TRICARE Dental Plan (TDP) Sources Sought Notice

The Defense Health Agency (DHA), DHA Contracting Activity (DHACA), Managed Care Contracting Division (MC-CD), is issuing this sources sought notice pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 206.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The DHA intends to issue a sole-source bridge action to continue the provision of services provided under the existing TDP contract, HT9402-16-D-0001, to United Concordia Companies, Inc. (UCCI), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This contract modification to extend performance is necessary to continue to meet mission critical requirements and ensure there are no gaps in service.

The Department of Defense (DoD) through the DHA has a mission to offer dental care services to eligible TRICARE beneficiaries. In order to fulfill DHA's mission, the TDP contractor shall provide comprehensive dental care services worldwide to eligible TRICARE beneficiaries under the TRICARE Dental Program (TDP).

Scope: The TDP offers worldwide dental coverage to all eligible family members of Uniformed Service active duty personnel and to members of the Selected Reserve, the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), the National Guard, and their eligible family members. There are currently an estimated 1.85 million TDP enrollees. The TDP geographic area of coverage for the Continental United States (CONUS) includes the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) service area includes all other countries, island masses and territorial waters (32 CFR 199.13(2)(i)(A)).

The TDP Performance Objectives are as follows:

1. The contractor shall sustain or increase enrollment percentage for eligible beneficiaries.
2. The contractor shall increase utilization for diagnostic and preventive services.
3. The contractor shall provide cost-effective dental care services for enrollees.

The contract extension is expected to be for 4 months with a period of performance of November 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025.

This sole-source contract extension will ensure continued support to the DHA and prevent a gap in dental services from the end of the current TDP contract (October 31, 2024) until transition-in has been completed on the competitively awarded follow-on contract. The DHA expects full performance on the follow-on contract to begin by March 1, 2025. The extension sought under this notice would allow time for the follow-on TDP contractor to complete its transition-in activities in coordination with the DHA. DHA expects dental care delivery for the follow-on contract to start March 1, 2025.

If an interested party believes it can provide the required services, it shall submit a written notice and a capabilities statement to the Contracting Officer no later than 14 days after the date of this notice. The interested party shall include a capabilities statement that is brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrates the interested party's ability to meet the requirements with sufficiently qualified personnel beginning November 1, 2024, for a contract with a period of performance of 4 months without any transition-in period. The capabilities statement shall describe how the interested party would prevent a break in service and be ready to perform without the benefit of any transition-in period and without any degradation of services to beneficiaries. The capabilities statement shall identify recent and relevant contracts of similar scope, complexity and magnitude, which the interested party has satisfactorily performed for the Federal Government. Interested parties may submit the written notice and capabilities statements via email to Ms. Chelsea Lavelle, Contract Specialist, at chelsea.m.lavelle.civ@health.mil, and Ms. Kristin Moore, Contracting Officer, at kristin.m.moore13.civ@health.mil. All information received in response to this Sources Sought marked 'Proprietary' will be protected and handled accordingly. Responding parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary information in their response.

This notice is for informational purposes only and is not a request for competitive proposals. DHA will not respond to any requests for a solicitation. DHA is not issuing a solicitation at this time, and this Notice shall not be construed as DHA's commitment to issue a solicitation nor does it restrict DHA to a particular acquisition approach. Interested firms shall not send proposals in response to this Notice. Further, the Government will not accept inquiries regarding potential future requirements. Any information provided to DHA is strictly voluntary and given with no expectation of compensation, and is clearly provided at no cost to the Government. If DHA issues a solicitation in the future, DHA will conduct any source selection in accordance with the FAR Part 15, as supplemented. Any future information on this acquisition will be posted on SAM.gov.