New Contractor For Healthcare.gov?
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
CMS is in the early stages of finding a replacement for Accenture in wake of disastrous rollout of HeathCare.gov.
In the wake of the tumultuous rollout of the Healthcare.gov website, CMS is in the early stages of looking at new vendors to potentially take over operations when Accenture’s contract expires in January, 2015.
Health Insurance Exchange News reported Accenture was awarded a $90 million no-bid contract last year to take over the operation of the marketplace from CGI Federal when it became obvious the site was not going to be completed on time.
Now, Health Data Management is reporting that a copy of CMS’s sources-sought notice, first obtained by Modern Healthcare, reveals the agency is seeking information about the availability and capability of small businesses to provide development and maintenance of the federally facilitated marketplace, including the development and enhancements to its eligibility and enrollment, financial management, plan management, and SHOP applications. Testimony on Capitol Hill in January revealed that these systems were still in development.
CMS Spokesman Aaron Albright explained that this notice is a routine part of the process set forth by federal guidelines for the expected re-competition of the contract for Healthcare.gov, and federal guidelines require market research before awarding a new contract.
CMS is required to undertake this step, as a result of the procurement process with the original Accenture contract, and Albright says the agency expects to release a new solicitation for the contract in the near future. The notice states that it is not a solicitation and no quotations or contracts will result from it. Responses are due by May 2.
One consultant, Qasim Hussain of X by 2, a technology consulting firm that works with insurers and healthcare companies, says that it is too early to predict outcomes from this notice. He explained, “Accenture just got started. My experience for large projects like these it takes at least three to six months before you know whether the vendor is delivering quality software. You have to go through one or two releases to know if things are getting [better].”
Accenture said that the CMS action has “no reflection on our work for the client.”