HHS denies CGI Federal was sole bid for Obamacare exchange

The Department of Health and Human Services agency overseeing the implementation of the Obamacare exchange is denying allegations that the contractor behind the exchange was the only bidder.
The Washington Examiner previously reported that there was no proof that CGI Federal — the U.S.-based subsidiary of the Canadian technology firm, CGI Group — was not given preferential treatment when bidding for the contract.

But a spokesperson from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) told the Daily Caller, “CGI did not receive any sole source awards. They competed for the work on our multiple award contract.”

CMS is an operating division within HHS overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. A sole source award is a contract that meant for a single person or company.

An HHS source told The Daily Caller that the agency received four proposals out of 16 pre-qualified bidders. The source would not say which companies were pre-qualified, nor which companies submitted proposals.

Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president for CGI Federal, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health in September that CMS chose CGI Federal in Sept. 2011.
“On September 30, 2011, CMS conducted a competitive procurement and selected CGI Federal to design and develop the FFM,” said Campbell.

The FFM, or Federally Facilitated Marketplace, is the technical term for the Obamacare exchange.

“CMS issued CGI Federal a task order for this work under CGI Federal’s Enterprise Systems Development, Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity type contract,” said Campbell.

An Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) type contract is, according to the GSA, “used to acquire supplies and/or services when the exact times and/or exact quantities of future deliveries are not known at the time of contract award.”

CGI Federal did not respond to The Daily Caller by the time of publication.

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