Inactive

Sources Sought Notice: Macroeconomic Consulting Requirement Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services THIS IS NOT A FORMAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) AND DOES NOT COMMIT THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND ME... Sources Sought Notice: Macroeconomic Consulting Requirement Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services THIS IS NOT A FORMAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) AND DOES NOT COMMIT THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES (CMS) TO AWARD A CONTRACT NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. THIS IS STRICTLY MARKET RESEARCH TO ASSIST IN DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE ACQUISITION STRATEGY TO OBTAIN CONTRACTOR SUPPORT SERVICES TO PERFORM THE SAME OR SIMILAR REQUIREMENTS TO THOSE DESCRIBED IN THIS NOTICE. THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES (CMS) MAY OR MAY NOT ISSUE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OR REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE SHALL BE THE SUBMISSION OF A CAPABILITY STATEMENT; ACCORDINGLY, CMS WILL NOT ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RESULTS OF THIS MARKET RESEARCH. This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE to determine the availability of all business sizes and potential small business (e.g., 8(a), service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUB-Zone small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, and women-owned small business) that can provide both short-run (10 year) and long-range (75 year) macroeconomic projections and other macroeconomic modeling assignments. The projections will be used in production of short-run projections of National Health Expenditures (NHE) and production of the annual report of the Medicare Trustees. BACKGROUND The prospective vendor must have access to a detailed structural/sectoral model of the U.S. economy equipped to make 75-year economic projections and a demonstrated ability to adapt that model to the needs of the agency in short-turnaround times. A standard scenario will involve projecting the economy-wide implications of an assumed path of growth for the U.S. health sector. Multifactor productivity projections plausibly aligned with historic BLS series will also be required. Another important requirement is multidimensional consistency of outputs with historical aggregates. Purpose The purpose of this sources sought is to determine whether or not there are contractors that are capable of providing ongoing support to CMS in developing 75 year projections of the health sector and the economy. This support will include: (a) 75-year simulations with an existing multi-sectoral macroeconomic model with detailed projections under a range of assumptions for the health sector specifically and for the entire U.S. economy.; (b) analysis of the economic implications of different financing options for government medical expenditures (e.g., increasing government deficits, increasing taxes); (c) analysis of Input-Output data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and (d) ongoing macroeconomic support to CMS in its long and short term forecasts. Long-range projections in coming years will also continue to seek to improve modeling the long-range effects of health reform legislation that continues to be implemented CMS expects that this requirement will be met with an already existing multi-sectoral macroeconomic model and that meeting the requirement will not involve construction of a new model or substantial adaptation/updating of an existing model. As part of this requirement CMS also expects to have access to any generalized macroeconomic forecast that the prospective vendor regularly produces and makes available to customers on a subscription basis. A history of successful collaboration meeting the projection needs of government agencies will be an important consideration in any award. Ability of key personnel to dedicate themselves on short notice to production of forecasts on an as needed basis is also important. Historical staff time needed to implement the requirements of the contract ranged between 500 to 600 hours per year. The transparency of the vendor’s model and its Input-Output characteristics are important considerations for CMS. The Input/Output attributes of the model must be on a NAICS rather than a SIC basis. If a contract is awarded CMS must have access to thorough, lucid and complete documentation regarding the detailed structure of the model and its empirical foundations. This requirement will also include, but not limited to the following: Specific Tasks Access to the vendor’s regularly produced detailed economic forecasts.. Support for NHE 10-year projections Support for Data Enhancements. Standard Long-term Scenario Provide support for standard long-range macroeconomic scenario calibrated to replicate a state of the world in which SSA economic and demographic assumptions and CMS assumptions about the path of health sector expenditure/aggregate demand all hold. Additional 75-year medical spending projections. The vendor will provide ongoing support to CMS in developing 75 year projections of the health sector and the economy. This support will include: (a) 75-year simulations of the health sector and the economy under alternative assumptions; (b) analysis of the economic implications of different financing options of government medical expenditures (e.g., increasing government deficits, increasing taxes); (c) analysis of Input-Output data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Long-range projections in coming years will continue to seek to improve modeling the long-range effects of health reform legislation that continues to be implemented. Special Research Projects The vendor shall develop a plan in conjunction with CMS for an in-depth research/model improvement project aimed at improving and deepening model detail and supporting data as well as extending understanding of what its existing model can reveal about the U.S. health sector. As part of any response to this notice CMS expects to receive written documentation describing the structure of the multi-sectoral macroeconomic model to which the respondent has access, a history of its construction with specific attention to how NAICS data is used in the construction of the model and how the health sector is modeled and parameterized, a description of how frequently and in what way model results are currently disseminated, information about the staff persons responsible for running and analyzing the model along with their relevant experience and educational credentials, and the names of any government agencies that are current or past users of the model. This information is needed so that CMS can evaluate claims that a respondent has the ability to complete the specific tasks described above. Your size determination will be the size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition, 541720 -- Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. CAPABILITY STATEMENT INFORMATION The Sources Sought is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. All information submitted in response to this announcement must arrive on or before the closing date. Any information provided will not be returned. Please include the following in your response: Business Information: Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS) Company Name Company Address Small business status Current GSA Schedule(s) appropriate to this Sources Sought along with any other contracting vehicles applicable and relevant Do you have a Government approved accounting system? If so, please identify the Agency that approved the system. Type of Company as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must register in SAMs located at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ Company Point of Contact Name, Phone, and Email address Teaming Arrangements: All teaming arrangements should also include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Please also provide the following information from current/past contracting experience relating to this Sources Sought Notice: Name of Contracting Activity Contract Number, If Applicable Period of Performance Total Contract Value Contracting Officer, Telephone Number and Email Address Contract Program Manager, Telephone Number and Email Address ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUESTED: Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform this requirement may submit capability statements in PDF format via email to Eddie Woodard (Eddie.Woodard@cms.hhs.gov). CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AS MENTIONED IN THE PURPOSE SECTION ABOVE. Capability statements shall be limited to 20 pages and fonts no smaller than 12 points. Responses must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. ET on June 12, 2020 . Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date and time. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in https://Beta.Sam.Gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). Conflicts of Interest. It is essential that the vendor be free of all appearance of or actual conflicts of interest. Specifically, the vendor must not have any relationships or arrangements through its business operations or its employees that could be considered as possibly lessening the company’s objectivity concerning any aspect of the campaign. If such relationships or arrangements exist, vendors shall be required, during the procurement process, to identify potential conflicts of interest and discuss how the conflicts will be addressed and mitigated. Questions concerning submission requirements may be directed to Eddie Woodard, Contract Specialist, Eddie.Woodard@cms.hhs.gov. CMS will not entertain questions related to contracting strategy.