By Pacific Island Times News Staff
While admonishing the government for violating the procurement law, the Office of Public Accountability gave the Department of Administration the go-ahead to ratify and affirm its contract with SelectCare.
The OPA said "it is in the best interest of the Government of Guam,” to continue its contract with SelectCare, as it is about to reach the halfway mark of its contract period.
The ruling was based on TakeCare Insurance Co.’s procurement appeal, which was partly upheld and partly denied.
In its protest, TakeCare argued that DOA issued a request for proposal that did not state that claims cost was to be part of the responsive bid.
DOA required claims cost to be part of the responsive bid but did not specifically state anywhere that the RFP required claims cost, but only for third-party administrator fees.
Moreover, DOA’s consulting group, Milliman Inc. improperly adjusted TakeCare’s provider reimbursement cost by .02 percent without adjusting for SelectCare.
As a result, TakeCare was not on a level playing field with SelectCare, OPA said.
The public auditor agreed with TakeCare’s arguments, noting that DOA violated procurement law.
“If after an award it is determined that a solicitation or award of a contract is in violation of law and the person awarded the contract has not acted in bad faith, then the contract may be ratified and affirmed provided that doing so is in the best interest of the Government of Guam,” the OPA said.
OPA said there was no evidence that SelectCare acted in bad faith.
On Sept. 19, 2024, the attorney general approved a Declaration of Substantial Interest for the RFP to move forward after TakeCare filed its protest.
The public auditor found that the award to SelectCare should be ratified and affirmed for the same reasons as identified in the Declaration of Substantial Interest, and for the fact that switching insurance providers in the middle of the fiscal year could pose a direct imminent threat to public health, safety and welfare.
However, the public auditor found that TakeCare is entitled to its reasonable costs incurred in connection with the solicitation, including the bid preparation costs and Aug. 27, 2024 protest, excluding attorney’s fees, because there was a reasonable likelihood that it may have been awarded the contract, but for DOA’s violations.
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