Dive Brief:
- Optum will continue as lead contractor for Healthcare.gov, at least for the time being.
- Although the Obama administration has named a replacement, two failed bidders are disputing the new contract award.
- As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says it will extend its current contract with Quality Software Services, Inc. (QSSI), which is owned by Optum.
Dive Insight:
It's going to take some time to resolve the dispute over Optum's replacement, so CMS says its needs QSSI to maintain the Healthcare.gov site. According to CMS, if Optum chose not to maintain the site, it would create “an untenable gap" in ongoing marketplace support, which needs to continue for a successful 2016 open enrollment. The 2016 open enrollment period begins Nov. 1.
QSSI's role with Healthcare.gov is that of senior adviser, which gives the company oversite for the work of other marketplace contractors. According to CMS, “Several marketplace subsystems have critical milestones leading up to open enrollment," and oversite is critical to coordinating and ensuring successful enrollment processing.
Booz Allen Hamilton has been named as the winning bidder for the post, but Tantus Technologies and HIT Venture have filed bid protests with the Government Accountability Office.The GAO says it will respond by Sept. 14.
