Question and Answers 
             US Embassy Kinshasa Health Insurance for Locally Employed Staff – 19CG5020R0002 
                             
                             
       Question:  What is the historical claims data for this project?  
       Answer:  That information is not available. Please note the current plan benefits are very different from 
       the benefits required in this solicitation. 
        
       Question:  How much are inpatient, outpatient, or dental expenses incurred/claimed annually under this 
       health plan for local hired staff and their spouse or children separately?  
       Answer:  Please see section C.1 of the solicitation for the minimum acceptable coverage levels and sub-
       limits for specific categories of care. Historical expenses and claims are not available. 
        
       Question:  How many times have staff received inpatient or outpatient treatment annually?  
       Answer:  That information is not available. 
        
       Question:  How many people suffer from serious disease or critical illness? What is the limitation in 
       current health insurance plan for this group?    
       Answer:  The number of persons suffering from serious disease or critical illness is not available, but pre-
       existing conditions are covered under the contract. The current health insurance plan benefits are very 
       different.  The annual maximum limit for each covered person in this solicitation is specified in section 
       C.1.2.  
        
       Question:  C.1.1.19 provides 180-day extended coverage?  Will the premium be for free? 
       Answer:   No, the Contractor is not expected to provide extended coverage for free, the Embassy would 
       pay the premium for the extended coverage.  
        
       Question:  Is the $47,000 annual maximum limit for every category of premium? Is $47,000 the annual 
       maximum limit for the family if it is Employee plus family? 
       Answer:  Please refer to section C.1.2 of the solicitation. $47,000 is the annual maximum limit per each 
       covered individual per contract year. The employee plus one and employee plus family premium 
       categories include multiple covered individuals. 
        
       Question: Can you provide demographics? 
       Answer:  Demographic information is provided in Section J of the solicitation. 
        
       Question: Who is the existing/previous insurer for the health insurance? 
       Answer:  The current insurer for US Embassy Kinshasa locally-employed staff is Lisungi S.A.R.L. 
        
       Question:  Under the section C.1.3 Exclusion and limitations: What is the meaning of the long-term 
       rehabilitative therapy. How long would that be for? 
       Answer:   Rehabilitative services included as a benefit in section C.1.1.14 provides temporary services to 
       help someone during the healing or recovery process, i.e., after an operation or accident, which can last 
       for several weeks or months.   Long term rehabilitative therapy excluded in section C.1.3 would cover 
       permanent needs, i.e., nursing care or when the person needs permanent assistance to do daily tasks, 
       etc. 
        
       Question:  What is coverage area?  Is coverage also for outside the DRC?  Does it mean global coverage? 
       Including USA? 
       Answer:  While the primary coverage area is the DRC since this solicitation is for locally-employed staff, 
       benefits do extend out-of-country at the same benefit levels. Please see Section C.1.1.17 of the 
       solicitation pertaining to out-of-country care: 
          Medical expenses incurred out-of-country will be covered at the same benefit levels and 
          subject to the same total maximum annual limit as for medical expenses incurred in-
          country. 
        
       Question:  Is brochure printing cost included in the retention costs? 
       Answer:  Yes, they could be included in the retention costs. Retention costs include everything that is 
       not directly paid out to medical providers and claimants for medical services. 
        
       Question:  Will the pre-proposal conference PowerPoint presentation be made available to 
       participants? 
       Answer:   Yes, it will be posted on beta.SAM.gov and the US Embassy Kinshasa website. 
        
       Question:  Would you share if the current insurer is US company or foreign? 
       Answer:  The current provider is not a US company. 
        
       Question:  That means you would require a contractor who is located locally and should be Kinshasa-
       based? 
       Answer:  Contractors are more than welcome to submit proposals no matter where they are based. The 
       requirement is that Contractors have the capability to provide health insurance services in DRC. Please 
       refer to Section L of the solicitation regarding registration: 
          The offeror shall include a notarized copy of the most current 
          license/certificate/accreditation, which demonstrates that the offeror is 
          licensed/certified/accredited or otherwise authorized by the Government of Democratic 
          Republic of Congo or its agent (e.g., insurance commission, board) to provide health 
          insurance coverage to persons (to include organizations, companies, groups) within the 
          host country.  If the offeror is not licensed/certified/accredited or otherwise authorized by 
          the Government of  Democratic Republic of Congo it must demonstrate that it is 
          licensed/certified/accredited by a government other than Democratic Republic of Congo 
          to provide health insurance for persons in Democratic Republic of Congo and must 
          demonstrate its capacity to provide health benefits in Democratic Republic of Congo to 
          meet the minimum requirements and other conditions set forth in this solicitation. 
        
       Question:  For the past 6 days we have failed to register our company on the system award 
       management (SAM) website. The site has been down for days, supposedly on maintenance.  Can you 
       help?   
       Answer:  If the you experience any issues with SAM registration on beta.SAM.gov, please follow the 
       guidance on the website; there is specific guidance and the FSD helpdesk can assist. Meanwhile, 
       Embassy Kinshasa can provide assistance in how to fill out the forms.  
        
       Question:  Could you please confirm either the budget and/or premiums of your American Embassy in 
       2020, or the target budget and/or target premiums for 2021?   
       Answer:  This information is not available.  
        
       Question:  Could you please let me know what is approximatively the proportion of persons that have 
       American nationality, Congolese nationality and Third Country nationality? 
       Answer:  The nationality of locally employed staff does not have any bearing on the coverage provided 
       to them.  All eligible employees and their eligible family members are entitled to the same benefits as 
       stated in Section C of the solicitation. 
        
       Question:  Do the amounts of 300, 450 and 600 in section I Contract Clauses relate to existing member 
       insurance premium rates? 
       Answer:  Please review Section I.2 Contract Clauses 52.216-19 in full to understand these Order 
       Limitations, setting the minimum and maximum range and maximum combination of orders. See section 
       B pricing tables for estimates of premiums for the base year and option years.  
        
       Question:  Is the U.S. Embassy looking for a health insurance contract or a direct care contract with a 
       medical provider? 
       Answer:  The U.S. Embassy has posted a solicitation for health insurance services. Any organization or 
       company that can meet the requirements in the solicitation is welcome to submit a proposal. 
        
       Question:   What is the offer date?   
       Answer:    The offer date in box 18 on the SF-33 is the date you submit the offer and not the stated due 
       date. 
        
       Question:  What do you mean by riders?  
       Answer:   Riders are additional benefits not paid by the Embassy. Riders are additional coverage, either 
       for additional people who are not directly employed by the Embassy but will benefit from the same 
       insurance at the same rates and benefits, or optional excess coverage paid for directly by employees 
       themselves that exceeds the level of coverage provided by the Embassy. In both cases, the Embassy is 
       not directly involved and not responsible. For Official Residence Employees (ORE), the Chief of Mission 
       or Deputy Chief of Mission pays the premiums, not the Embassy. For excess coverage, the employees 
       pay directly.