IMPROVING CENSUS BUREAU ESTIMATES OF HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE

THIS IS AN INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE ANNOUNCEMENT PURSUANT TO FAR 6.302-1. THIS CONSTITUTES THE ONLY WRITTEN NOTICE, NO OTHER NOTICE OR SOLICITATION SHALL BE ISSUED AS A RESULT OF THIS NOTICE. The NAICS Code for this acquisition is 611310 Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools with a Size Standard of 6.5M The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) is the most commonly used source of data for understanding health insurance coverage and its social and economic covariates at the state level. In addition, the American Community Survey (ACS) is a promising new data source that adds many new dimensions to the picture of the uninsured in this country by providing local level health insurance data. These data will be brand new to policy community, policy makers and media and it will be essential to have the Census Bureau ready to answer questions and provide training. Due to burgeoning health reform efforts at the state level, the demands for credible data and effective translation of these data to the local policy context are particularly critical. States need a reliable, central resource for basic research, data dissemination and translation of the complex methodological issues underlying the CPS and the ACS. The CPS and ACS are the preeminent sources of data for these policy discussions because: a) CPS has been the benchmark survey for state policy analysis and evaluation of health insurance coverage for more than two decades; and b) the new ACS will begin producing health insurance coverage estimates for the country, states and local areas on a annual basis with the first data release coming in August 2009. The CPS has made several changes (and will be making at least one more) since 2000 that have a direct impact on rates of coverage (and could be easily misinterpreted by policy analysts, policy makers and the media as resulting form program changes. The State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health plays an important role in keeping state health policy researchers (working for state governments and at the national level) informed about changes and how they impact their analyses. SHADAC also examines these databases to produce research into how to improve them for state health policy research. Also, the CPS time series is getting more and more difficult to work with and SHADAC will work to produce and document a consistent set of time series for policy researchers. The growing complexity of the data could not have come at a worse time as these data will play a critical role in evaluating state health reform efforts that are underway in many states. SHADAC's role will be to help the Census Bureau revise its current CPS edit specifications, work to produce microdata fixes for time series data that can be used by the public use data user community, distribute new edited microdata through the Minnesota Population Center, consult on the development of new ACS edit specifications, perform data quality review of ACS and CPS (after new edit specifications have been run) test data, and to help develop an ACS-Medicaid enrollment test study. This work is more essential now than ever before as changes in the Census Bureau data products have to be appropriate for state level policy work and evaluation of state level health policy changes. THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS OF ONLY ONE SOURCE: Regents of the University of Minnesota, State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), 2900 University Avenue, Crookston MN 56716-5001 The period of performance shall be nineteen (19) months from date of award. The government anticipates awarding a fixed price contract using FAR Part 15 Negotiated Competitive Procurement procedures. Interested parties may submit information in accordance with this announcement, which will be considered, within 15 days of the posting of this announcement. As a result of analyzing responses to this synopsis of intent, the Contracting Officer may determine that the action may be competed. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. For questions concerning this procurement please contact Natalie Y. Ellis, Contract Specialist at +1 (555) 000-0000 or contact@example.gov