Meeting_Minutes_STC10014R0001.pdf

Meeting Minutes of Pre-proposal Conference LES Health Insurance Services – STC10014R0001

Date: September 18, 2014 Time: 10:00 a.m.

Venue: U.S. Embassy, Abu Dhabi

Attendees: Wendy M. Washington – GSO / Contracting Officer

Roger Johnson – Acting HRO Jacob John –Procurement Supervisor Zubair Khan – HR Specialist (COR) Joseph John – Procurement Agent Representatives from the Insurance Companies: Daman, Orient Insurance, Insurance House, ADNIC, MetLife ALICO & Al Ain Ahlia Insurance

Introduction:

Agenda was distributed to all the offerors.

Sign-in sheet was distributed to all the offerors.

Introduction was given by the Contracting Officer (CO) – Wendy M. Washington.

Introductions were given by all the offerors followed by the introduction of the Embassy team and their expertise.

The CO informed all the offerors that all the written questions could be submitted at the end of the conference.

Project Overview:

The CO explained the purpose of the solicitation and mentioned that the solicitation is a “Full and Open Competition”.

The CO emphasized that the statement of the pre-proposal conference would not change the contract.

The CO informed the offerors that the technical questions would be answered by Zubair (Contracting Officer’s Representative-COR); however, contractual questions would not be answered. She also added that the answers to the contractual questions and written questions that were received prior to the pre-proposal conference would be disseminated later on within the week.

The CO called upon the COR to explain the Statement of Work (SOW) and overall intention of the SOW.

The COR explained the schedule of benefits as outlined in the Exhibit A (List of Health Insurance Coverage).

The COR informed the offerors regarding the brochure requirement which is to be provided to the COR by the awardee not later than 20 days after the date of contract award. He then added that the awardee would have to do a PPT presentation to the Employees at the Embassy upon request.

The COR mentioned that all claims should be settled in 14 days. He then added that claims should be collected from the Embassy on Tuesdays.

The COR informed the offerors that the awardee should inform the Embassy of any missing documents in the claims within 2 days, and that all claim rejections should be reported to the Embassy.

The COR mentioned that monthly claim report is required 10th of every month. He also added that premium payment would be made bi-annually.

The CO emphasized on FAR 52.222-50 (Combating Trafficking in Persons) that US Government has “zero” tolerance policy. Joseph John the Procurement Agent assigned to the contract added that “recruitment plan” and “housing plan” must be submitted along with the proposal. A housing plan is not required where employer provides housing allowance to their employees. He also added that the US Embassy would make two surprise visits in a year to the accommodation(s) provided by the employer.

Submittal Requirements:

The CO informed the offerors about the submittal requirements which are:

Proposal should be submitted by or before October 16, 2014 at 5:00 pm (local time).

Offerors should submit one original and 2 copies per the requirements given in Section L of the solicitation.

Fill in all the blanks in Section K of the solicitation.

Proposal should be submitted in a sealed envelope to the US Embassy main entrance (CAC-1). Soft copy cannot be accepted.

Evaluation Factors:

The CO informed the offerors about the evaluation factors which are:

To be acceptable and eligible for evaluation, proposals must be prepared in accordance with Section L, and must meet all the requirements set forth in the other sections of the solicitation.

Proposals will be evaluated in two phases: Technical Evaluation and Price Evaluation.

Technical Evaluation: Technical Evaluation Panel containing the COR and other personnel to determine the acceptability of the offer to the solicitation technical requirements.

Price Evaluation: The CO will evaluate the price and will consider only the lowest priced, technically acceptable for a negotiation if that offer would be within the competitive range.

The award selection will go to the lowest priced, technically acceptable, responsible offeror.

Questions & Answers:

See addendum.

The conference adjourned at 10:55 am.