Proprietary Technology Product or Service

The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority in Massachusetts is seeking competitive offers for a proprietary technology product or service to support the state's American Health Benefit Exchange. This procurement involves a notice of intent to extend an existing contract for technology-based services, with responses due by May 29, 2026. The primary deliverables include three core services: aggregating and normalizing provider and prescription drug data across the Health Connector's individual and small group health and dental plans; providing application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable third-party systems to access provider and formulary data; and offering a standalone tool on the Health Connector's exchange website that allows users to view plan coverage information for selected providers and prescription drugs. The services are valued at approximately $704,200 for the two-year extension period through June 30, 2028. The Health Connector is invoking the proprietary technology exemption to its competitive procurement policy to justify extending the current contract, though it remains open to receiving comparable service offers at competitive prices. No site visits or bidders' conferences are specified, and all competitive offers must be submitted to Connector.Responses@mass.gov prior to the May 29, 2026 deadline.

The incumbent vendor is Consumer CHECKBOOK/Center for the Study of Services (Checkbook), which has maintained a subscription, license, maintenance, and support agreement with the Health Connector since 2013, with the current contract expiring on June 30, 2026. This procurement is open to qualified vendors capable of providing comparable services at competitive prices, though specific set-asides or restrictions on organization types are not detailed in the notice. Prospective respondents should be capable of integrating with the Health Connector's existing exchange infrastructure and systems. The contract extension would continue through June 30, 2028, representing a two-year commitment valued at approximately $704,200. While the Health Connector is proceeding with the proprietary technology exemption to extend the current agreement with Checkbook, the agency's openness to competitive offers signals that alternative vendors meeting the service requirements and pricing criteria remain eligible to submit proposals.