A/B MAC Jurisdiction 1 J&A

Pursuant to FAR 6.305, this Justification and Approval is posted to issue a sole source contract under FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency, for a four-month period for the Part A/B Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) in Jurisdiction 1 (J1), which expires on July 24, 2013. This action is necessary for the successful transition and closeout activities that are currently in process for the transition to A/B MAC Jurisdiction E (JE).

This justification for other than full and open competition is predicated on the understanding that CMS has awarded a contract in full and open competition in accordance with Section 1874A of the Social Security Act and with Federal Acquisition Requirements. This contract was awarded on September 20, 2012, to Noridian Administrative Services (NAS) (see FedBizOps Award notice RFP-CMS-2011-0026). CMS issued a timely award for the J1 MAC workload (procured as A/B MAC Jurisdiction E) on September 20, 2012, on www.fbo.gov (FBO) as RFP-CMS-2011-0026; however, the newly awarded JE contract was protested to the General Accountability Office (GAO). Pursuant to FAR 52.233-3, Protest after Award, the protest lead to a stop-work order issued as Modification 00001 on October 15, 2012. The stop work order was in place until a favorable decision from GAO that enabled the cancellation of the stop work order executed in Modification 00002 on January 22, 2013. Then, on February 1, 2013, a complaint was filed with the Court of Federal Claims (CoFC) which resulted in the agency delaying transition activities until the favorable decision to the agency was reached on April 17, 2013. The GAO protest and CoFC complaint delayed the complicated activities necessary to timely transition the J1 workload from Palmetto GBA to NAS prior to the J1 end date of July 24, 2013.

Therefore, based on the compelling urgency that Medicare claims administration work cannot be disrupted, CMS must take action to continue this work with Palmetto.