FPB hearing officers

The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS), Division of Appeals and Hearings, is seeking to establish a pool of qualified Administrative Hearing Officers to conduct administrative hearings and prepare Final Administrative Decisions for various case types. These case types include adult and child disability determinations, nursing home level of care assessments, Medicaid financial eligibility, provider payment disputes, and managed care organization matters. Offerors must be either licensed attorneys in good standing with the South Carolina Bar or possess at least two years of experience in specific areas such as Social Security disability determination, Medicaid eligibility policy, nursing home regulations, managed care policy, provider billing, or provider audit and exclusion regulations. The solicitation requires contractors to maintain notary public status, provide reliable transportation and internet connectivity, and comply with HIPAA, information security, and data safeguarding requirements. Key dates include a non-mandatory pre-bid conference on March 7, 2022, at 11:00 AM via Microsoft Teams, with questions due by March 8, 2022, at 3:00 PM, and proposal submissions due by March 24, 2022, at 11:00 AM. The contract will have an initial term of one year beginning April 13, 2022, with four optional one-year renewal periods, for a maximum five-year contract term.

The procurement does not specify specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, though the solicitation directs respondents to the SC Division of Small and Minority Business Contracting and Certification for guidance on Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification. Multiple awards will be made to responsive and responsible offerors, who will be placed on a Qualified Provider List from which cases are assigned. Compensation is structured on a per-case basis, with $1,000 maximum for administrative hearings resulting in Final Administrative Decisions, $600 maximum for hearings resulting in other orders, and $350 maximum for orders of dismissal or consent orders. Additional compensation of $100 per hour (up to $2,500 per case maximum) is available for exigent circumstances, plus $100 for case file preparation for appellate review. In-house training is compensated at $100 per hour, not exceeding $800 per day. SCDHHS will provide contractors with encrypted laptops, RSA security tokens, encrypted voice recorders, printers, and scanners. Authorized travel expenses will be reimbursed separately at actual cost in accordance with GSA guidelines, with a maximum rental car rate of $27 per day.