GAO says no to contract protests

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week denied protests to over $372 million for two contracts related to healthcare.

GAO denied CGI Federal’s protest against a $230 million awarded contract to Computer Sciences (CSC) to develop an IT system for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to streamline the design, development, operation and maintenance of four different IT systems that support the HealthCare Quality Information System (HCQIS).

CGI, of Fairfax, Va., argued that CMS's discussions with CGI were misleading and unequal as compared with those the agency held with CSC; CMS improperly evaluated and failed to properly document its evaluation of the cost proposals submitted by CGI and CSC; CMS's past performance and technical evaluations were improper; and, as a consequence, the award decision was flawed.

In addition, GAO denied contractor ACS Federal Solutions’s protest over a $142 million contract to CSC for medical billing processing services from the U.S. Department of Labor. ACS asserted that the agency failed to conduct adequate discussions.

 

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