DHHS, Office of the Secretary, Office of Acquisition Management; Room 443H, Humphrey Building; 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.; Washington, D.C. 20201

R -- EXPERT CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF HEALTH POLICY AND LONG TERM CARE ISSUES. SOL RFP-5-00-HHS-OS DUE 122099 POC Point of Contact: Gwendolyn Briscoe, Contract Specialist, 202-690-8658. This is a combined synopsis solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. SIC Code: 8732. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested in response to the following statement of work and a written solicitation will not be issued. This is a request for proposal, RFP-5-00-HHS-OS. This solicitation document and its incorporated provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular #97-11. The period of performance shall be from the effective date of contract award through September 30, 2000. The contracts may be extended twice for one year each at the option of the department. Work is to be performed at the contractor's place of work. No relocation or daily travel expenses will be provided. A level of effort contract will be awarded. Offers from individuals who have specific expertise in one or a few areas of expertise are encouraged. These awards are not intended to be a substitute for existing or future task order contracts or general Request for Proposals that will continue to be used for defined research projects. Description: Expert consultant services are needed to assist the Office of Health Policy and the Office of Long Term Care in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These offices have a broad range of responsibilities for advising the Secretary and other parts of the department on issues involving public health, health care financing, health insurance and health delivery systems, and long term care. To further familiarize yourself with ASPE, you may visit our web site at the following URL: http://www.os.dhhs.gov Often the offices must analyze new and complex policy initiatives, such as proposed legislation, within a very short time period; moreover, the issues are sometimes not well defined and subject to change in focus. The purpose of these contracts is to allow the offices to quickly obtain the assistance of experts to help staff analyze policy proposals and alternatives. Work may include legal, economic, statistical, health policy, or organizational analysis that is quantitative or qualitative in nature. Evaluation Criteria: Offerors are requested to submit a resume and a statement of technical capabilities, not to exceed five pages, which demonstrates the individual's experience and expertise in one or more of the following areas: Medicare, including Medicare+Choice and post-acute care; prescription drug benefits and insurance; Medicaid managed care, waivers, long-term care services and data analysis; health financing, public health and health care organizational data analysis; consumer protections; medical privacy; HIPAA and state insurance reforms; CHIP; funding of graduate medical education; health risk adjusters; tax policy and health insurance; public health infrastructure; health care access for the low-income uninsured; public health surveillance and monitoring; epidemiology; food safety; long-term care insurance; home and community-based waivers; children with disabilities; health insurance for people with disabilities who work; Submissions should emphasize the individual offeror's expertise, not that of an organization. The majority of the work is intended to focus on short duration assignments (the government envisions that most engagements will be complete within two weeks) which pair individuals (contractors) with ASPE staff. A contractor would normally be expected to be available on short notice (generally within a week of notice) to provide expert assistance in ways that increase the office knowledge and understanding of an issue in the most efficient way possible. Time commitments will be negotiated when work is initially assigned and may change as the project necessitates. Evaluation of individual submissions will be assessed, in part, by the nature and complexity of the work that has been done. Offerors should demonstrate in theirstatement of technical capabilities their understanding of, and unique expertise with, the key policy issues in the areas for which they wish to be considered. Offerors should also give evidence of their oral and written communication skills. Recent work that has been published in scholarly journals, Congressional testimony, or other formal public statements should be cited (but not submitted), and evidence of providing expert analysis and assistance in developing policy under rapid response conditions should also be provided. These will be reviewed in determining an offeror's qualifications. (Technical weight: 90%) Offerors should submit their hourly or daily commercial billing rate. During proposal evaluation, offerors may be required to submit such financial data as the government deems appropriate to facilitate an assessment of reasonableness. Although the expectation is that the offeror will perform most of the work assigned, offerors may also submit rates for clerical and technical staff that they may utilize to assist them in completing assigned work. (Price weight: 10%) The department anticipates awarding a number of contracts to individuals for different areas of work. In no event will any contract awarded pursuant to this solicitation exceed $100,000. The cost of related services, such as mailing or copying, will be borne by the offeror. Offers are due December 20, 1999, by 12:00 Noon EST, at the following location: Department of Health and Human Services, OS/Office of Acquisition Management, Room 443H, Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20201. The contact point for questions shall be Gwen Briscoe, 202-690-8658. If hand delivering, offerors must go to the main Independence Avenue entrance to the guard desk and call either Gwendolyn Briscoe (202) 690-8658 or Cassandra Richardson on 690-8538, to pick up your proposal for delivery to the contracting office. Amendments to this solicitation, if any, shall also be published as a Commerce Business Daily synopsis. Posted 12/02/99 (D-SN405050). (0336)

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