LSJ - WorkLife Bridge

Limited Source Justification

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

a. Agency:

Health and Human Services/Program Support Center/Strategic Acquisition Services

b. Sponsoring organization:

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/Federal Occupational Health Services (FOHS)

c. Project Officer:

d. Contracting Activity:

Department of Health and Human Services Program Support Center 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

a. Acquisition purpose and objectives.

Federal Occupational Health (FOH), a component of the Program Support Center (PSC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has provided occupational health programs for Federal employees for 65 years. FOH operates under the principles of the Health Promotion for Government Employees Act, Pub. L. No. 79-658, 60 Stat. 903 (1946), as amended and codified at 5 U.S.C. § 7901, which authorizes the head of an agency to establish a health service program to promote and maintain the physical fitness and emotional well-being of Federal employees.

FOH is committed to an integrated approach to improving the health and productivity of the Federal workforce, which will help address both direct and indirect cost drivers impacting the Federal Government. To that end, FOH provides programs and services that support a wellness-focused culture of health rather than a treatment-focused culture of sickness.

FOH’s objective is to align programs and services along a continuum designed to meet the needs of the Federal employees across all risk levels — health and wellness programs to keep healthy people healthy;

health risk management for those at low and moderate risk; and referral for those with chronic health needs. FOH’s Work/Life program plays an essential role in FOH’s overall integrated health strategy to maintain or improve the health of the Federal population.

The purpose of this contract is to obtain a contractor to provide Work/Life Program services for employees and organizations located in the United States and abroad.

Services shall be provided for departments, agencies, and other organizational components within the Federal Government when they enter into interagency agreements with FOH. The Government reserves the right to add services under this contract for other entities, consistent with any authorities delegated to FOH to do so, via contract modifications.

Work/Life services are to be provided for agency employees and their family members. Currently, FOH has approximately 87 interagency agreements for work/life services.

FOH provides Work/Life services through a consortium model to approximately 812,000 federal employees. The contractor shall provide a broad range of services to help employees better manage their work and personal responsibilities and reach higher levels of personal achievement and satisfaction, both on and off the job. Through a contractor provided Service Center and an interactive web site, clients shall be connected with program specialists who have expertise in numerous fields including child development, gerontology, education, finance, and law. The contractor shall provide personalized consultation, service resource searches, and confirmed referrals to meet each client’s specific needs.

This acquisition is a result of the need to bridge between a current contract and the competition and award of the integrated EAP and Work/Life contract, in order to ensure continuity of service. The RFP for the integrated contract is expected to be issued within the next month, and award is expected by the end of the fiscal year. However, based on the need for IT certification of the successful offeror’s systems, the transition from the incumbent provider could take a minimum of 90 -180 days following contract award.

This acquisition is for a sole source, short-term bridge contract with LifeCare, Inc. 2 Armstrong Road, Shelton, CT 06484. The period of performance for the base period is April 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012, with two three-month options.

FOH will not be able to fulfill its mission to provide Work/Life services to other Federal agencies if this bridge contract is not awarded, since there is no other vehicle available to provide continuity of services.

b. Project Background.

The current contract, , was awarded to LifeCare, Inc., via a GSA schedule competition on December 19, 2006. The original period of performance was from December 19, 2006 through September

30, 2011, including four option periods. In addition, the contract was extended from October 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012 in accordance with FAR 52.217-8.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

a. Project title. Work/Life Bridge

b. Project description.

Currently, FOH provides 24/7 national work/life services and consultations to Federal customer agencies through interagency agreements (IAAs).

FOH maintains sole responsibility for consulting with Federal government agencies, and for developing IAAs and associated documentation. For the bridge contract, the contractor is required to provide staff to FOH and its customer agencies to consult, design, implement, and manage Work/Life services, including research and referral services in accordance with the FOH Work/Life Statement of Work. These services include, but are not limited to:

1. Website Services – Searchable databases to locate dependent care resources, and daily life events resources to assist with relocation, home repair and major consumer purchases.

2. Website and Telephone Services – In addition to web tools, the Work/Life national call center provides 24/7 geriatric care, child development and case management specialists delivering confirmed referrals to dependent care resources within 2 business days.

3. Professional (Geriatric) Care Services – Access to in-person assistance (in-home assessment, facility review services, and more) to facilitate the care and safety of an aging loved one or dependent adult.

4. Legal Services – For customer without EAP legal services, Work/Life provides free, 30-minute legal consultations and access to templates for drafting documents such as wills, power of attorney and notaries.

5. Financial Services – For customers without EAP financial services, Work/Life provides free, 30-minute consultations with a certified financial planner and access to templates for drafting budgets, financial planning and tax preparation.

6. Optional Services

a. Emergency Backup Care Services – Access to dedicated backup care for children and dependent adults.

b. Working Mothers Services – 24/7 support for expectant and breastfeeding employees with prenatal education, 24/7 counseling from lactation consultants, educational materials, and products (including breast pumps) that enable women to manage breastfeeding and working.

c. Discount Center –Work/Life offers access to professionally monitored and vetted discounted services and products.

d. Benefits Coordination Services – Design and development of a central repository of all of the customer agency's benefits, thereby driving awareness, usage and valuable reporting of that information.

Requirement type.

Support services (non-R&D) Supplies/equipment

Supplies/equipment

Information technology (IT)

Other (specify):

Type of action.

New requirement

Follow-on:

Other (specify):

Proposed contract/order type.

Firm-fixed-price

Time and Materials

Indefinite delivery (specify whether indefinite quantity,):

definite quantity, or requirements

Other (specify):

Acquisition identification number.

c. Total estimated dollar value and performance/delivery period.

Base period 4-1-2012 to 9-30-2012

1st Option period 10-1-2012 to 12-31-2012

2nd Option period 1-1-2013 to 3-31-2013

4. Identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

a. Acquisition authority.

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program. Consideration of schedule contractors will be restricted to fewer than the number required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(a)(1) (i.e., fewer than three FSS contractors).

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program. Consideration of schedule contractors will be restricted only to the item peculiar to one manufacturer as provided in FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)

b. Demonstration of the proposed contractor(s) unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

A sole source contract is required to secure continuing services from the incumbent contractor. A competitive solicitation will be issued for integrated Work/Life services within the next month, and a contract is expected to be awarded before the end of the fiscal year. A reasonable transition period between contracts, including the need for IT certification of the successful offeror’s systems, could take a minimum of 90 - 180 days following contract award.

This contract was last modified to invoke FAR 52.217-8 (entitled Option to Extend Services) which permits the extension of service for a maximum period of 6 months (expires March 31, 2012). FOH and their customers would suffer greatly from the complete collapse of providing vital and necessary services to support their mission. Therefore a gap in services is not an option. The Government planned to re-compete this requirement by the end of the extension period. However, the re-compete was not solicited and awarded by the end of the 52.217-8 extension period due to extensive policy changes and defining the need further. These changes required additional levels of review and approval that were not original anticipate.

Name and address of the proposed contractor(s).

LifeCare, Inc.

2 Armstrong Road, Shelton, CT 06484

Nature of the acquisition and proposed contractor(s) unique qualifications.

The current contract is a fixed price per capita Blanket Purchase Agreement, which was competitively awarded against GSA schedule.

As stated above, LifeCare, Inc. is the incumbent contractor, and is the only qualified contractor who can provide services during the period of the bridge contract, until a new integrated EAP and Work/Life contract can be awarded. The inability to utilize contracted Work/Life services would prevent FOH from delivery of Work/Life services to other Federal agencies. Complex, secured IT connections, telephonic, data file and call -center protocols have been established with client agencies in Homeland Security, the intelligence community, and Executive branch of government (The Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Labor, etc,) that would take months to coordinate with another contractor. The costs to FOH’s client agencies for provision of Work/Life support services would be higher during this potential break in service because of costs to re-brand websites, marketing and promotional materials, since every customer’s information is unique. If there is a break in service, customer agencies and many Federal employees would be negatively impacted by a variety of issues, including increased absenteeism, presenteeism and loss in productivity.

LifeCare, Inc., the incumbent FOH contractor, is uniquely qualified to support the continuation of current services and functions until the follow-on contract can be awarded. LifeCare, Inc. staff are currently trained in the specific areas and have the necessary expertise to perform the work without additional training costs or start-up time.

Given the background knowledge already present in LifeCare, Inc.

staff, no lead time is necessary to be fully functional upon award of the bridge contract. No other provider could step in and be fully operational from day of contract award, and it would be impossible for another contractor to be trained and complete all the necessary steps to meet requirements within the six month time frame of the base period, let alone be fully capable of performing operationally.

Additionally, it would not be economical for FOH to pay for another contractor to be trained and achieve operational readiness with only six months to see the return on investment. The potential loss of revenue under existing IAAs for Work/Life services is more than $2.4 million if the bridge contract is not awarded.

5. Determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

This office will request a technical and business proposal from Lifecare”. Upon receipt, the Government (program officials and acquisition staff) will review the submissions and determine the fair and reasonable price based on current market conditions for same or similar services and through the examination of the current services being performed under the contract

6. Description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

For this effort market research has not been conducted; however, market research was conduct for the integrated packet that is currently being prepared for solicitation. The Government posted a RFI and Market Research request on FedBizOpps and result was received October 2011. Those results are still being analyzed.

A GSA schedule competition for Work/Life services was previously conducted prior to award of the current contract to LifeCare, with offerors providing complete technical and business proposals. Knowledge gained from the previous competition will be utilized in evaluating LifeCare, Inc.’s bridge proposal.

LifeCare, Inc. staff’s knowledge and their subcontract relationships, including significant experience with FOH customers, coupled with their familiarity with the FOH IT and operational policies and systems, make them unique as the only known source for award of the bridge contract.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The requested bridge is a short-term solution, so that the Federal government can complete the competition and award of an integrated Employee Assistance and Work/Life contract.

The need for continuation of services during the solicitation process makes LifeCare, Inc., the only viable service provider for the bridge contract. Award of a bridge contract to the incumbent contractor will assist FOH in meeting its mission and its customer’s Work/Life needs, as well as reduce overall program implementation costs.

Awarding to LifeCare, Inc. will prevent a lapse in service delivery and reduction in FOH revenue. If FOH is required to conduct a limited or full and open competition for follow-on Work/Life services, it would take at least six months to select a contractor and make a contract award. The integrated contract to cover FOH’s long term solution is anticipated to be awarded by that time. In addition, conducting a new competition will likely result in significantly higher costs, since any contractor other than LifeCare, Inc. will have a protracted learning curve, in order to learn how to integrate with FOH systems and develop experience in dealing with current FOH customers.

As required by FAR 5.406, Public Disclosure of Justification and Approval Documents for Noncompetitive Contracts, and 8.405-6 Limiting sources, this LSJ will be published on FedBizOps and the Department’s website within 14 days after contract award.

8. Statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

a. Removal of barriers to competition.

This requirement covers a finite period of time until the competitive award can be made. The competitive follow-on contract requirements for integrated EAP and Work/Life services will be posted on FedBizOps.

The proposed sole source acquisition will be posted on FedBizOpps, as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and 8.405-6.

It is not practicable to solicit proposals from other offerors, as the Federal government does not have sufficient time to solicit and make a competitive award of a new contract, and allow for a transition from the incumbent to a new contractor prior to the expiration of the current contract. LifeCare, Inc.

was selected as a result of GSA schedule competition. There is no other reasonable alternative but to allow the incumbent contractor to continue performance. Award of a competitive contract for EAP and Work/Life services prior to April 1, 2012 is not feasible, and would not allow for any period of transition between the incumbent contractor and the successful offeror. FOH and their customers would suffer greatly from the complete collapse of providing vital and necessary services to support their mission.

b. Listing of sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition.

No sources have expressed an interest in this acquisition in writing.