1 Can companies that are subcontractors (or were subcontractors at any time) on HIX or MHBE PMO projects be a part of a bid team for Please refer to Section 1.1.4 Firms that are prime contractors on the HIX IT this QA/QC contract? And for companies that are currently subs implementation team or the MHBE PMO are not eligible to perform the services (with contracts that may be expiring), could they cancel their existing requested in this RFP, and proposals from such firms will not be evaluated. sub work to perform QA/QC work if they bid on win the QA/QC contract? 2 Can an individual that is employed at a company that is involved in the HIX project (but the employee himself has no involvement with the HIX project) be part of a bid team? (Meaning, the employee would be bid as a team member, and if the QA/QC Contractor wins Yes the bid, this employee would resign from his current company and join the QA/QC s contractor s company (and sign a statement that he would show no preferential bias towards his former co-workers in his new QA/QC & IV&V role)? 3 Page 14, 1.4 Contract Duration. Can the State please confirm the The Contract resulting from this RFP shall be for a period for one (1) year contract duration? What is listed in this section does not match what beginning on or about July 1, 2014 and ending on June 30, 2015. At the sole is listed on page 8 (1.1.3), in Attachment A (#3) and Schedule A option of the MHBE, the contract period may be extended for up to two (1) year (cost table). periods. 4 Page 18, 1.22 Standard Contract Exceptions. This section states Any exceptions to this RFP or the contract must be submitted with the proposal, that exceptions to the RFP must be submitted in a separate section in a separate section clearly marked exceptions as part of the Offerors of the proposal. Does the State have a preference for where this Executive Summary section should be? 5 Page 18, 1.25 Minority Business Enterprises. The State has set a The Procurement Officer without proper submission of a request for waiver my MBE participation goal of 30%. If a proposer utilizes MBE deem the bid non-responsive and determine the Offeror is not reasonably subcontractors, but does not reach the intended goal of 30%, would susceptible of being selected for award. that disqualify the proposer? 6 Yes. Please refer to page 24 - Due to the nature of the tasks performed by the Page 24, 2.1 Overview of the QA/QC IV&V Work Effort. Can the QA/QC IV&V vendor, the QA/QC IV&V vendor will be precluded from state clarify if the preclusion from development, implementation, or development, implementation, or hosting projects for the Maryland Health hosting projects for the MHBE statement in the last paragraph on the Benefit Exchange. The QA/QC IV&V vendor will be precluded both as the page, flows down to sub-contractors? prime and as a subcontractor Page 1
7 Page 26, 2.3.A. Project Team Composition. Does the State require that each member of the project team have the qualifications and All project team members performing IVV and QA services and the experience listed in 1-6, or do those requirements apply to the team project/program manager must meet all 6 qualifications listed. as a whole? 8 Page 32, 3. Q. Quality Assurance, Quality Control (QA/QC). Can the Prior experience in requesting and/or administering federal grants, particularly State clarify the extent of the activity to assist in identifying if the skill those issued by CMS. Understanding of federal grant reporting requirements set requires grant funding writing or financial expertise? and assessing whether those requirements have been met by grantees. 9 Page 53, 3.2 Proposals. Would the State accept CDs that contain versions of the proposals in PDF format, instead of searchable Word No, proposal submission must meet the requirements of the RFP format? 10 Page 54, 3.4 Technical Proposal. In the second paragraph in this section, it states that resumes are included in the page limit for the proposal. In Section 1.16 (Economy of Preparation), it states the Excluded in page limit. resumes are excluded from the page limit. Could the State please clarify and confirm which statement is accurate? 11 Page 54, 3.4.1.C.1 Executive Summary. The executive summary is required to include a copy of the PMP certificate or equivalent. Does Yes this mean that proposers are to include copies of PMP certificates for each staff member proposed? 12 Page 55, 3.4.1.F.1 Prime Contractor and Subcontractor Experience and Capabilities. The RFP requires that we submit three examples of projects that you have completed that were similar in scope to the one defined in the scope of work in this RFP. Each of the three Reference contact information is sufficient, if reference letters are available examples must include a reference For each project that we they may be included but are not required provide, are we required to submit a reference letter from that project, or just reference contact information that the State could use at a later time? 13 Page 61, 4.1 Evaluation Criteria. Could the State elaborate on the evaluation criteria, Criteria for evaluating the technical proposal in descending order of importance. Technical receives greater weighting than price. Page 2
14 This form is used if, for any reason, the apparent successful bidder or offeror is unable to achieve the contract goal for certified MBE participation, the bidder or offeror may request, in writing, a waiver and this form among other things would Page 99, Attachment D-6. When are we required to submit be provided. The D6 is submitted with your proposal. A list of minority Attachment D-6? Should this be included in our submission, or at subcontractors found to be unavailable. This list should be accompanied by an the time of apparent award? MBE unavailability certification (MBE Attachment D6) signed by the minority business enterprise, or a statement from the apparent successful bidder or offeror that the minority business refused to give the written certification. 15 The state is currently transferring the Deloitte solution used by the Please clarify. state of Connecticut, and retrofitting it for Maryland. Is this softheon solution offered for HIX Implementation? 16 The initial phase of this effort ends November 15, 2014. Is the Plan Management is scheduled to go-live October 1, 2014. Membership Go-Live planned for Nov. 15, 2014? 17 The scope of this contract will focus entirely on the transfer project Yes, about 3,000 effort. Are there any existing test strategy, test scenarios and test cases from Connecticut state available to re-use? 18 The State of Maryland has elected to establish a single IT infrastructure to evaluate eligibility for Exchange plans (including the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Medicaid, Maryland Children s Health Program (MCHP), and advance premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. Is Eligibility determination and interface with the State Tax system in scope of testing or only from the process of enrollment? The CT solution will encompass plan management, eligibility and enrollment, but will not include SHOP. 19 20 Test Strategy. Are there any schedules in place now? What are the test methodology and processes used in the current test strategy? Are you looking for a techno-managerial candidate to drive the test strategy or looking more for Program Management experience? The project started less than 30 days ago and is currently in the gap analysis phase. Program management experience with prior UAT management experience. Page 3
21 How does the exchange differ from the existing MHBE is transferring the solution from Connecticut. The solution encompasses http://www.marylandhealthconnection.gov/? both MAGI and QHP eligibility and enrollment. 22 For the new project there are currently none. How many vendors are participating currently in the testing program? 23 Can you please provide a list of the 5 challenges that exist in the The RFP defines the requirements and deliverables. current project for which you are looking for the solution? 24 Is all the testing being performed manually or will any automation We expect to utilize automated testing to the degree possible. tools be used? 25 What is the test management tool used for the project? Junit and Rational 26 What defect management tools will be used in the project? JIRA 27 Each contract has a set of defined requirements and performance measures. How is the performance of existing vendors measured in the project? 28 Are there any tools used for requirement traceability by the vendors? Yes 29 What current release management processes are used in the project? The project is in the gap analysis phase. There are no established relapse processes at this time. 30 How many major and minor releases are planned in the release Two management process? 60 Can the project be executed with an onsite-offshore model or does it No, offshore is not permitted. Unless otherwise specified by the Contract need to be100% onsite? Monitor, resources will be located onsite 61 What support is available to the testing team to understand the requirements? Requirements documents and other documentation will be made available, along with about 3,000 test scripts. 62 Is documentation available with detailed information to understand Yes, and will be provided to the successful offeror the requirement details to the vendors? 63 What is the process followed to co-ordinate with Marketplace We do not understand your question. requirements/processes? 64 How many carriers are expected to participate in the exchange? Four 65 What volume of members is expected to enroll in this program? During open enrollment, approximately 327,000 people enrolled. In addition, approximately 950,000 will be migrated from other systems in a phased manner. Page 4
66 There are major milestones defined in approximately 2 week increments from What are the current milestone dates for the November 14 go-live? through go-live. 67 What are the environments planned to test HIX Implementation? System test, UAT, and Staging 68 Who will be responsible to configure Group and LOB plans in test The IVV/QA vendor will be expected to provide support. environments? 69 What is the system used to load membership? Please clarify 70 Is only Enrollment in scope, or is Claims processing also included in Enrollment the scope? 71 What is the financial management solution used for billing the Carriers currently bill membership? 72 If referring to deducibles, co-pay, and co-insurance, we do not do any physical How many accumulator prefixes do you currently have? claims tracking 73 How many plans you are offering? 45 medical plans and 20 stand-alone dental plans on the Individual Exchange 74 How many Product Categories you are offering? Three: HMO, PPO, and POS 75 See the answer to question #73. Please clarify the difference between How many products you are offering? products and plans. 76 How many Service IDs you using currently? Please clarify 77 No. The Exchange does not assign PCPs. We defer to carriers carriers for Are you using Auto PCP Assignment application? this function. 78 Can a member have more than one PCP provider at the same time,( No. The Exchange does not assign PCPs. We defer to carriers carriers for e.g., Internal Medicine and OB/GYN)? this function. 79 Can a provider have more than one specialty? Yes. 80 How many provider networks do you currently have? Approximately six 81 How often is provider information updated and/or verified? Provider information is collected every two weeks by MHBE's provider search vendor, CRISP. Consumers will be able to link to provider information from the HIX. 82 How often is provider information updated and/or verified? Are there There are no known technology issues. any known issues? 83 How often is provider information updated and/or verified? Are there Same as above any known issues? Page 5
84 If a PCP provides services under both designations (e.g., PCP and MHBE does not oversee provider contracting or credentialing their specialty Internal Medicine and Cardiologist), do they have different contracts for each? 85 Please clarify. For consumers, the standard ACA-required demographic Is there any unusual or unique demographic information? information is collected as part of the application process. 86 Can you please provide a list of all identifiers for a provider, e.g., No. Information will be provided to the successful offeror NPI, PIN, State specific provider ID or any cross-reference # s? 87 Please provide a list of all vendors and consulting firms utilized and Any information deemed relevant will be provided to the successful offeror their accountabilities. 88 Please provide available documentation summarizing current Documentation will be provided to the successful offeror business applications. 89 Please provide available documentation or schematics identifying Documentation will be provided to the successful offeror. There are currently 8 current application interfaces. interfaces that are planned 90 Please provide a general overview of the system interfaces amongst Documentation will be provided to the successful offeror each application. 91 Is a complete inventory of all of the interfaces available, including Yes, and will be provided to the successful offeror EDI? 92 Please summarize any concerns and risks perceived in converting to The IVV/QA vendor is responsible for the requirements defined in the RFP. the new system. 93 Can you provide a report extract inventory? No 94 Is there full documentation of all interfaces and extensions? No 95 Yes. All resources will be onshore and unless otherwise specified by the Are there any restrictions to using off-shore resources? contract monitor work onsite 96 Can vendors bid on only a portion of the RFP? No 97 What platform (databases, Operating Systems) and programming Java-based development for custom processes. DB2 coupled with both Windows and languages are used for developing the custom processes? Red Hat operating systems support the solution. 98 What process documentation do you have, including FD, DD, and Unit Test Plan? Can you share the documents? Documents will be shared with the successful bidder 99 What percentage of your configuration is required for testing validation? Please clarify - the entire application and all changes will be tested 100 What is the expected enrollment, claims-processing volume/month? cross-reference prior question 101 Do you have any licenses for automation testing tools (e.g., QTP/UFT Rational Test, etc.?) If yes, what version(s)? Yes, Junit Page 6
102 Do you have any licenses for performance testing tools (e.g., LoadRunner, etc.?) If yes, what version(s)? 103 Do you have a regression test suite? If so, what percentage is manual testing and what percentage is automated? 104 Do you have any performance bench-marks/slas that need to be met or exceeded? If yes, can you please state? Yes, IBM Rational Performance Tester. Version 8.2.0 Yes. 50% manual and 50% automated. Please clarify the question. This is for IVV/QA services for the transfer of a system. When the maintenance and hosting contracts are awarded there will be SLA's. 105 How many releases are planned for the Go-Live? How many of these releases are major vs. minor releases, that is, include defect fixes only vs. defects and enhancements? Please provide the number of enhancements Two major releases or defects in each release. 106 Please provide a list of the current functional modules utilized today and any known modules or functionality to be implemented as part of the upgrade (such as Membership, Premium Billing, Claims, Accounts Payable, or Plan Management, Eligibility, Enrollment others). 107 Please specify the different database technologies currently in use in the solution. DB2 for OLTP and SQL Server for reporting databases 108 Please provide a list/count of interfaces, by functional area, that are expected to be impacted as part of the upgrade (that is, ID card interface, The first release will include approximately 8 interfaces. Specifics will be EOB/EOP interface, Standard HIPAA X12 Transactions, and others). provided to the successful offeror Please provide any known or expected interfaces. 109 Do you have an integrated external workflow product? No 110 What level of support is expected from the services vendor during UAT? Please refer to page 41 section 8 and page 32 item X 111 Is the vendor expected to provide a UAT test strategy? Please refer to page 32 item x 112 Vendor will have responsibilities related to coordination. Please refer to page Is the vendor responsible for testing and coordination with trading partners? 41 section 8 and page 32 item X 113 Please clarify the question. We produce standard EDI transactions for 834s What is your preprocessing for HIPAA process? and will also provide an enrollment file to the Medicaid Management Information System 114 Can you describe your claims processing life cycle and what the vendor should be responsible for (HIPAA Gateway, EDI, Compliance, XC, etc.)? 115 Is the vendor expected to provide all incident management for the life of the project? Vendor will send 834 and 8001 transactions including add, change, terminations and cancellations. please refer to section 2.6.24 Page 7
116 Is the vendor responsible for environment management? No 117 What version of EDI Transaction sets are currently in place? 834 and 8001 transactions, however, this is a new system 118 Is there a test tool available to support EDI (e.g., 83X, 27X) data creation? Web services on the EDI support testing processes. There is not a dedicated test tool. 119 Will we be required to support the business users in UAT Testing? If so what are their work schedules? 120 How many dedicated test environments are available for this effort and how often can they be refreshed with prod data? 121 Would we be provided with a defect management team or will we be responsible for managing the testing defects? Please see page 32 item X and "The Vendor s onsite working hours shall be consistent with those of MHBE and the implementation Contractor. It is expected that when needed, the Vendor shall be required to work evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, and other non-standard work hours as dictated by the work." There will be multiple test environments. The refresh schedule is not established. The vendor will not be provided a "defect team". Please refer to page 32 item 8 122 In section 3.4 outlining the required items to be in VOLUME I TECHNICAL Yes, attachment K should be submitted - page 63 - ATTACHMENT K NON- PROPOSAL, you list the following ATTACHMENTS: B, D-1, G-1, H, I, J and DISCLOSURE FORMS FOR SOLICITATION J-1 and Certificate of Insurance. In the list and description of Attachments in This form is to be submitted with the Technical Proposal. Section 5, you show ATTACHMENT K Non-disclosure Forms for Solicitation with the description This form is to be submitted with the Technical Proposal. Can you please clarify whether ATTACHMENT K is a required form for this submission or not? Page 8
123 Yes Section 1.22 of the RFP states: By submitting an offer in response to this RFP, an Offeror, if selected for award, shall be deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions of this RFP and the Contract, attached herein as Attachment A. Any exceptions to this RFP or the contract must be submitted with the proposal, in a separate section clearly marked exceptions. Exceptions may not contain any financial information. All financial information shall be included in the financial proposal. Exceptions to the solicitation or Contract made by the Offeror may result in rejection of the Offeror s proposals. Section 1.9 of the RFP states that questions and exceptions to the RFP and Contract can be provided prior to the Preproposal Conference and then later states that all questions and exceptions will be accepted until May 6 at 3:00PM. Can an Offeror raise specific exceptions to the RFP and Contract terms with submission of its proposal (as stated in Section 1.22) even if the specific exception had not been previously raised prior to May 1 (Pre-proposal Conference) or May 6? 124 If an Offeror s proposal includes a term or condition that takes exception to a requirement in the RFP or the Contract, and if the State declines the proposed term or condition and does not reach a negotiated agreement concerning the requirement with the Offeror, can the State nevertheless require the Offeror to (i) enter into a contract with the State and (ii) comply with the original requirement as it appears in the RFP? In other words, if the State declines the proposed exception and if the parties fail to reach a negotiated agreement with respect to the term or condition, can the Offeror at that point withdraw its proposal without being required to enter into an agreement with the State that adheres to the original requirement as stated in the RFP? 125 Section 2.3.2 designates various items as preliminary deliverables and states that they are due within 15 business days of receipt of Notice to Proceed. In Section 3.4.1.4) regarding items to include in the technical proposal it states to Include all deliverables denoted as Preliminary. Please clarify when the preliminary deliverables are due: within 15 business days of receipt of notice to proceed or with the RFP response. Vendor's may be determined non-susceptible for awarded based on exceptions and failed negotiations. If the State is unable to come to terms with the selected offeror, the State would move to the next qualified bidder. For each deliverable it indicates when the deliverable should be submitted. The preliminary staffing plan, transition out plan, and project management plan are due with the response for example Other deliverables are due NTP plus the specified number of days. Please see page 45 Section C Deliverable Table Page 9
126 It is MHBE's intention to hold the QA/QC IVV vendor responsible for the Is the intent of the QA/QC IV&V contract to hold the QA/QC IV&V vendor responsible for the SI vendor delivering the Connecticut HIX solution on time requirements and deliverables described in the RFP. and with the quality described in MHBE s contract with the SI vendor? 127 Please provide more information regarding what tasks the QAQC IV & V vendor would have in the project schedule listed in 2.3.3.A). This section indicates that this project schedule should include all major tasks required to complete the project. Could you explain why the QA/QC IV &V vendor would be providing this information in their project schedule and not the SI vendor? For each deliverable it indicates when the deliverable should be submitted. The preliminary staffing plan, transition out plan, and project management plan are due with the response for example Other deliverables are due NTP plus the specified number of days. Please see page 45 Section C Deliverable Table 128 Section 2.3.2.I) mentions a transition out plan. How long does MHBE The transistion is expected to be 90 days and would be included in the base envision that the transition out should last? Is the transition out time period in contract period. addition to the one year that the project is expected to last? 129 All, unless determined by the contract monitor. Which members of the QA/QC IV&V vendor staff are required to be onsite? 130 Sections 1.1.4, 2.1 and 2.3 of the RFP all state that the successful Offeror (or the QA/QC IV&V vendor) will be precluded from bidding on or providing certain other work and projects. Specifically, only section 1.1.4 states that the successful Offeror will be precluded from bidding on infrastructure. If a manufacturer of computer equipment (desktops, laptops, servers, storage etc.) is the successful Offeror, will that company be precluded from bidding on providing such computer equipment either (i) directly or (ii) through a reseller? 131 The QA/QC IV&V vendor was not involved in designing or developing the system being implemented. Question 1: Does the scope of Section 2.5 require that the vendor validate that the State and its HIX vendors methodology meets applicable law? Question 2: Does the scope of Section 2.5 require that the vendor validate that the State and its HIX vendors design of the system meets applicable law? No, this refers to hosting, network and data center services. Please see page 47 Page 10
132 133 Yes it is acceptable to use the same numbering as the SOW. The RFP states The RFP sections should be numbered for ease of reference, i.e., Section 1 Title and Table of Contents, Section 2 Transmittal Letter, Section 3 Proposed Services, etc. The next sentence then states In addition to the instructions below, the Offeror s Technical Proposal should be organized and numbered in the same manner as this RFP. According to the statement in Section 3.4.1, the bidder s response should include a Section 3 Proposed Services. Within this section, there will be a subsection called 3.2 Proposed Solution. The majority of this section will be MHBE s SOW and the bidder s description of its solution and responses to items in the SOW. Is it acceptable for the bidder to use the same numbering scheme from the SOW (e.g. 2.3.1 QA/QC IV&V Project Team Composition) behind a cover page titled 3.2 Proposed Solution in the response, or is the State looking for an item-by-item convention such as 3.2 2.3.1 or 3.2.2.3.1? Regarding Section 3.2 PROPOSALS, page 53: An electronic version of Volume I- Technical Proposal and Volume II- Financial Proposal, both in searchable Word (Version 2007 or newer) format shall also be submitted as separate files for each "Volume", labeled Volume I-Technical Proposal and Volume II-Financial Proposal with the unbound originals, technical or financial volumes, as appropriate. Electronic media is to be submitted on CD and shall bear a label on the outside containing the RFP number and name, the name of the Offeror and the volume number. A second electronic version of Volume I and Volume II in searchable Word (Version 2007 or newer) format shall be submitted on CD for Public Information Act (PIA) requests. This copy shall be redacted so that confidential and/or proprietary information has been removed (see section 1.20). Our research indicates that there is no redaction solution supported by Microsoft for Word 2007 or newer versions. Would it be permissible to provide searchable Adobe PDF format for the electronic copies provided? Searchable Adobe PDF format for the electronic copies is not and acceptable CD format for Public Information Act (PIA). Please redact or remove your confidential and/or proprietary information using searchable Word (Version 2007 or newer) format. Page 11
134 RFP Section 3.4.1 F.1 135 RFP Section 3.4.1 F.2 136 RFP Section 2.3.1 137 RFP Section 3.4.1 F.1- Prime Contractor and Subcontractor Experience and Capabilities. Please clarify if all subcontractors are also required to provide 3 project references the same as the prime contractor. RFP Section 3.4.1 F.2- Prime Contractor and Subcontractor Experience and Capabilities. Please clarify if all subcontractors are also required to provide a list of all contracts it currently holds or has held within the past five years with any government entity of the State of Maryland. Are resumes excluded from the total page limit? Are the requirements for RFP section 2.3.1, QA/QC IV&V PROJECT TEAM COMPOSITION, apply to each team member? What is the role of the General Contractor, QSSI? Are they on the Evaluation Panel for this opportunity? 138 If the prime is an African American, Woman owned MBE, can it count towards the MBE subcontractor participation goal for one or more of the designations, e.g., African American Owned or Woman Owned? 139 Will the incoming QA/QC IV&V vendor be precluded from bidding on the PMO procurement for the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange as a prime or subcontractor? 140 Will the QA/QC IV&V vendor be solely responsible for all project QA/QC functions or will the QA/QC IV&V contractor perform the QA/QC function in conjunction with MHBE QA/QC staff? The Prime must provide 3 project references. In addition, the prime and may also include subcontractor references if desired in addition to the 3 required references for the prime. The Prime must provide a list of all contractors in holds or has held within the past five years. Resumes are excluded Already addressed. QSSI provides development, mainteannce, operation and hosting for the existing HIX. They also provide support to the MHBE PMO. Evaluation Committee members are confidential. One only. Yes. The vendor will be responsible for the all requirements of the statement of work. Page 12
141 Section C states that "The QA/QC IV&V vendor shall facilitate the creation of common project repositories as directed by MHBE." Does the MHBE currently have an electronic library/repository in place to support the project or is the QA/QC IV&V vendor responsible for providing the electronic library to serve as the repository? 142 Section C states that "The Executive Summary shall include a copy of the PMI PMP certificate or equivalent. Please clarify which project personnel require PMPs? 143 Please confirm the Year designations for the Base Period, Option Period 1 and Option Period 2 in Schedule A. 144 145 1.1 Summary Statement Attachment M states that "Key Personnel identified by the Exchange for the scope of work described in Section 2 of this RFP shall be located onsite at the Exchange Office in Baltimore, Maryland." Will MHBE provide office furniture, access to printers and networks, conference room as needed for the QA/QC IV&V vendor's use. Will MHBE provide the QA/QC IV&V vendor with any required hardware, software and network capabilities for access to State networks and tools in order to perform the QA/QC IV&V functions. Could the State clarify the types of other contracted entities and State agencies contributing to the overall effort that may fall within the scope of support? Already addressed. All QA/QC team members. All IV&V team members. Already addressed. Yes to space. No, you have to provide your own laptop. However, your laptop must meet minimum security standards and will be subject to evaluation and approval by the State's designated security team. Also, you are responsible for providing project management software. Such as Microsoft Project, etc. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Human Resources, Department of Information Technology, the PMO support vendors, the System Integrator, and all other vendor entities with which MHBE works to support the transfer system project Page 13
146 1.22 Standard Contract Exceptions 147 1.25 Minority Business Enterprises 148 2.3.A Project Team Composition 149 2.4.C Required Deliverables 150 2.4 Project Deliverables ID 2.3.2.M This section describes the procedures for submitting exceptions to the RFP or the Contract with the proposal. But it goes on to say that exceptions to the solicitation or Contract made by the Offeror may result in rejection of the Offeror s proposals. Are we correct in understanding that an Offeror is permitted to take exceptions in its proposal, which will not result in automatic rejection but could result in rejection depending on the nature of the exceptions? Can the State clarify what kinds of exceptions are likely to lead to rejection? Can the State clarify if the WBE staffing requirement is annualized or a total project duration? Could the State please clarify the qualifications and experience that Already addressed. each team member must have? Of the requirements that are listed in #1-6, does EACH person have to meet ALL of those? Would a team meet the requirements if they had those qualifications collectively instead of individually? Is this table a complete list of all expected and required deliverables? No. Can the State clarify the expected completion of this deliverable be weekly thereafter or monthly thereafter? By submitting an offer in response to this RFP, an Offeror, if selected for award, shall be deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions of this RFP. If the Offeror takes exceptions and those exceptions are not accepted by MHBE or an acceptable negotiated version of the exception cannot be reached MHBE has the right to deem the proposal not suseptible for award or if move to the next best qualified offeror. Offerors will be given an opportunity to clarify, withdraw or negotiate exceptions. Duration of the project and based on the total project value Initial submission + future submissions are on a weekly or monthly frequency. Page 14
151 2.9 Insurance Requirement In the first paragraph, the Contractor must provide certificates of insurance and evidence of the payment of premiums. We request an exception to the requirement to provide evidence of the payment of premiums. We can provide current certificates of insurance, but we would not provide evidence of payment. Presenting evidence of payment of premiums in addition to current certificates is redundant. We also consider the amount of our premiums to be confidential information. Will the State agree to remove the requirement to provide evidence of the payment of premiums, or make this section of the RFP negotiable? No. 152 153 2.9 Insurance Requirement 2.9 Insurance Requirement Is the State willing to modify this paragraph to replace Employee Theft Insurance with Crime/Employee Theft Insurance? In the last paragraph, we request an exception to modify the first sentence to read as shown: The State shall be named as an additional named insured on the policies with the exception of Worker s Compensation, Professional Liability/E&O and Crime/Employee Theft Insurance. We can name the State as an additional insured on our policies, but the State cannot be the named insured. Also, due to the nature of these policies, we cannot name the State as an additional insured on Worker s Compensation, Professional Liability/E&O or Crime/Employee Theft insurance. Will the State agree to modify this sentence or make this section of the RFP negotiable? We will consider it. We will consider modifying it and/or negotiating this section. Page 15
154 2.9 Insurance Requirement In the last paragraph, we request an exception to delete the third sentence and replace it with the following as shown: All insurance policies shall be endorsed to include a clause that requires that the insurance carrier provide the Contract Monitor, by certified mail, not less than 60 days advance notice of any non-renewal, cancellation, or expiration. Offeror will provide thirty (30) days advance notice by certified mail of any cancelation or material change in coverage to the Contract Monitor. Our insurance carriers will not guarantee notice to anyone other than the named insured. We understand that this is now the industry standard practice. As a result, we do not have policies that can be endorsed to require notice to the Contract Monitor. However, we can agree that we will provide 30 days advance notice of cancelation or material changes to the Contract Monitor. Will the State agree to modify this sentence or make this section of the RFP negotiable? Yes, we will negotiate. 155 3.4.F Prime Contractor and Subcontractor Experience and Capabilities 156 Schedule A Are each of the MBEs and subcontractors in the proposal submission required to submit three project examples and information regarding state of Maryland experience? Schedule A shows a base period of 24 months (through July 2016), but the information in Section 3.5.1 (page 57) states the period of performance for this FFP cost proposal will be for one (1) year. Which is correct? Already addressed. The Contract resulting from this RFP shall be for a period for two (1) year beginning on or about July 1, 2014 and ending on June 30, 2015. At the sole option of the MHBE, the contract period may be extended for up to two (1) year periods. 157 Attachment A, 6. Exclusive Use We request an exception to add language to this section clarifying that Contractor will retain ownership of its pre-existing and The state will not modify, but on a case-by-case basis negotiate, based on the independently developed intellectual property. Will the State agree to successful vendor's property (during the course of the contract). modify this section of the Contract or make it negotiable? Page 16
158 159 160 Attachment A, 7. Patents, Copyrights, Intellectual Property Attachment A, 27. Liability Attachment F, Section E. The MHBE declines to amend the proposed change to the standard contract We request an exception to add language to this section to provide provisions. that Contractor s obligations in this section will not apply to the extent that a claim of infringement is caused by, relates to or arises out of (a) the State s failure to use the Contractor s services as permitted under this Contract, or (b) the State s configuration or use of the Contractor s services in combination with other software, equipment, services, processes, elements, components or systems that are not provided by Contractor. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Contract or make it negotiable? We request an exception to add a limitation of liability provision that (a) limits the Contractor s liability under the Contract, and (b) excludes Contractor s liability or responsibility for any lost profits/revenues or any special, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Contract or make it negotiable? This requires posting of a notice of Living Wage Rates, etc. For employees working onsite at the Exchange, will the State be responsible for posting this notice? If all employees and subcontractor employees working under the contract are salaried, can an Offeror be granted an exception from posting this notice at the Offeror s facilities where work on the contract is performed? The MHBE declines to amend the proposed change to the standard contract provisions. The MHBE declines to amend the proposed change to the standard contract provisions. Page 17
161 162 Attachment H, Section 4. E) Attachment J Trading Partner Agreement This section indicates that subrecipients of federal funds from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) or NIH (National Institute of Health) are prohibited from paying any direct salary at a rate in excess of Executive Level 1 per year. Will the successful Offeror be a subrecipient of federal funds from SAMHSA or NIH? If not, will the State agree to remove this provision from the resulting contract? If so, can the State provide a citation to specific federal laws or regulations that explain what Executive Level 1 salary rate is? We have some concerns about the requirements of the Trading Partner Agreement, particularly related to including attempts to gain unauthorized access to a system in the definition of an Incident. We are part of a large electronic transaction processing company, and we carefully monitor the security of our systems. However, it is impractical for us to report unauthorized attempts because of the pervasiveness pings and other unsuccessful efforts to penetrate our information systems that occur on a daily basis. Reporting all attempts would quickly render such reports meaningless. We would not agree to report Incidents as defined if it applies to our systems. However, based on the nature of the requested services, we believe it is unlikely that we would have a need to store PII on our information systems or equipment. Please identify which parts of the requested services will require or result in the Contractor having access to PII and for what purpose? Can the State confirm that the Contractor will not be required to store or process any PII on the Contractor s systems or equipment in order to provide the requested services? It is not anticipated that the successful Offeror will be a subrecipient of federal funds from SAMHSA or NIH and the State declines to remove this provision from the resulting contract. No, we cannot confirm this. It is possible that team members may have access to and store documents on laptops that may have PII, or the project library. Gaining unauthorizied access would apply to State systems or trading partner systems or laptops that have MHBE PII on them. The offeror should at all times know where project data is stored and the nature of that data and take proper measures to secure and protect the data. Page 18
163 164 165 166 Attachment J, Section B.3. Attachment J, Section C.2. Attachment J, Section C.2. Attachment J, Section D.3. We request an exception to either eliminate attempts to gain unauthorized access from the definition of Incident, or to clarify that Incidents are limited to unauthorized attempts to access the State s systems. We believe that it is impractical to report attempted, unauthorized acces to our systems because of the pervasiveness of pings and other unsuccessful efforts to penetrate our information systems that occur on a daily basis. We also believe that there will be no need for the Contractor to store PII on its systems. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? This section is an agreement to make uses and disclosures and requests for PII consistent with MHBE s policies and procedures regarding minimum necessary use of PII. Can the State provide copies of, or access to, MHBE s policies and procedures regarding minimum necessary use of PII so that we can review those? No. See question 162 The successful offeror will have access to the policies and procedures. proposing offerors must comply with these requirements This section is an agreement to make uses and disclosures and requests for PII consistent with MHBE s policies and procedures regarding minimum necessary use of PII. We request an exception to add that have been provided to Trading Partner in writing after No. MHBE s policies. We cannot agree to follow policies and procedures unless we know what they are. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? In the first sentence of this section, the Trading Partner shall use privacy and security standards at least as protective as MHBE has established and implemented for itself. Can the State provide copies These will be provided to the successful offeror of, or access to, MHBE s privacy and security standards so that we can review those? All Page 19
167 168 169 Attachment J, Section D.3. Attachment J, Section D.7. Attachment J, Section 8.a. In the first sentence of this section, the Trading Partner shall use privacy and security standards at least as protective as MHBE has established and implemented for itself. We request an exception to add and provided to Trading Partner in writing to the end of this sentence. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? In the second sentence of this section, the Trading Partner agrees to report to MHBE any Incident of which it becomes aware without unreasonable delay, and in no case later than five (5) calendar days after the Incident. We request an exception to this requirement. Due to the way Incident is defined, an Incident could include attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Trading Partner s systems regardless of whether any PII is on the Trading Partner s systems. We wish to add language to the Trading Partner Agreement to clarify that the Trading Partner will not be required to report attempts to gain unauthorized access to Trading Partner s systems. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? See answer to question 162 In this section a report of a Breach of unsecured PII must be made within 15 days after the Incident constituting the Breach is first known. Due to the way Incident is defined, an Incident could include attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Trading Partner s systems regardless of whether any PII is on the Trading Partner s systems. We request an exception to clarify that the Trading Partner will not be required to report attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Trading Partner s systems. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? No. Only state systems or trading partner systems that housed MHBE data would be subject to report. We will, however, not modify the reporting requirement Page 20
170 171 Attachment J, Section 8.d. Attachment J, Section G. 172 Attachment K 173 Attachment K, Second Recital This section requires the Trading Partner s report to include a draft letter to notify individuals of a Breach. We request an exception to eliminate this requirement. Based on the nature of the requested services, we are not proposing that any PII will be on our information systems or equipment. If our understanding of the requested services is correct, any Breach of PII will occur on the State s systems or equipment. Furthermore, we do not believe that HIPAA requires Trading Partners to issue notices of a Breach. Will the State agree to eliminate this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? Under this section MHBE is entitled to reimbursement and indemnification from the Trading partner for costs and expenses incurred as a result of Trading Partner s breach. We request an exception to make this section subject to a cap on the Trading Partner s liability and an exclusion of special, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Trading Partner Agreement or make it negotiable? Section 5 of the RFP indicates that this form is to be submitted with the Technical Proposal, and yet the attachment itself indicates Award in the title and it recites that the Contractor has been awarded a contract. Also Attachment K is not listed as required in Section 3.4 of the RFP. Is Attachment K to be completed and submitted with the Technical Proposal? If so, can we modify the recital that says the Contractor has been awarded a contract and other parts of the NDA to clarify that this is contingent upon award of a contract? In this section, the Contractor and its employees, agents, and subcontractors may be given access to Confidential Information. Will the State agree to also allow access to Contractor s affiliates? No, there will be no exception. See question 162. In addition, if there is no trading partner system or equipment that has PII then the vendor will never have to use this draft letter. We will consider modified language. Attachment K is not required to be submitted your proposal. Only upon prior written approval and following the Contractor's submission of a justification request. Page 21
174 175 176 Attachment K, Section 1. Attachment K, Section 2. Attachment K, Section 3 We request an exception to modify the definition of Confidential No for (a). We will consider changes for (b). Information so that it (a) includes either party s confidential information, and (b) excludes information that is generally available to the public, was already known to the recipient, or was independently developed by the recipient. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Non-Disclosure Agreement or make it negotiable? No, we will not modify the language to make it mutual nor will we make it We request an exception to (a) make these confidentiality obligations negotiable. mutual, and (b) allow disclosure that is required by judicial proceedings, investigations or other legal process, provided that the party required to disclose first makes a reasonable effort (if allowed by law) to consult with the other party to take reasonable steps to protect or limit disclosure. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Non-Disclosure Agreement or make it negotiable? We request an exception to eliminate this section and replace it with Yes, we will make it negotiable. language that allows the Contractor to share Confidential Information with its employees, affiliates, agents, advisors or subcontractors in connection with providing the services, provided that Contractor s employees, affiliates, agents, advisors or subcontractors with access to the State s Confidential Information will comply with the confidentiality provisions of this Agreement. Will the State agree to modify this section of the Non-Disclosure Agreement or make it negotiable? Page 22
177 Attachment K, Sections 4, 5 and 6 178 Attachment M 179 180 181 182 Page 7, Section 1.1 Page 25, Section 2.2-A Page 25, Section 2.2-A Page 30, Section 3-D We request an exception to make the obligations of these sections mutual. We also request an exception to provide in Section 6 that if return of the Confidential Information is not feasible, the parties may retain Confidential Information subject to the obligations of this Non- Disclosure Agreement until the Confidential Information is destroyed in accordance with commercially reasonable records retention policies. Will the State agree to modify these sections of the Non- Disclosure Agreement or make them negotiable? The attachment states that key personnel shall be located onsite for the project. Is the Exchange providing office space for those positions? If so, how many people could comfortably work in that space? The RFP states The initial phase of this effort ends November 15, 2014... To ensure proper alignment of our proposed project schedule to that of the SI Vendor, would MHBE please provide a general timeline for the SI Vendor contract? The RFP states adherence to the State of Maryland s SDLC methodology. This ten-phase methodology differs from the sixphase methodology discussed in Attachment L (section 2.6.7). To ensure we are aligned with the SI Vendor, can we assume that only the Single Release COTS phases apply to this project? No key personnel shall be onsite. The exchange will provide cubicles or other space as needed. We have sufficient space to accommodate up to 20 people. June 15, 2014 - tentative date for CMS Design Gate Review August 15, 2014 - tentative date to begin Interface and Carrier Testing September 1, 2014 - UAT Please see amended RFP. The RFP states project management documents provided by the There is only a SI SI vendor and COTS teams. The RFP defines the SI vendor, but not the COTS teams; would MHBE please define which vendor(s) make up the COTS teams? The RFP states The QA/QC IV&V vendor shall be responsible for MHBE PMO members and stakeholders that may be invited to attend providing project management training or coordinating training classes for the MHBE PMO and its designees. Can the MHBE PMO please define the term its designees? Page 23