Panakeia, LLC

B-415583 Dec 12, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Veterans Choice Medical Equipment, LLC (VCME), a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), of Vista, California, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. VA256-17-R-0994, which was issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for home oxygen services. The protester contends that the terms of the solicitation are ambiguous with regard to the evaluation of options and that the RFP does not contain adequate information concerning the agency's intended evaluation of unbalanced pricing. We dismiss the protest. We dismiss 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:  Veterans Choice Medical Equipment, LLC File:  B-415583 Date:  December 12, 2017 David F. Dowd, Esq., Mayer Brown LLP, for the protester. Barton Evans, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest challenging an ambiguity in a solicitation concerning the evaluation of option pricing is dismissed where the agency has taken corrective action which renders the protest academic. 2.  Protest challenging the inclusion in a solicitation of an unbalanced pricing clause is dismissed where the protester does not demonstrate that its inclusion violates any procurement laws or regulations. DECISION Veterans Choice Medical Equipment, LLC (VCME), a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), of Vista, California, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. VA256-17-R-0994, which was issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for home oxygen services.  The protester contends that the terms of the solicitation are ambiguous with regard to the evaluation of options and that the RFP does not contain adequate information concerning the agency’s intended evaluation of unbalanced pricing. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND The VA issued the solicitation on September 22, 2017, under the commercial item provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.  RFP at 74.  The RFP is set aside for SDVOSB firms and seeks proposals to provide home oxygen services to various VA medical centers in Veterans Integrated Service Network 16, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.  Id. at 8.  The RFP states that the contractor will be required to provide services to an estimated 7,602 veteran beneficiaries per month and 91,224 beneficiaries a year.  Id.  The solicitation anticipates the award of multiple contracts with a base period of 2 years and one 3-year option.  Id. at 32.  The RFP advised that proposals will be evaluated on the basis of price and the following three non-price factors:  (1) technical capability, (2) key personnel, and (3) past performance.  Id. at 74.  For purposes of award, the non-price factors, when combined, will be “significantly more important than price.”  Id. VCME filed this protest on October 18, prior to the November 8 closing time for the solicitation.  On November 2, the VA filed a request that our Office dismiss the protest.  Our Office provided VCME an opportunity to respond to the request for dismissal, which the protester filed on November 7.  DISCUSSION VCME raises two primary arguments:  (1) the solicitation is ambiguous as to how the agency will evaluate prices for the 3-year option, and (2) the solicitation lacks adequate information concerning how the agency will evaluate unbalanced pricing.  For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that the VA has taken corrective action with regard to the first issue, which rendered it academic, and that VCME’s second argument fails to state a valid basis of protest. Option Pricing VCME argues that the RFP is ambiguous as to how the agency will evaluate offerors’ prices for the 3-year option for purposes of making award.  The RFP includes FAR provision 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, which states that the agency will evaluate offerors’ proposed prices for the option period as follows:  (b) Options.  The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement.  The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced.  Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). RFP § E.9 at 74. The RFP, however, also states that the agency may elect not to evaluate option pricing, as follows:  Except when it is determined not to be in the Government’s best interest, the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement.