Federal Flexible Spending Account (FSAFEDS) Program Services   3

AMENDED 04/13/2020: DRAFT solicitation documents have been uploaded and are as close to final as they can be at this time. OPM is prohibited from releasing the FINAL solicitation until the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approves our Business Case for establishment of a new Multi-Agency Contract (MAC). Once approved to establish a new MAC, the official (FINAL) solicitation will be released and a due date for submission of proposals will be established. The time frame for submission of proposals on the FINAL solicitation will be very brief and we will not have the ability to extend it, which is why we are releasing the DRAFT documents in advance, to provide as much time as possible for interested parties to be prepared.

Interested parties should begin preparing questions and start on gathering documents needed for the final solicitation using these DRAFT solicitation documents provided.

This Presolicitation Notice is associated with Sources Sought Notice (SSN) #24361819S0005. Interested parties are not required to have participated in the market research phase or responded to the SSN in order to be considered eligible to respond to the solicitation which will follow.

The solicitation which will follow will be intended to obtain third party administration services for the Federal Flexible Spending Accounts Program (FSAFEDS) to allow OPM to continue offering this benefit to Federal employees. OPM intends to establish a MULTI-AGENCY CONTRACT (MAC) against which all utilizing agencies will issue their own funded task orders to pay the contractor for their share of services. See attached documents for further details.

Again, this is only the Presolicitation Notice and DRAFT solicitation, NOT THE FINAL Solicitation.

The only authorized contact between industry and Government with regard to this requirement is the Contract Specialist noted in this announcement. DO NOT CONTACT ANYONE ELSE at OPM seeking information regarding this requirement. Doing so may disqualify you from participation in the solicitation. Please read thoroughly before asking any questions. We will not answer questions about the solicitation schedule.

NOTICE: In keeping with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), OPM adheres to the guidelines outlined in the FAR Part 1.102-2(c), which is to conduct business with integrity, fairness, and openness. In order to avoid any appearance of impropriety, the OPM Contracting Officer reserves the right to terminate contractor participation in a Request for Proposal for unauthorized contact with customers, presentation of gifts to Government officials, use of defamatory statements, or other inappropriate behavior.

The anticipated award date for the contract resulting from the pending solicitation is on or before July 1 , 2020, to allow a 6 month transition period before service start date on January 1, 2021. The 6 month transition period is required to ensure all clearances/approvals and Authorization to Operate have been achieved prior to start of services.

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OPM is the executive branch agency with primary responsibility for the Federal Government's human resources management policy and structure. As part of its basic mission, OPM administers the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program, and the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP). OPM also exercises a leadership role in the development of new benefit programs for Federal employees.

At the direction of the President, OPM implemented a Health Insurance Premium Conversion Plan in October 2000 for approximately 1.6 million executive branch employees who participate in FEHB. OPM also conducted a study of design and pricing options for implementation of medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts across the executive branch. These accounts also referred to as reimbursement accounts provide tax advantages authorized under the Internal Revenue Code and are widely used by both private and public employers in the United States.

In the years since their development, flexible spending account programs have become an expected benefit that is popular among employees.

From the employee's perspective, flexible spending accounts offer an attractive opportunity to convert some health care and dependent care expenses from an after-tax expense to a pre-tax expense or to provide for benefits that may not be provided on a pre-tax basis through the employer's benefit program. On benefit attitude surveys for individual employers, the robustness of the employer's health benefit package regularly ranks in the top two or three factors in importance of employee attitudes toward flexible spending accounts relative to other benefits.

The demographics of the Federal workforce show that we can anticipate substantial retirements in the next few years. The Federal Government must compete energetically to recruit high-quality workers and to retain gifted and experienced workers. With so many Federal employees eligible to retire by the year 2020, the Government must be able to attract and keep an excellent high performing workforce.

Many private and public sector employers have offered FSAs and other pre-tax benefits to their employees for years and now consider health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts an integral component in making their benefits packages attractive to both prospective and current employees. Employees who have worked in the private sector or in parts of the public sector have come to expect that FSAs for medical and day care expenses will be available. The Federal Executive Branch must remain competitive with private employers and state and local governments. Continuing to offer pre-tax spending accounts as a component of the Federal benefits package will help us to recruit and retain the top-performing employees the Government needs.