Questions_and_answers.pdf

# Question Answer

1 B.4.2.1 Employee Pool – This clause is only in effect if the contractor included details in its offer regarding a pooling arrangement, of which this contract is a part.

Before any adjustment is made under this price adjustment clause, the Contractor must include in its proposal for adjustment, details setting forth how the pool impacts the request for equitable adjustment.

Is there any / or what is the format in which the Insurance Company should present in its offer the information on how the pool impacts the request for equitable adjustment?

There is no special format. Each insurance Company can present the information individually

2 C.2.O. Group Life Insurance – the solicitation says that the paragraph is reserved. Does this mean that there are no specific requirements from the Mission’s side and we should propose this service in our own format?

Group Life Insurance is reserved – it means that Life Insurance is not part of this contract.

We are soliciting only Health Insurance.

3 Section D – PACKAGING AND MARKING – what shall we provide in this section?/ What is this section devoid to?

Section D- PACKAGING AND MARKING is reserved – you shall provide no information, this section is not a part of this solicitation/ contract

4 C.1.1.2 – what sort of injections is meant under “inoculation”?

All kinds of vaccination officially registered in Georgia and approved by the Ministry of Health and Social Security of Georgia.

5 Section B (B.2.3) The table provides number of employees and families. Does Family Plan mean only family members or employees with family members?

Family plan means employees with family members

6 B 2 - This is a fixed price with economic price adjustment requirements type contract under which will be issued firm, fixed-price task orders. –

We need clarification, The Government contemplates award of a requirements type contract that contains fixed prices with economic price adjustment, resulting from this solicitation.

The fixed price – price for each contract year shall not change during the entire performance period of contract, unless basis for economic price adjustment clause are present.

Economic price adjustment - See B.4 for information related to the economic price adjustment rule of this contract.

This model is written as a requirements type contract as per FAR 16.503. This type of contract provides for filling all actual purchase requirements or designated Government activities for supplies or services during a specified contract period, with ALL deliveries or performance to be scheduled by placing orders ONLY with the selected contractor.

This also means that the contract itself is not funded. Rather, funded task orders are issued, normally monthly, quarterly or semi-annually, ordering insurance for the estimated number of employees during that time period.

The task orders are prospective, not retrospective – See H.3

Since the number and names of employees and family members changes frequently, subsequent task order modifications or new task orders should be used as more employees are added or removed from coverage

7 B.3.1 retention amount? – Definition is given in the solicitation package however what factors shall be considered while calculating? Shall it be fixed for all years?

The retention amount is part of the premium and may include, but not be limited to, such costs as overhead and general and administrative costs. It will also include any profit. Essentially, it includes all costs except the actual portion of the premium intended to fund claims paid to the health care provider/claimant. - See B.3.1

Retention amount – can be different for each option year. (B.3.2)

8 C.1.1 – What are routine medical care and preventive tests? Please specify.

Routine care includes elective, acute and emergency care.

Preventive tests – all kinds of tests considered necessary to carry out once a year in order to prevent serious illnesses.

Preventive tests include but not limited to blood tests (CBC, blood glucose, cholesterol, liver function test, PSA for persons 50 and over), urine tests, stool test, ECG tests for persons 40 and over, mammography for women 40 and over, pap smear for women, ultra sound and chest X-ray.

9 C.1.1.1 and C.1.1.2 – Physical therapy – What is meant?

Physical rehabilitative treatment at a medical institution (hospital or clinic) to regain or improve physical abilities impaired by an acute disease or injury, prescribed and fulfilled by a licensed physical therapist.

Physical therapy includes manual therapy, use of specially designed equipment, specially designed exercises and additional aids

10 C.1.2 Health benefit conditions and limitations.

There is no reimbursement for medical expenses related to an illness or injury that is a result of an unlawful action on the part of the employee; the practice of a dangerous sport (as described in C.3 Definitions); excessive or illegal use of alcohol or drugs; a self-inflicted wound; or service in the armed forces of any country; and expenses incurred after an employee leaves the service of the mission.

Clarification requires for term- Dangerous Sports

Any sport or recreational activity that is dangerous and, if performed optimally, even by the highly skilled, risks loss of life or limb such as: air travel (other than as a fare paying passenger); sky diving/parachuting; hang gliding, hot air ballooning (except for organized excursion); stunt flying/acrobatics;

black and white water rafting (grades 4-6);

snow skiing or snowboarding whilst skiing away from prepared and marked in-bound territories and/or against the advice of the local ski school or local authoritative body;

abseiling; rock climbing; mountaineering;

caving; spelunking; canyoning; glacier; ice climbing; mountaineering (with ropes); zip climbing; zip wiring; gravity sports (gorge swinging, zorbing, bungee jumping, base jumping, bobsleigh/skeleton/luge, cresta run);;

endurance tests; hunting, use of weapons etc

11 G.1 – Please describe exact meaning of the

COR.

Contracting Officer's Representative (Human Resources Specilaist at post) as per DOSAR

642.270 see G.2

12 C.1.3.3.1. – What does ORE account/EAE mean?

ORE- Official Residence Employees - all current active employees of the Chief of Mission (CM) and the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) assigned to their respective official Government residences and paid under an ORE account. All costs for ORE employees are the responsibility of the employing officer (CM and DCM), not the U.S. Government

13 C.1.7.1. – Shall broshures list all kinds of aplicable coverages etc.? Must broshures be ready withih one month from the date of contract award?

Yes

14 Do we have to provide current financial statements or it is only necessary if the Contracting Officer asks for it?

If asked by the Contracting Officer, the offeror shall provide a current statement of its financial condition, certified by a third party.

This current statement shall include:

Income (profit-loss) Statement that shows profitability for the past [Note to Contracting Officer: insert number of years] years;

Balance Sheet that shows the assets owned and the claims against those assets, or what a firm owns and what it owes; and

Cash Flow Statement that shows the firm’s sources and uses of cash during the most recent accounting period. This will help the Government assess a firm’s ability to pay its obligations.

The Government will use this information to determine the offeror’s financial responsibility and ability to perform under the contract.

Failure of an offeror to comply with a request for this information may cause the Government to determine the offeror to be nonresponsible.

15 How can we get registered in www.sam.gov and obtain DUNS number?

See attached guidelines

16 52.237-7 INDEMNIFICATION AND

MEDICAL LIABILITY INSURANCE (JAN

1997)

Is it necessary to obtain insurance before proposal due date or after award before contract effective date?

Please see paragraph (b) of 52.237-7

17 L.4.3.2.1.Experience and Past Performance.

Scope of the contract is confidential information. What info shall be provided

Types of insurance provided and range of population covered, as well as total dollar amount http://www.sam.gov/

Notes to Vendors on How to Obtain a DUNS Number

DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) numbers: Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) assigns DUNS numbers free of charge anywhere worldwide as long as you are obtaining the DUNS number for use in U.S. federal government contracting or U.S. federal government grants or cooperative agreements.

1. Who must obtain a DUNS number? Your organization must provide a DUNS number when registering in the System for Award Management (SAM, at http://www.sam.gov) or if a Contracting Officer (CO) requires your organization to provide one, either in a solicitation or by other means. If your organization does not already have a DUNS number, it must obtain one from Dun and Bradstreet. A representative from your organization must register directly for a DUNS number. U.S. government employees cannot obtain a DUNS number on behalf of the organization, although they may assist the organization via such methods as a conference call, as long as a representative from the organization initiates the request and provides the required information. If you are requested by a D&B office to pay for a DUNS number designation or other issues arise with the registration, contact your CO.

2. How do we obtain a DUNS number?: There are two ways of getting a DUNS Number if your organization does not already have one:

a. Online: Go to http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform and follow the directions. This will allow you to search to see if your firm already has a DUNS number and, if they don’t already have one, enter the data online and then receive the DUNS Number via e-mail. If you have any problems, contact Dun and Bradstreet using the phone numbers or e-mails listed on that website; OR

b. Phone: Call D&B and ask for a DUNS Number. To find the D&B phone number go to the D&B website at http://www.dnb.com. In the center of the top of the first page, select the country you are in from the pull-down menu. That will take you to the D&B website appropriate for that country. That D&B website will, in turn, have a phone number you can call to reach the D&B office that covers that country.

When you call, be sure to explain to D&B that you are requesting a DUNS number for use in U.S. federal government contracting or U.S. federal government grants or cooperative agreements. (Otherwise, D&B may charge you for the DUNS number.

D&B may attempt to sell you other services they offer. Only the DUNS number is free.

The other services would be at your expense and are not required for U.S. Government grants or contracts. You are under no obligation to sign up for any of them.) The process of requesting a DUNS number takes about 10 minutes for domestic individuals and organizations, and may take longer for overseas individuals and organizations. If you already have a DUNS number, the D&B representative will advise you over the phone.

3. How many DUNS numbers do we need?

http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform http://www.dnb.com/

In most cases, only one will be necessary. Please note that for proper DUNS identification, vendors must have a separate DUNS number for each vendor location involved in a government contract, grant or cooperative agreement. If more than one physical address is involved, then you will need more than one DUNS number.

4. What information should we provide D&B to get a DUNS number?

D&B will ask for your Legal Business Name and address, among other data.

If you are a foreign vendor registering in SAM, you will also be required to obtain a NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code before you can complete your SAM registration. Please note the Legal Business Name and address provided to Dun and Bradstreet for the DUNS number must exactly match (including spelling, capitalization, punctuation and spacing) the Legal Business Name and address provided to NATO for the NCAGE code. The DUNS number name and address information will be fed automatically into SAM from the Dun and Bradstreet database. Once the NCAGE Code is granted, it will be input into the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA’s) Business Identification Number Cross-reference System (BINCS) at https://www.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/bincs/begin_search.aspx.

Since SAM will also check BINCS for the NCAGE Code as well as the name and address in BINCS, if the information for the DUNS number does not match the information for the NCAGE Code, SAM will be unable to complete the validation of the SAM registration.

For foreign vendors, one way to help ensure the information for the DUNS number and the NCAGE code are the same is to apply for them at the same time, perhaps also cut/pasting from one request form to the other. You can apply for both at the same time since it is not necessary to have a DUNS number before getting an NCAGE code, nor is it necessary to have an NCAGE code before getting a DUNS number. However, both are needed before a vendor can complete their SAM registration. Since NCAGE Codes can take significantly longer to obtain than DUNS numbers, we recommend submitting the NCAGE request first.

5. Opting Out from Inclusion in D&B (DUNS Number) Marketing Lists: As a result of obtaining a DUNS number, your firm might be included on D&B's marketing list sold to other companies. Vendors not wanting to be on this list must either:

a. As part of the online application: If applying for a DUNS number online, check the box at the end of the online registration next to the words, “Yes, I wish to have my entity excluded from the D&B marketing list”; OR

b. Phone, at the time of application or later: Contact D&B to request you be removed either at the time you request a DUNS number or later. For the full explanation of how D&B uses vendor information, go to the D&B Privacy Policy page at http://www.dnb.com/privacy-policy.html. Once there, for the full list of uses and how to opt out of them, scroll down to the "You Have Choices" section and follow the instructions there. In addition, a multi-organization opt-out option is described in the paragraph entitled, "Third Party Advertisers".

https://www.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/bincs/begin_search.aspx http://www.dnb.com/privacy-policy.html

Notes to Vendors about NCAGE Codes and Registering in SAM

Below are instructions for getting NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) codes (when necessary) and registering in the System for Award Management (SAM). U.S. vendors can ignore the instructions about NCAGE since they will receive CAGE codes automatically as a result of the SAM registration process. Foreign vendors will need to pay attention to the NCAGE codes and all of the other information below that is applicable to foreign vendors.

1. Who must get an NCAGE Code?

Any vendor based overseas that is required by a CO to be registered in SAM.

2. Who must register in SAM?

Any vendor required to do so by the CO, whether the request is made in the solicitation or otherwise.

FAR 4.1102 describes when a CO would have to require vendors to register in SAM.

3. How do we obtain an NCAGE Code?

a. Request and obtain an NCAGE Code through https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/scage/CageList.aspx. For more information, see http://pd.statebuy.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=62&menu_id=60 and http://www.dlis.dla.mil/Forms/Form_AC135.asp; and

b. Once you receive the NCAGE Code, verify with the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Business Identification Number Cross-reference System (BINCS, at http://www.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/BINCS) that the NCAGE code has been successfully input into the BINCS system. Once the NCAGE code has been entered into BINCS, SAM will be able to validate the NCAGE code the vendor enters into SAM. Only after a SAM registration is completed and fully validated can a vendor be considered to have a current, active registration in SAM. If the NCAGE code is not in BINCS or if there is a problem with the information regarding the code, that page also has information on how to contact the DoD office that operates BINCS.

NOTE: NCAGE code requests can take from a few days to several weeks to process.

4. What information should we provide NATO to get an NCAGE Code?

NATO will ask for your Legal Business Name and address, among other data.

If you are a foreign vendor registering in SAM, you will also be required to obtain a DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet before you can complete your SAM registration. See http://www.statebuy.state.gov for more information. Please note the Legal Business Name and address provided to Dun and Bradstreet for the DUNS number must exactly match (including spelling, capitalization, punctuation and spacing) the Legal Business Name and address provided to NATO for the NCAGE code. The DUNS number name and address information will be fed automatically into SAM from the Dun and Bradstreet database. Since SAM will also check BINCS for the NCAGE Code as well as the name and address in https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/scage/CageList.aspx http://pd.statebuy.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=62&menu_id=60 http://www.dlis.dla.mil/Forms/Form_AC135.asp http://www.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/BINCS http://www.statebuy.state.gov/

BINCS, if the information for the DUNS number does not match the information for the NCAGE Code, SAM will be unable to complete the validation of the SAM registration.

If you are a foreign vendor, one way to help ensure the information for the DUNS number and the NCAGE code are the same is to apply for them at the same time, perhaps also cut/pasting from one request form to the other. You can apply for both at the same time since it is not necessary to have a DUNS number before getting an NCAGE code, nor is it necessary to have an NCAGE code before getting a DUNS number. However, both are needed before a vendor can complete their SAM registration.

Since NCAGE Codes can take significantly longer to obtain than DUNS numbers, we recommend submitting the NCAGE request first.

5. How many NCAGE Codes do we need?

In most cases, only one will be necessary. Please note that for proper DUNS identification, vendors must have a separate vendor DUNS number for each vendor location involved in a government contract, grant or cooperative agreement. If vendor facilities at more than one physical address are involved, then you will need more than one DUNS number. For any such facilities located in the U.S. and registered in SAM, the facility would automatically receive a CAGE code as part of the SAM registration process, so NCAGE codes would not be necessary for such facilities located in the U.S.

Since the Legal Business Name and address associated with an NCAGE Code must be identical to those associated with a DUNS number, any such facilities located outside the U.S. would need separate NCAGE Codes, If more than one facility located outside the U.S. is involved in the performance of the contract, then you will need more than one NCAGE Code. Each NCAGE Code must be requested separately.

6. What information should we provide SAM to get an active registration in SAM?

Instructions on how to register and renew are available on the SAM website at http://www.sam.gov. Additional information (in English and a limited number of other languages) is available on the public A/OPE internet site at http://pd.statebuy.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=62&menu_id=60. Please pay special attention to which fields are required and not required, and which fields should be left blank. The registration will not validate unless the correct fields are filled out with the correct information.

When registering in SAM, foreign vendors should keep in mind that since SAM is used to register for U.S. federal government business, the questions it asks are asked from the U.S. point of view. Also, SAM is only able to validate information from BINCS or other U.S. systems. Data from other countries that is not contained in BINCS or another U.S. system cannot be verified, and SAM may be unable to complete the validation process in such cases. Such data fields should be left completely blank. For example:

When SAM asks whether the vendor is a small business, this refers only to small businesses based in the U.S. Foreign vendors are always considered to be “other than small” or “large.”

When SAM asks for the ABA Banking information and other Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) information, SAM is only equipped to handle EFT information in U.S. format. If this information is in another, non-U.S. format, leave this information blank in SAM;

Only fill in the Tax ID number if it is a U.S. Tax ID number. Otherwise, leave it blank.

http://pd.statebuy.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=62&menu_id=60

7. When may I complete my SAM registration?

You may draft part of a registration and save the draft in SAM. However, you will not be able to complete the registration until:

You have received your DUNS number from DUN and Bradstreet;

For foreign vendors, your NCAGE Code is listed correctly in BINCS; and

You are able to provide all other information required by SAM.

At that point, you should enter your DUNS Number (and NCAGE Code if needed) into SAM, complete your registration and submit it. The SAM registration process typically takes the applicant about 30 minutes once all the required information is available, and should become active within 3- 5 business days.

8. How many SAM registrations do I need?

In most cases, only one will be necessary. Please note that for proper location identification, vendors must have a separate vendor DUNS number (and NCAGE Code, for foreign-based vendors at overseas locations) for each vendor location involved in a government contract, grant or cooperative agreement. It therefore may sometimes be necessary to obtain more than one DUNS number if vendor facilities at more than one physical address are involved. Vendor facilities located in the U.S. and registered in SAM will automatically be given a CAGE code by SAM as part of the SAM registration process. If a foreign-based vendor has more than one facility located overseas, they will need separate NCAGE codes for each facility. Each vendor facility involved in the performance of a contract, grant or cooperative agreement must be separately registered in SAM, under their respective DUNS numbers (and NCAGE Codes if needed).

9. Do I have to renew my SAM registration? If so, how often?

SAM registrations must be updated when information in them changes, but at least annually. Per FAR 4.1201(b)(1), anyone registering in SAM must update their representations and certifications in SAM as necessary, but at least annually. See FAR 4.1201(b)(2) for conditions under which vendors must update their business size representation in SAM regardless of whether that update is part of the contractor’s regular update. FAR 4.1201(b)(2) only applies to vendors based in the U.S