August 10, 2015
McLean, VA: — Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) has been awarded a contract by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to become the Marketplace System Integrator (MSI).
”We are pleased to serve as a strategic partner through this engagement with CMS to further the centers’ mission to provide affordable healthcare to American citizens,” said Executive Vice President Kristine Martin Anderson, who leads the company’s civil health business. “In the role as systems integrator, Booz Allen will work closely with a broad set of stakeholders across CMS, other Federal Agencies, State entities, and Issuers to coordinate the implementation of the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces (FFM) so that American citizens will continue to receive high-quality, affordable health insurance through the Marketplace.”
Specifically, Booz Allen will lead governance and technical coordination for a complex, interoperable set of systems, while ensuring compliance and alignment with continuing Congressional mandates and frequently evolving regulatory requirements. The MSI contract was awarded for $202 million, and is composed of a base plus 4 option years, with the potential for support to continue through July 2020.
Through its Systems Delivery organization, Booz Allen brings to this contract its world-class systems integration, complex systems deployment and enhancement capabilities, as well as an extensive and diverse knowledge of insurance in the marketplace.
“Successful systems delivery requires a broad range of technology capabilities, an intimate understanding of a client’s mission, and a sensitivity and awareness to the management challenges of organizational adaptation and adoption,” said Executive Vice President Gary Labovich. “This is the valuable differentiator that Booz Allen can offer our clients when we support their most important goals, such as ensuring access to affordable health insurance.”
The MSI program covers system integration, release management, and environment management activities, as well as facilitating communication and participating in the change control process for Marketplace environments. The Marketplace is the primary implementation of the ACA and is a complex “system of systems” built and supported by many contractors with interfaces to several other Federal Agencies and all 50 states. The Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) and State Based Marketplaces (SBM), known as the Health Insurance Marketplace systems, were established through the ACA in 2010 and began operations on October 1, 2013. These Marketplaces allow individuals and small business employers to shop for and compare competitive private health insurance options, known as Qualified Health Plans (QHP), on the basis of price, quality, and other factors.
Booz Allen will partner with CMS to deliver new functions, improvements, or changes to the existing technology, processes and procedures to oversee and manage the evolution, integration, and operations of all Marketplace systems. Booz Allen will also be responsible for coordinating with the CMS Marketplace IT PMO including both business and technical stakeholders to ensure the success of critical mission activities across the system and value chain, to include the annual Open Enrollment Period.
BAHPR-CW
