B&B Medical Services, Inc.

B-409705.2 Apr 17, 2015 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights B&B Medical Services, Inc. (B&B), of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, protests the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) award of a contract to Greene Respiratory (Greene), of Milford, Ohio, under request for proposals (RFP) No. VA249-14-R-0173, for home oxygen services. B&B asserts that the awardee's proposed prices were unrealistically low. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: B&B Medical Services, Inc. File: B-409705.2 Date: April 17, 2015 Richard L. Moorhouse, Esq., Greenberg Traurig, LLP, for the protester. Lawrence J. Sklute, Esq., Sklute & Associates, for the intervenor. Tracy Downing, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Frank Maguire, Esq., and David A. Ashen, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that awardee’s price was unrealistically low is denied where agency’s price realism determination was based on a comparison of prices among offerors and with the government estimate, and the agency reasonably concluded that the awardee’s overall price, which was approximately only 4.7% lower than the protester’s, was realistic. 2. In a fixed price acquisition, awardee’s individual contract line item number price of $0.00 was compliant with the solicitation where awardee’s proposal indicated a commitment to furnish the item in question. DECISION B&B Medical Services, Inc. (B&B), of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, protests the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) award of a contract to Greene Respiratory (Greene), of Milford, Ohio, under request for proposals (RFP) No. VA249-14-R-0173, for home oxygen services. B&B asserts that the awardee’s proposed prices were unrealistically low. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on March 11, 2014, as a total small business set-aside, provided for the award of indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, with a 1-year base period and four 1-year options, for the provision of home oxygen services to patients in Veterans Integrated Service Network 9 (VISN 9), including, as relevant here, medical centers in Lexington, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, and Huntington, West Virginia. RFP at 8, 66, attach. A. B&B was the incumbent contractor for the Huntington and Louisville locations. Comments and Supp. Protest at 3. Award was to be made for each area of consideration to the offeror whose proposal represented the best value to the government considering (in descending order of importance): (1) technical capability, (2) past performance, (3) socio‑economic status, and (4) price. RFP at 59, 66. All non-price factors when combined were significantly more important than price. Id. Proposals were received for all locations in response to the RFP, including B&B’s. Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 2. Based on the evaluation of proposals, Greene’s proposal was found to be most advantageous for the Huntington, Lexington, and Louisville locations. COS at 2. The proposed prices for the three locations were as follows: Offeror Lexington VAMC Louisville VAMC Huntington VAMC Total B&B $7,488,385.00 $4,303,066.15 $6,601,253.70 $18,392,704.00 Greene $7,077,050.00 $3,983,100.00 $6,466,015.00 $17,526,165.00 Offeror A $6,397,045.00 $4,198,780.00 $6,537,505.00 $17,133,330.00 Offeror B $7,885,922.00 $4,776,499.20 $6,465,662.50 $19,128,083.70 Offeror C $5,113,725.00 $2,821,064.00 $4,481,325.00 $12,416,114.00 Offeror D $7,588,771.01 $3,733,178.61 --- $11,321,949.62 Offeror E $7,603,775.00 $4,203,401.00 $6,569,900.00 $18,377,076.00 Gov’t Estimate $12,477,035.36 $5,514,966.74 $5,717,382.07 $23,709,384.17 COS at 6-7; see also AR at 7. Upon learning of the resulting award to Greene and award prices, B&B filed this protest with our Office.[1] DISCUSSION B&B asserts that Greene’s proposed prices were unrealistically low and that the awardee’s proposal should have been rejected. Protest 2-6. In this regard, the RFP provides as follows: Proposals unrealistically high or low in price, when compared to the Government estimate, and market conditions evidenced by other competitive proposals received, may be indicative of an inherent lack of understanding of the solicitation requirements and may result in proposal rejection without discussion.   RFP at 65. B&B asserts that, as the incumbent contractor for two of the three locations awarded to Greene, it has “developed an effective methodology” to meet the requirement. Protest at 5.