D -- A-76 STEAMLINED STUDY- Website Project Management, Beneficiary Information Services Group, Center For beneficiary Choices

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is initiating a Streamlined Competition under the Revised OMB Circular A-76 to evaluate the management of website project functions for the Beneficiary Information Services Group within the Center for Beneficiary Choices. This competition seeks to determine whether the current website project management tasks—such as controlling content on cms.hhs.gov and MEDICARE.gov, updating or deleting information, and supporting the development of interactive tools and databases—should continue to be performed by federal employees or be outsourced. Presently, these services are managed by eighteen federal employees. Key officials involved in this process include Leslie Norwalk as Competitive Sourcing Official, Brenda Sykes as Agency Tender Official, and Edward Hodges as Contracting Officer, with Robyn A. Salawitch listed as an additional contracting officer contact. This announcement marks the official start of the competition study and complies with A-76 requirements, with no Request for Proposal (RFP) currently available. CMS plans to issue a follow-up notice around June 9, 2005, to disclose results from cost comparisons that will help decide whether the government or a contractor should perform the work moving forward. If the activity is set for competition, CMS will subsequently publish the requirement in FedBizOpps for interested parties. The goal is to ensure the effective management of the Medicare websites to better serve beneficiaries, caregivers, providers, researchers, and other stakeholders.