The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) issued RFP (K521) on October 28th for the state “Health Benefits (Insurance) Exchange” seeking Systems Integrator Services. The state is required to establish an operational exchange to offer qualified health insurance plans to individuals and small businesses by January 1, 2014, Once implemented, the state anticipates that the Exchange will serve 160,000 to 440,000 individual and group customers in 2014.
The state needs qualified vendors to provide development, implementation, and hosting services in order to implement the Washington Health Benefits (Insurance) Exchange by December 2013. The solution obtained through this RFP may consist of one or more commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products or a custom developed software offering or a combination of both.
The exchange solution must be a web-based solution hosted at a secure location and provide the following:
• A hosting solution meeting the requirements of the Exchange in terms of hardware, software, network, and infrastructure services
• An integrated exchange solution based on a single exchange portal to support individual Eligibility and Enrollment, Plan Management, Financial Management, and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP)
• Operations and Maintenance of the exchange for one year with provisions for extensions
The new Exchange is to have a consumer focus and provide automated interaction with stakeholders. Since it is expected that consumers will access the exchange from their homes and other locations, the exchange web portal is expected to be available to users 24/7.
The State conducted a detailed Information Technology Gap Analysis for the exchange. The IT Infrastructure review and assessment developed a high level understanding of the requirements of the exchange and reviewed the State’s current Medicaid technology investments and architecture.
Proposals are due December 8, 2011. To view the RFP, go to www.hca.wa.gov/rfp/hbe.
