A -- Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS2)

SOURCES SOUGHT/REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONMEDICARE CURRENT BENEFICIARY SURVEY (MCBS) SURVEY DATA VALIDATION, DATA ANALYSIS, DATA DISSEMINATION, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH General Information: This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE to determine the availability of potential of service-disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB), and HUBZone small business, to provide the required services for The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Although it is our intent to find SDVOSB or HUBZone businesses other Small Businesses that meet the requirements may also respond. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 541720,541712. This is not an invitation for bid, request for quote or other solicitation and in no way obligates the Government to award a contract. This announcement is a Request for Information (RFI) for planning purposes only. Project Background: The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) is a national ongoing, multi-purpose, face-to-face survey of a representative sample of the Medicare population. The survey was first fielded in September of 1991 and has remained continuously fielded, without interruption to the data collection since its first fielding. The MCBS is sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The MCBS is a longitudinal rotating panel survey. Each year a new panel of approximately 6,000 survey participants is added to the survey and one panel is retired. Sample persons are interviewed three times each year over a four year period using the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing methodology. These surveys form a continuous profile of each individual's personal health care experience. The MCBS is thus uniquely capable of tracking changes in coverage and other personal circumstances, and observing processes that occur over time, such as people leaving their homes and taking up residence in long-term care facilities, or spending down their assets for medical care until they become eligible for Medicaid. Respondents for the MCBS are sampled from the Medicare enrollment file to be representative of the Medicare population as a whole. The sample size was designed to yield about 12,000 completed cases annually. The sample was drawn from 107 primary sampling units (PSUs) or major geographic areas chosen to represent the nation, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with a second stage of 1,163 geographic clusters defined by ZIP Code initially drawn within those PSUs. The purpose of this action is to assess the capability of a Contractor: to validate - in a scientifically sound method - each new round of MCBS data; to document this validation process through the production and dissemination of reports to CMS and/or its Designees; to provide education and outreach to MCBS data users; to provide technical assistance to data users; and to conduct applied research in support of the MCBS program and current CMS program goals and objectives. Instructions/Requirements for Submitting RFI Responses to CMS: Interested parties having the corporate capability and expertise necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to charles.littleton@cms.hhs.gov. Email responses on or before 10:00am (local prevailing time) December 18, 2007. Please limit responses to no more than 10 pages total (excluding references and appendicies). CMS software standard is MS Word. Therefore, responses should be submitted in a Word or Word comparable document. Page size should be 8.5 by 11 inches. Font should be no smaller than Times-Roman 12 point. CMS requests that respondents specifically address each question identified below. In general, while this RFI is not a request for a technical proposal, respondents should provide enough information for CMS to make a determination as to the capability to provide the same or similar work as identified in the draft SOW. RFI responses should include, at a minimum, the information identified in each of the following: 1. Business Information a. Company Name b. Company Address c. D&B DUNS Number d. Current GSA contract(s) and/or schedules(s) that you possess which are appropriate to this Sources Sought/RFI. e. Does your organization have a Government approved accounting system? If so, please identify the agency that approved the system. f. Type of company (e.g., small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women owned small business) as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). g. Company Point of Contact ? Name, Phone and Email address h. Point of contact, phone and email address of individuals who can corroborate the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. i. NOTE: Teaming Arrangements - All teaming arrangements shall also include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. Teams should be identified and the roles for each business entity in the listed for each capability point. 2. Please describe your general overall experience in, and/or ability to provide with teaming partners, the development and implementation of population-based survey data validation techniques to ensure that data files are representative, methodologically sound and valid. 3. Please describe your general overall experience in, and/or ability to provide with teaming partners, the development of documentation and design of reports of these validation efforts. 4. Please describe your general overall experience in, and/or ability to provide with teaming partners, the design and implementation of a population-based survey research dissemination strategy. 5. Please identify if you maintain, and/or are able to provide with teaming partners, statisticians and/or survey research methodologists at the PhD level. 6. Please describe no more than three (3) current or past research projects where your firm or teaming partners have been successful in analyzing population-based survey data either in the public or private sector using cutting-edge, state-of-the-science techniques and methods. Please include a scientific abstract of the project and complete citations to any peer-reviewed publications that resulted from the work. Other Information: Proprietary Information and Disclaimers: All transmitted information marked proprietary shall be treated as such. Therefore, respondents should identify any proprietary information in its RFI response. Information submitted in response to this RFI will be used at the discretion of the Government. Proprietary materials will neither be distributed, nor discussed with any other organization or business. Further, the information submitted will remain confidential insofar as permitted by law, including the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts. CMS reserves the right to utilize any non-proprietary technical information in the anticipated SOW or solicitation. Respondents should be aware that this RFI is for marketing purposes only and any responses submitted do not constitute a commitment by CMS to treat any offeror more or less favorably in any anticipated forthcoming solicitation and/or ultimate award. Responses to the RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by CMS to form a binding contract. CMS does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI, or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. No reimbursement for costs will be made associated with providing information in response to this RFI or follow-up information request. Responses to the RFI will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. All communications shall be by email. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the review of the responses. Information received will be considered solely to make informed decisions regarding a potential procurement. On behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, thank you for your interest in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey.