Coventry Healthcare Workers' Compensation, Inc. (1605dc-18-r-00020)

B-417237.5 Jan 29, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Coventry Healthcare Workers' Compensation, Inc., of Downers Grove, Illinois, protests the award of a contract to PMSI, LLC d/b/a Optum Workers' Compensation Services of Florida, of Tampa, Florida, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 1605DC-18-R-00020, issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) for pharmacy benefits management services. Coventry argues that the agency misevaluated its proposal and made an unreasonable source selection decision. 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:  Coventry Healthcare Workers' Compensation, Inc. File:  B-417237.5 Date:  January 29, 2021 Kevin J. Cosgrove, Esq., and Bridget B. Vick, Esq., Hunton & Williams, LLP, for the protester. Jason A. Carey, Esq., Kayleigh Scalzo, Esq., J. Hunter Bennett, Esq., and Peter B. Terenzio, III, Esq., Covington & Burling, LLP, for PMSI, LLC d/b/a Optum Workers’ Compensation Services of Flordia, an intervenor. Jose Otero, Esq., Virginia K. Ackerman, Esq., and Robert Proudfoot, Esq., Department of Labor, for the agency. Scott H. Riback, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging agency’s evaluation of protester’s proposal and ultimate source selection decision is denied where record shows that agency’s evaluation was reasonable and in accordance with the terms of the solicitation and applicable statutes and regulations. DECISION   Coventry Healthcare Workers’ Compensation, Inc., of Downers Grove, Illinois, protests the award of a contract to PMSI, LLC d/b/a Optum Workers’ Compensation Services of Florida, of Tampa, Florida, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 1605DC-18-R-00020, issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) for pharmacy benefits management services.  Coventry argues that the agency misevaluated its proposal and made an unreasonable source selection decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND This is our second occasion to consider in detail the propriety of the agency’s actions in connection with this acquisition.  Optum filed an earlier protest challenging the agency’s award of a contract to Coventry, and we sustained that protest, finding that the agency had misevaluated the offerors’ proposals and, because of that misevaluation, had made an unreasonable source selection decision.  PMSI, LLC d/b/a Optum Workers’ Compensation Services of Florida, B-417237.2, et al., Jan. 29, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 63.  After our earlier decision, the agency amended the solicitation and requested revised proposals.  Based on those activities, the agency selected Optum for award of the contract, and Coventry filed the instant protest.  As we discussed in our earlier decision, the RFP contemplates the award, on a best-value tradeoff basis, of a fixed-price contract to be performed over a base year and four 1-year options.  The RFP seeks pharmacy benefits management services to provide pharmacy benefits to federal employees with work-related injuries or illnesses that have accepted workers’ compensation.  Offerors were advised that DOL would evaluate proposals considering price and two non-price considerations, technical and past performance.  RFP at 107.[1]  The technical factor[2] was significantly more important than past performance and price collectively, as well as significantly more important than price alone; the past performance factor was more important than price; and the technical and past performance factors collectively were significantly more important than price.  Id.  The RFP further provided that the agency would evaluate prices for reasonableness.[3] In the wake of its corrective action, the agency received a number of proposals and, after evaluating proposals, engaging in discussions, and soliciting, obtaining and evaluating final proposal revisions, DOL assigned the following ratings to the Coventry and Optum proposals:   Optum Coventry Technical Outstanding Outstanding Understanding the Requirement Outstanding Outstanding Corporate Experience Outstanding Outstanding Start-Up/Phase Out Outstanding Outstanding Key Personnel Outstanding Outstanding Quality Control Good Acceptable Past Performance Low Risk Low Risk Price $549,559,715 $569,893,999   AR, exh. 14, SSDD, at 26.  Based on these evaluation results, DOL selected Optum, concluding that its slightly superior technical proposal, combined with its lower evaluated price, represented the best overall value to the government.  Id.