Tom Hodges–

Political Considerations

A recent change in political climate enhances the value of RMADA 2.0. Whereas the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was controversial at the time RMADA 1.0 began, its services have recently won endorsement across the political spectrum. Notable for bidders, this removes an element of risk from the contract, as well as enhancing the probability that spending under 2.0 will be higher than under 1.0.

Program Summary

HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing the Research, Measurement, Assessment, Design, and Analysis (RMADA) 2.0 RFP to continue research assessing its more important programs.

Under the RMADA2 IDIQ, CMS will award task orders (TOs) for a wide-range of analytic and technical assistance activities, supporting models derived under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), Health Care Reform ACT (HCERA), other non-ACA statutes, and future health reform legislation. Anyone who reads the spec can see they want innovative solutions.

RMADA2 Current Status

The RFP is expected out soon, in November according to GovWin. Currently, there is a draft Work Statement available dated August 7, 2018 that describes the program in detail. The estimated award date is July, 2019 as the current IDIQ phases out. That means that potential respondents must move quickly to finish a viable bidding position for this important solicitation.

Incumbents

Some fifteen current contract holders share task orders that have delivered well over $1 billion in revenue since FY 2014. Mathematica Policy Research leads the way with nearly one-quarter of the billion dollars. Other large task order winners are RTI International, United Health Group, and National Opinion Research Center. Integrators and other beltway firms include Booz Allen, RAND, and Deloitte.

Next Steps for Winning Bidders

It is now the 11th hour. Those bidders who plan to win must move ahead to finish Capture activities, figure out innovative approaches to solutions, collect past performance, etc. If your proposal team is short of talent, now is the time to do something about it.