys, other than master keys, are lost or duplicated, the Contractor shall, upon direction of the Contracting Officer, re-key or replace the affected lock or locks; however, the Government, at its option, may replace the affected lock or locks or perform re-keying. When the replacement of locks or re-keying is performed by the Government, the total cost of re-keying or the replacement of the lock or locks shall be deducted from the monthly payment due the Contractor. In the event a master key is lost or duplicated, all locks and keys for that system shall be replaced by the Government and the total cost deducted from the monthly payment due the Contractor.

The Contractor shall prohibit the use of Government issued keys/key cards by any persons other than the Contractor’s employees. The Contractor shall prohibit the opening of locked areas by Contractor employees to permit entrance of persons other than Contractor employees engaged in the performance of assigned work in those areas or authorized government representatives.

C.13 Special Provisions: The contractor shall provide one (1) employee, under any of the labor categories provided, who is fluent in Spanish (reading, writing and speaking). Non-routine calls and inquiries from Spanish-speaking participants will be transferred to the FBA Office for handling. The Contractor shall transfer non-English speaking participants to the Customer Contact Center.

C.14 Periodic Progress Meetings: The contracting officer, Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the contracting officer will apprise the contractor of how the government views the contractor's performance and the contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues.

C.15 Travel: The Contractor will be required to travel. To the extent possible, PBGC will provide at least a 2-3 week advance notice on requested travel. The Contractor may be directed by PBGC to travel to locations as a member of the case processing team for record collection purposes, and/or to obtain plan and participant information, to support participant meetings and BAPD conferences.

All travel shall be pre-approved by the COTR. Travel and Per Diem will be reimbursed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) www.gas.gov/federaltravelregulation in effect at the time the travel is authorized by PBGC. All travel requirements must be met using the most economical form of transportation available and must be scheduled sufficiently in advance to take advantage of offered discounts rates unless waived by the Contracting Officer or the COTR.

The contractor shall develop and submit a summary of each trip that they take on behalf of the Government when no Government representative accompanies the contractor on the trip. The Contractor shall submit the trip report to the Government representative within seven (7) workdays after completion of each travel requirement. The trip report shall be submitted in accordance with the template outlined in the BAPD Manual.

C.16 Reporting Requirements:

C.16.1 Workplans: The Contractor, and the PBGC designated representatives will work together to establish a detailed case processing workplan for each trusteed plan assigned to the Contractor. The workplan will be developed in the Plan Analysis Reporting Tool (PART) or a future tool that PBGC develops. The workplan is used to identify the target dates for accomplishing significant milestones for the plan(s) and identifying the individual team members and their assignments. The workplan is an integral part of BAPD workload management. The Contractor shall concur on the workplan dates within five (5) business days of execution.

C.16.2 Monthly Management Report: The Contractor shall submit a monthly status report identifying all significant activities issues, and events that might impact established workplan target dates. All reports are due to the COTR and designated government representative by the fifth (5th) workday after the end of the month.

C.16.3 Monthly Cost Report: The Contractor shall submit to the COTR a monthly cost report showing actual labor costs and other costs. Additionally, this report shall provide labor hours per labor category, labor costs per labor category and rate. This report shall be submitted to the COTR by the fifth (5th) workday following the end of the month.

The PBGC may at times need to track costs by case. The contractor will be requested to track costs by case when the need arises.

C.16.4 Other Reports: Contractor shall provide other reports as required/requested by the COTR or designated government representative.

C.17 Overtime: The Contractor will be permitted to work overtime in accordance with the rates and maximum hours established in Section B. All overtime must be pre-approved by the COTR. The Contractor shall provide the COTR with all projected overtime for the month in their Monthly Management Report. The contractor shall bill for overtime for hours in excess of a forty (40) hour work week.

C.18 Contractor Staff Listing: The Contractor shall submit to FASD by the last business day of each month a cumulative listing of employees that are onboard and who have terminated during the fiscal year.

C.19 Quarterly Case Status Meetings: The Contractor shall be required to meet with the COTR and the other government representatives quarterly to discuss case issues, progress on assigned work products, problems, upcoming target dates, and resource needs. This meeting will be held at the PBGC location in Washington, DC.

C.20 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES

Except for those items specifically stated to be Government furnished property and equipment in Section F, the Contractor shall furnish: a staff that meet or exceed the minimum qualifications as outlined in Section H.

C.21 Project Management and Support Services:

If an offeror proposes for more than one office, the offeror must propose a different set of key personnel for each office.

C.21.1 The Contractor shall designate the positions of Project Manager, Assistant Project Manger, and LAN Administrator(s) as key personnel as required under Section H of this contract. The Contractor shall provide advance notification to the COTR (as specified in Section H) any potential/planned changes in key contract personnel. See Section H regarding additional requirements for Key Personnel. The Contractor shall provide for contract management to effectively plan, perform and control the work of the day-to-day operations of the contract. The project manager and assistant project manager are required to manage the activities performed under this contract, and to ensure effective utilization of resources and coordination of projects with the PBGC. The key personnel designated shall work the majority of billable hours on-site at the PBGC facility.

The contractor shall not bill for hours spent performing overhead services, such as preparing payroll, hiring employees, meeting with legal representatives, accountants and benefit providers directly to the contract.

C.21.2 The Contractor shall make provisions acceptable to the PBGC for dealing with unsatisfactory personnel. The contractor shall ensure that personnel are generally available for the duration of the contract. This is to avoid the expense and time loss associated with multiple orientation sessions, start-up learning curves and lost experience.

C.21.3 The Contractor is responsible for ensuring the quality of all work performed by the staff. The Contractor is responsible for taking timely corrective action to limit the impact of any problems that may arise.

C.21.4 The Contractor shall provide all other training needed by the staff to perform their duties (e.g. Microsoft Office skills). The Government will reimburse the contractor as an Other Direct Costs in those situations in which the government changes its requirements with regards to the use of certain work office software applications (e.g. move from Microsoft 2003 to 2007). This reimbursement would apply to the training of existing staff onboard at the time of contract award. The Government shall not reimburse as an Other Direct Cost for new hires. The contractor shall also provide ongoing training to maintain proficiency with systems, and knowledge of procedures and policies, and other related skills.

C.21.5 PBGC Systems: BAPD is interested in using newer technologies and innovative methods to achieve its processing goals that are both efficient and cost effective. To achieve this outcome, PBGC is reliant on the Contractor to participate in the development process of its new systems to include, but not limited to, transfer of benefit processing knowledge to our developers through requirement gathering sessions, participation in User Acceptance Testing and ‘Checkpoint” status meetings to discuss problems or issues once a system release has been placed in production.

C.22 Basic Benefit Administration Services: The contractor shall provide participant focused benefit administration services in support of BAPD’s trusteed plans. For all tasks outlined, the contractor shall follow the policies and procedures outlined in the BAPD Manual. Periodically, BAPD will publish interim guidance to procedures via email notification and on its Portal until the BAPD Manual is updated. The contractor shall consult with the assigned Trusteeship Processing Division (TPD) team members for technical guidance and assistance. Any deviations from the BAPD Manual should be clearly documented in the participants’ file.

C.22.1 Gathering and Maintaining Participant Data: The Contractor shall assist in locating, organizing, updating, converting and entering data into PBGC systems or database tool, from plan and administrative files, i.e., personnel files, payroll records, pension files and any other files and records obtained through data collection field trips, and information received through oral and written correspondence which may be obtained to clarify and expand on participant data obtained from plan and administration files.

· Data Collection: The Contractor may be requested to prepare and document findings for a portion of the trip report when accompanying government representatives on a fieldtrip. The report shall be in accordance with the template format outlined in the BAPD Manual. The Contractor shall submit to the PBGC designated government representative any new documents such as :

· Plan and trust documents

· Collective bargaining agreements

· Trusteeship agreement

· Plan correspondence pertaining to policy or litigation issues, transfer memoranda, plan valuation, legal, or plan practice for inclusion the in the official IPS Plan file.

C.23 Processing and Authorizing Benefit Payments to Eligible Participants and Beneficiaries: The Contractor shall review and process new retirement applications and process applicable benefit adjustments. The Contractor shall process all benefit payments in accordance with BAPD’s published Benefit Payment schedule located on the intranet.

C.23.1 Application Process: The Contractor shall process all applications received by mail, and electronically through MyPBA. All applications deemed completed for eligible participants and beneficiaries’ payments should be authorized timely.

C.23.2 Plan Assumption: The Contractor shall assist with plan assumption first payloads to ensure participants continue to receive uninterrupted payments by performing the following:

· Conducting Forms of Benefit and Participant status review

· Notifying participants

· Reconciling PRISM/Spectrum data

C.23.3 Benefit Estimates: The Contractor shall provide benefit estimates to participants upon requests.

C.23.4 Woodwork Participants: The Contractor shall process woodwork participants who claim possible entitlement to a benefit from a particular plan who has not been included in final valuation.

C.23.5 Missing Benefit Payments: The Contractor shall coordinate stop payments on missing benefit checks with PBGC’s paying agent, and, where applicable initiate re-issuance of benefit payments.

C.23.6 Unlocatable Participants: The Contractor shall coordinate with the designated government representative to initiate the search for unlocatable participants.

C.23.7 Trusteeship Letters: The contractor shall coordinate with the designated government representative, the issuance of Trusteeship Letters.

C.24 Process Participant Information Changes: The Contractor shall process participant information changes such as:

· Electronic direct deposits

· Bank Changes

· Address changes

· Death notices

· Income Verifications

· Social Security Earnings Request

C.25 Issuing Benefit Determination Letters: The Contractor shall work with the designated government representatives to schedule and issue Benefit Determination letters (using eALG) and benefit statements, if applicable.

Process Benefit Adjustments: The Contractor shall process benefit changes, such as:

· Step downs, temporary supplements, pop ups, and disabilities;

· Final benefit adjustments (change payment from estimate to final status) within 90 days after the expiration of the appeal period, to include the implementation of recoupment/recoveries/special checks and updates to PRISM/Spectrum.

· Adjust participants’ benefits shortly after trusteeship to PBGC’s estimated amounts, when necessary.

C.26 Appeals: The Contractor shall support appeals process such as referrals from appeals (RFAs) and implementing appeal decisions timely.

C.27 Maintaining Participant Documentation: The Contractor shall process all participant documents received from customer inquiries received by mail (date/time stamped receipt) or fax. All participant records must be properly indexed and scanned/converted into IPS. The contractor shall coordinate with the TPD the scanning of any documents that are in a format other than paper (e.g. microfiche).

C.28 Oral and Written Inquiries: The Contractor shall respond to oral and written inquiries from participants and other interested parties by documenting responses to oral responses into CRM and imaging responses to written correspondence into the IPS. All written correspondence shall be on PBGC letterhead with the appropriate logo and signed as PBGC’s authorized representative, using eALG. The Contractor shall coordinate with the assigned TPD the processing of all sensitive correspondence such as Congressional inquiries and inquiries from the Problem Resolution Office to ensure that these matters are handled timely.

C.29 Case Processing Auditing Support: The Contractor may be requested to provide the TPDs with support with the following case processing audits:

1. Plan Asset Audit

2. Plan and Source Document Audit

3. Participant Data Audit

The above referenced audits shall be performed in accordance with the BAPD Auditing Standards and with the procedures outlined in the BAPD Manual. Audit deliverables will be based on dates established in the case processing workplan and should be submitted using the approved templates.

C.30 Plan Asset Audits are performed to determine the validity and value of the plan assets and liabilities at DOPT.

· Identify the existence of all assets.

· Research and identify potential conflicts of interest, fiduciary breach or fraud related to the plan assets.

· Apply the applicable Small Plan Due and Unpaid Employer Contribution Recovery Ratio (SPDRR) to the gross DUEC amount

· Valuation of plan assets are limited to the following assets that have a readily determined market value such as:

· Cash

· Cash equivalents

· Marketable securities such as equities, bonds puts/options, and recent appraised value of real estate, etc.

· The valuation of all other asset classes should be coordinated with the designated government representative.

C.30.1 Plan and Source Document Audit:

· Plan Document Audit- Identifies plan documents (anything that can affect benefits) such as:

· Plan amendments

· Collective bargaining agreements

· Pension committee minutes

· Board of Director’s meeting minutes, etc

· Source Document Audit

· Conduct source document audit that recommends applicable primary, secondary and tertiary data sources that may be used for participant data.

C.30.2 Participant Data Audit/Database Building:

The Contractor shall submit final databases in accordance with the auditor’s written instructions no later than the established work plan date. The database building will require the following:

· Reconciling the valuation database with the corporate database (PRISM)

· Validating data against standard and custom checks

· Documenting results in a report using the required template

C.31 Plan Closing: Plan closing is the PBGC’s detailed review of case activities before the case is transferred to Post Valuation Administration for routine day-to-day- maintenance. This process includes ensuring that BAPD case processing has been completed, including:

· Benefit Determination Letters for the case have been issued to all locatable participants;

· all participants are loaded into PRISM/Spectrum; and

· benefit amounts have been adjusted.

The completion of plan closing activities results in promoting the plans to the Post Valuation center. Plans submitted by the Contractor as being closed, but rejected for not meeting the plan closing criteria will be returned to the Contractor for further work. The Contractor will be responsible for the administration of the plan until they are notified that the plan has been accepted as closed.

C.32 Post Valuation Administration: Following plan closing, the Contractor’s duties become limited to routine day-to-day benefit administration which generally includes, but is not limited to: processing benefit applications, address changes, and death notifications.

Generally, a closed plan will be transferred to a Post Valuation center to continue the day-to-day benefit administration. On a case-by-case basis, PBGC may determine if it is in the best interest of the government that the maintenance of a plan remains at the Contractor site.

C.33 Special Projects: Participant and support BAPD projects such as the Communities of Practice, process improvement events, participant meetings, conferences, ad hoc projects, etc. Provides requirements for new and updated systems and performs user acceptance testing.

C.34 LAN Administration Support: Provides Tier 1 support to PBGC’s Service Desk in the area of IT asset management inventory, systems back ups, computer support, PC installation, on-site Service Desk support and coordination with Telecommunication Group.

C.35 Other Requirements: Information and Telecommunications: Contractor staff must take the mandatory Annual Security Awareness Training offered by the PBGC. Newly hired employees after contract award will be required to take the Initial Security Orientation Course within 30 days of being hired. This orientation course will be offered by way of a web-based tutorial.

Contractor personnel are required to abide by PBGC’s Directive on the Use of Information Technology Resources and Safeguarding Information.

C.36 Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP): The PBGC will provide specific guidance to the Contractor regarding COOP. The Contractor may be requested to support PBGC in two of its COOP testing exercises. PBGC will provide up to two weeks advance notification of the timing of any planned COOP activities. The Contractor will be required to do the following:

· Provide an updated succession and delegation orders for the COOP Plan quarterly.

· Provide quarterly COOP contact list (to be provided to COTR)

C.36.1 Audits by the PBGC: The contractor shall be required to support any audit/review activity relating to the work performed under this contract. All work performed under this contract is subject to review and inspection and/or audit by the PBGC and other entities. PBGC will conduct the following reviews on a regular basis, but shall not be limited to any of the following:

· COTR site visits

· FBA Performance Reviews

· Compliance Reviews

· PBGC Financial Audits

· Audits conducted by PBGC’s Inspector General

· Audits conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)

If any parties other than PBGC express the need to visit the contractor's site, the Contractor shall coordinate the visit with the COTR. The contractor shall also coordinate with the PBGC in responding to documentation and information requests.

The Contractor shall designate an individual, at the Senior Pension Administrator labor category or above, who can be trained by the PBGC to be responsible for making determinations and qualifications for the following:

· Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROS), Powers of Attorney (POAs) and Guardianships.

C.37 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

The Contractor shall perform the services set forth in the WS in accordance with the BAPD On-Line Manual that includes PBGC’s Policy Manual and Bulletins (BAPD Manual) (See Attachment 1) The Contractor will also perform services in accordance with documented procedures contained on PBGC’s Portal for certain case processing activities and in accordance with Interim Guidance that is released periodically through e-mail notification. In addition, the contractor shall perform Tier 1 LAN Administration Support in accordance with the OIT Standard Operating Procedures for Service Desk Support.

C.38 Performance Requirements

This acquisition directly supports the mission and goals of PBGC by providing the highest caliber professional pension benefit administration services support. The following measurable activities are aligned with PBGC Strategic Objectives and include:

Activity 1: Participant Services

Activity 2: Case processing support services

Activity 3: Customer Service

Activity 4: Special Projects

Specific services, performance standards and Government monitoring methods and/or “scorecards” are contained in the performance-based contracting matrix that follows. It should be noted, that BAPD continuously strives to provide exceptional and timely service to its plan participants. As such, the stated target levels for the performance measures outlined may be adjusted at the beginning of each option year to meet the departmental goals and objectives. Changes to the performance targets will be communicated to the contractor 30 days prior to implementation.

C.39 Contractor Performance Report (Scorecard)

The COTR will be responsible for meeting frequently with the contractor to address problems and issues as they arise. On a quarterly basis, the Management Coordination Division (MCD), of BAPD in coordination with the COTR will issue a performance report for the performance measures outlined in the attached matrix. The scorecard will indicate those performance measures in which the contractor has met has or exceeded the established targets. The contractor will have 10 calendar days after the scorecard is issued to concur with the evaluation provided and to provide a corrective action plan for any targets not met. Any disputed information presented in the scorecard should be communicated to both the COTR and MCD Supervisor. An adjusted scorecard will be issued to reflect any agreements reached on the disputed information within 10 calendar days of the agreement. The MCD Manager will act as mediator to resolve any disputes.

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 1

Performance Matrix Summary

Overall Program Outcome: Professional pension benefit administration services support is needed to assist the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in meeting its mission needs.

Activity 1: Participant Services Outcome: To provide timely and accurate benefits to participants in PBGC’s trusteed plans.

1.1

Payment Authorizations:

New retirement applications are processed timely so that participants receive their benefit payments.

· 95% of eligible applications are processed within 90 days of completed application.

· 85% of eligible applications are processed within 60 days of completed applications

No deviation

The contractor shall report in their Monthly Management Report any exceptions that fall outside of the targets established.

1.2

Payment Authorizations:

Monthly benefits are authorized accurately and properly reflected in PRISM/Spectrum.

Monthly MCD will pull a sample of transactions authorized for the month and review for quality based on established checklist.

1.3

Benefit Determination Letter Processing:

Benefit Determination letters issued to participants are both timely and accurate.

1.3

Benefit Determination Letter Processing (cont):

· 98% of issuable benefit determination letters are issued within the stated number of days, once the ADT load has been completed:

Small Plans (1-1000 participants) = 45 calendar days

Medium Plans (1001-5000 participants) = 75 calendar days

Large and Jumbo Plans will be based on the agreed upon date as reflected in the case workplan.

· 95% of sampled benefit determinations letters issued are accepted as accurate.

No deviation without TPD management approval.

No deviation The contractor shall report in their Monthly Management Report any exceptions that fall outside of the targets established.

No less than quarterly, MCD will pull a sample of benefit determinations issued to review for quality based on established checklist.

1.4

Final Benefit Adjustments:

Process final benefit adjustments (change payment from estimate to final status)

Implement recoupment/recoveries/special checks and update PRISM/SPECTRUM

Activity 2: Case processing support services Outcome: To ensure that data used in the calculation of the participant benefits is complete and accurate.

2.1 Plan Closing: Plans are closed timely and with only acceptable errors.

2.2 Plan Closing: Plans are closed with only acceptable errors.

· 90% of the plans are closed within the established timeframes.

· Small Plans (1-1000 participants) = 45 calendar days

· Medium Plans (1001-5000 participants)=

75 calendar days

· Large and Jumbo plans will be based on the agreed upon date in the case processing workplan.

· 90% of plans submitted for closing are accepted upon initial review. No deviation No deviation without TPD Management approval.

No deviation without RSD Management approval The contractor shall report in their Monthly Management Report any exceptions that fall outside of the targets established.

The PVA contractor will review 100% of the plans submitted for closure. Any rejected plans will be evaluated by the RSD federal staff for concurrence.

Activity 3: Customer Service

Outcome: PBGC will provide exceptional service to its participants and stakeholders.

3.1

Provide high quality customer service.

Supported by the following tasks:

· Participation in participant meetings

· Responding to participants written and oral communications

· Responding to requests from the Problem Resolution Office

· Responding to FOIA requests

· Responding to Congressional inquiries

· Processing income verifications

· Health Coverage Tax Credit Coordination and support

· Process woodwork participants. A woodwork person can be defined as one who claims possible entitlement to a benefit from a particular plan who has not been included in the final valuation.

Activity 4: Other Special Projects

Outcome: Procedures and policies are carried out that aid in the effectiveness and efficiency of PBGC’s operations.

4.1

Conduct special projects related to plan or participant benefit administration to facilitate participant services and/or to streamline PBGC operations, to include such activities as:

· Systems requirements support, including user acceptance testing

· Data clean up/conversion

· Communities of practice

· Participate in PBGC training and train the trainer, such as new systems, policy updates

· Audit support for both PBGC internal and external auditors.

· Process improvement initiatives

· Participant meetings

· Rotational policy support

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 2

Deliverables Schedule

1.Quality Control Plan

WS C.6

With Proposal

2. Telework or work from home policy

WS Section F.2

2. PICS Employee certification

WS

3. Trip report

WS C.15

4. Concurrence on Workplan milestone dates

WS C.16.1

5. Monthly Management Report

WS C.16.2

6. Monthly Cost Report

WS C.16.3

5th workday after end of month

8. Audit deliverables

WS C.36.1

9. COOP Succession and Delegate

Order

WS C.36

10. COOP Employee Listing

WS C.36

11. Scorecard Concurrence

WS C.39

10 calendar days

12. Corrective Action Plan to address deficient scorecard issues

WS C.39

SECTION D

PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 PBGC-11-004 PACKAGING AND MARKING (OCT 2004)

The Contractor is responsible for the cost of all packing, packaging and mailing in accordance with the best commercial practices. All information submitted to the Contracting Officer or the COTR shall be clearly marked with the company name, the PBGC contract number, and identification of the item.

SECTION E

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 52.246-6 INSPECTION – TIME- AND – MATERIAL AND LABOR-HOUR

E.2 PBGC-46-001 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF DELIVERABLES (OCT 2004)

All deliverable items are to be furnished to the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or to PBGC personnel designated by the COTR to receive a specific deliverable.

PBGC's receipt of a deliverable does not constitute acceptance by the Government. Final acceptance of any reports or other deliverable items required under this contract will be made in writing and may only be made by the designated Trusteeship Processing Division (TPD) Subject Matter Expert, COTR or Contracting Officer.

SECTION F

DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 PBGC-16-004 CONTRACT TYPE (OCT 2004)

This contract is a Labor-Hour contract.

F.2 PBGC-11-006 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE (OCT 2004)

All work required under this contract shall be performed at the Contractor’s site.

The Contractor shall perform most routine work at the PBGC facility. However, the Contractor will be required to periodically perform work at alternate locations such as plan sponsor locations, or other contractor locations. Telework or “work at home” is permissible under this contract in situations where the contractor has a written policy in place as to the suitability of work that can be done at an alternate location, monitoring of work performed at the alternate location and that participant and privacy information can be adequately protected in compliance with PBGC’s Security Policy. The Contractor shall access participant data via PBGC issued token only. Within 30 days of contract award, the contractor shall provide the government with their “telework” or work from home policy for review and comment.