SOLICITATION NOTICE
Q -- Design of a Drug Price Comparison Tool for the Medicare Endorsed Prescription Drug Discount Card Assistance Intitiative
- Notice Date
- 6/20/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration, Acquisition and Grants Group, 7500 Security Blvd. C2-21-15, Central Building, Baltimore, MD, 21244-1850
- ZIP Code
- 21244-1850
- Solicitation Number
- CMS-02-003-ELH
- Point of Contact
- Derrick Heard, Contract Specialist, Phone 410-786-2545, Fax 410-786-9922, - Beverly Gillette, Contracting Officer, Phone 410-786-5142, Fax 410-786-9922,
- E-Mail Address
-
DHeard@cms.hhs.gov, bgillette@cms.hhs.gov
- Description
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking for a Medicare-Endorsed Prescription Drug Card Assistance Initiative. We proposed a price comparison web-site to assist in a beneficiary?s decision about what prescription drug discount card would best serve their needs. The purpose of this contract is to develop and write the specifications for such a web-site. In order to ensure that beneficiaries receive information on programs to assist them in making informed decisions about whether and which card program to join, the proposed initiative required that comparative information on the prices offered to Medicare beneficiaries for drugs covered by each discount card be available, and that this would be done through a web-site that makes the discount information generally available. The end objective would be to make available the actual price a beneficiary would encounter at the point of sale. Recognizing the technical difficulty of this, CMS proposed that ? in the first year ? discounts on the website be expressed as a percentage off the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) for a standard set of the most commonly used drugs and dosages. However, by the second year of the initiative, the proposed rule required the site to publish the actual price that Medicare beneficiaries would pay for drugs offered by each Medicare-endorsed discount card sponsor. Participating card sponsors would be required to provide all the necessary information regarding their discount cards. While the stated purpose of this procurement is technical, achieving the purpose of the procurement would also require providing comparative information for the actual prices offered at the retail level, which we believe is not the usual way of doing business. Among the possible technical challenges of developing the drug selection and pricing display methodology underlying the comparison system are: 1) identifying selection criteria for determining which drugs to display (e.g., how to define commonly used drugs and establish cutoffs); 2) determining appropriate and meaningful presentations to enable beneficiaries to identify the drugs they take; 3) developing methodologies to standardize the drug identification (e.g., name brand versus generic), dosage, unit of payment (e.g., per monthly supply), and price information (alternatives to actual drug price include an average price, or maximum prices, savings and discounts.); 4) accommodating pricing /discount/rebate variations in contracts between a card sponsor and drug manufacturers, retail pharmacies and mail order programs; and 5) assuring the system can be updated as needed to accommodate the proposed requirement that drug prices be posted for 48 hours prior to becoming active. Further, it should be considered whether beneficiaries and other target audiences of the web-site understand the methods selected to present information and whether they would find the information sufficiently useful and complete (e.g. decision to display only commonly used drugs). In such cases, it would need to be determined what feasible marketing and education strategies could be pursued to prevent beneficiary confusion, address beneficiary expectations, and assist the beneficiary (or the beneficiary?s advocate) in understanding any limitations to the drug information presented and how to seek clarifying information as needed. Finally, the cost and burden to parties involved in producing data, and to building and maintaining the system must be considered. Given the strong interest by both Medicare beneficiaries and the industry, the project must be carried out in a transparent manner and there must be access for both groups to the process. The Government will be responsible for determining the most appropriate and feasible approach to the development of this web-site based on the best available information. It is clear that not all parties can be satisfied, but at least it should be possible to make an optimum decision. Thus, the project will involve an early report that presents the options with pros and cons to each. Please be aware that the Contractor will not have the right to use, release to others, reproduce, distribute, or publish any data first produced or specifically used by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, except to the extent specifically allowed, in writing, by the Contracting Officer. The period of performance for this project is projected to be only four [4] months and the level of effort is substantial. Thus, interested parties should be aware that particular attention will be paid to the depth of resources presented and the plans to manage such a short/intense project. The Government will be seeking a written proposal and may invite those offerors considered technically acceptable to make oral presentations. The successful offeror must have demonstrated knowledge of Medicare beneficiary information dissemination and in developing web-sites that supply detailed comparison information to the general public, particularly price comparison information. Also, they must have demonstrated experience in dealing with projects in which there a variety of competing interests, particularly organizations that represent interest groups. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only, does not constitute a solicitation, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or otherwise pay for any information solicited. The purpose of this notice is to make prospective offerors aware of the formal solicitation which is expected to be released on or about July 15, 2002. To receive a copy of the solicitation, interested parties must submit a written request to the Contracting Officer, Edward L. Hughes, at 7500 Security Boulevard, MS C2-21-15, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850. Telephone and facsimile requests will not be honored.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor Site
- Record
- SN00096710-W 20020622/020620213613 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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