National Government Services, Inc.

B-415700 Jan 29, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights National Government Services, Inc. (NGS), of Indianapolis, Indiana, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. HHSM-500-2017-RFP-0016, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to obtain a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) to provide services for the administration of Medicare Part A and Part B (A/B) fee-for-service benefit claims. NGS challenges as unduly restrictive of competition the agency's inclusion in the solicitation of a contract award limit provision, which restricts the percentage of overall MAC workload that can be held by MAC contractors. 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:  National Government Services, Inc. File:  B-415700 Date:  January 29, 2018 Anuj Vohra, Esq., and Andrew Guy, Esq., Covington & Burling, LLP, for the protester. Jonathan A. Baker, Esq., and Douglas Kornreich, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Heather Weiner, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the terms of the solicitation as unduly restrictive of competition is denied where the record shows that the terms of the solicitation were reasonably necessary to meet the agency’s needs. DECISION National Government Services, Inc. (NGS), of Indianapolis, Indiana, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. HHSM-500-2017-RFP-0016, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to obtain a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) to provide services for the administration of Medicare Part A and Part B (A/B) fee-for-service benefit claims.  NGS challenges as unduly restrictive of competition the agency’s inclusion in the solicitation of a contract award limit provision, which restricts the percentage of overall MAC workload that can be held by MAC contractors. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on September 15, 2017, under the negotiated procurement procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15, contemplated the award of a cost-plus-award-fee contract, for a base period of 12 months, with six 1-year options.  RFP at 10.  The RFP sought A/B MAC services--which include health insurance benefit administration services, such as Medicare claims processing and payment services, in support of the Medicare program--in Indiana and Michigan (Jurisdiction 8).  RFP at 7; Contracting Officer (CO) Statement at 1.  The RFP provided for award on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering cost and two non-cost evaluation factors:  technical approach and past performance.  RFP at 123.  The solicitation also provided for evaluation of a third non-cost factor--business ethics, conflicts of interest and compliance--on a pass/fail basis.[1]  Id.  In addition, the solicitation included a “Contract Award Limitation” provision for consideration by CMS “at the time of award.”  Id. at 125-26.  Specifically, this provision provided, with limited exceptions, that CMS would not award more than 26 percent of the national MAC workload to a single corporate entity, and would not award more than 40 percent of the workload to any single set of affiliated companies.  Id. at 125. The RFP also set forth the national MAC workload percentages that CMS ascribed to each jurisdiction as follows: Jurisdiction Percentage Jurisdiction E:  American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands 9.1% Jurisdiction F:  Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming 6.2% Jurisdiction 5: Iowa, Kansas,  Missouri, Nebraska 5.6% Jurisdiction 6:  Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin 7.8% Jurisdiction H:  Arkansas, Mississippi, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas 13.5 % Jurisdiction 8:  Indiana, Michigan 5.9% Jurisdiction 15:  Kentucky, Ohio 5.4% Jurisdiction J:  Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee 7.0% Jurisdiction K:  Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont 12.0% Jurisdiction L:  Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania 11.0% Jurisdiction M:  North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia 9.1% Jurisdiction N:  Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands 7.5% RFP at 127-28; Protest at 5-6. On September 29, NGS submitted a letter to CMS regarding the contract award limitation provision.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 4, NGS Letter to CMS (Sept.