Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 226 - Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace › Rule 226.00.14-002 - Policies and Procedures for Vendors Doing Business with the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Final Procurement Contract and Vendor Rules
Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace
Preface:
The Purpose of these Rules is to establish
			 the policies and procedures for vendors doing business with the Arkansas Health
			 Insurance Marketplace (AHIM). These Rules are issued pursuant to the authority
			 vested in the AHIM under Ark. Code Ann. §
							23-61-801 et
			 seq.
Section 1.
Definitions.
1.1 "Act" means the
		  Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace Act.
1.2 "Addendum" or "Addenda" means an addition
		  or deletion to, a material change in or general interest explanation of, a
		  solicitation document.
1.3 "AHIM"
		  means the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace.
1.4 "Award" means either the act or
		  occurrence of the AHIM's identification of the person with whom the AHIM will
		  enter into a contract.
1.5 "Bid"
		  means a response to an Invitation to Bid.
1.6 "Bidder" means a person who submits a bid
		  in response to an Invitation to Bid.
1.7 "Board" means the member(s) of the
		  Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace Board of Directors as appointed under
		  Ark. Code Ann. §
								23-61-803.
1.8 "Business Manager" means the Business
		  Manager or acting Business Manager of the AHIM.
1.9 "Closing" means the date and time
		  announced in a solicitation document as the deadline for submitting
		  offers.
1.10 "Competitive Bidding"
		  or "Competitive Bid" means a method of procurement that requires obtaining bids
		  by:
1. Telephone;
2. Written form (including physical mail);
		  or
3. Electronic communication
		  (including email and facsimile).
1.11 "Contract" means agreements, regardless
		  of what they may be called, for the purchase, lease, rental or other
		  acquisition of goods and services and for the disposal of surplus commodities
		  and services not otherwise exempt.
1.12 "Contract Price" means as the context
		  requires:
1. The maximum payments that the
		  AHIM will make under a contract if the contractor fully performs under the
		  contract;
2. The maximum
		  not-to-exceed amount of payments specified in the contract; or
3. The unit prices for goods and services in
		  the contract.
1.13
		  "Contractor" means the person with whom the AHIM enters into a
		  contract.
1.14 "Eligible Entity"
		  means an entity that has experience in individual and small group health
		  insurance, benefit administration, or other experience relevant to the
		  responsibilities to be assumed by the entity. "Eligible Entity" does not mean a
		  health insurer or an affiliate of a health insurer. For purposes of this Rule,
		  an "affiliate of a health insurer" means any company that controls, is
		  controlled by, or is under common control with a health insurer but does not
		  include a company under common control with a health insurer if the following
		  conditions are satisfied:
1. The company and
		  the health insurer are separately constituted legal entities;
2. The company and the health insurer have
		  separate management and reporting chains such that neither the company nor the
		  health insurer control the day-to-day operational actions of the other;
		  and
3. The company and the health
		  insurer maintain and enforce written policies and procedures designed to
		  prevent the flow of customer information to or from the company and the health
		  insurer related to the responsibilities to be assumed by the
		  company."
1.15
		  "Emergency" means circumstances that:
1. Could
		  not have been reasonably foreseen;
2. Require prompt execution of a contract to
		  remedy the condition; and
3. Meet
		  one of the following two conditions:
a. The
		  circumstances create a substantial risk of loss or revenue, damage or
		  interruption of services or substantial threat to property, public health,
		  welfare, or safety when the circumstances could not have been reasonably
		  foreseen; or
b. The circumstances
		  require immediate and decisive action to protect the security, credibility, or
		  integrity of the AHIM.
1.16 "Executive Director" means the Executive
		  Director of the AHIM.
1.17 "Goods
		  and Services" or "Goods or Services" means supplies, equipment, materials, and
		  services, including personal services and any personal property, including any
		  tangible, intangible and intellectual property and rights and licenses in
		  relation thereto, that the AHIM is authorized by law to procure.
1.18 "Information Technology Contract" means
		  a contract for the acquisition, disposal, repair, maintenance, or modification
		  of hardware, software, or services for computers or
		  telecommunications.
1.19
		  "Invitation to Bid" or "ITB" means all documents, whether attached or
		  incorporated by reference, used for soliciting bids using a competitive bidding
		  process in which specifications, price, and delivery (or project completion)
		  will be the predominant award criteria.
1.20 "Major Procurement" or "Major
		  Procurement Contract" means a contract for a product or service costing more
		  than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000).
1.21 "Offer" means a response to a
		  solicitation document.
1.22
		  "Offeror" means a person who submits an offer.
1.23 "Person" means an individual,
		  corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability
		  company, association, joint venture, governmental agency, public corporation or
		  any other legal or commercial entity.
1.24 "Proposal" means a response to a Request
		  for Proposal.
1.25 "Proposer" means
		  a person who submits a proposal in response to a Request for
		  Proposal.
1.26 "Request for
		  Proposal" or "RFP" means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by
		  reference, used for soliciting proposals using a competitive proposal process
		  in which price is not the sole determining factor for contract award.
1.27 "Responsible Bidder/Proposer/Offeror"
		  means a vendor who submits a bid, offer, quote or proposal in response to a
		  solicitation and who, in the reasonable opinion of the AHIM:
1. Is able and is otherwise qualified in all
		  respects to perform fully the contract requirements without delay;
		  and
2. Has the integrity and
		  reliability that will assure good faith performance.
1.28 "Responsive Bidder/Proposer/Offeror"
		  (also "Responsive Bid", "Responsive Offer" or "Responsive Proposal" as
		  applicable) means an offer that substantially complies in all material respects
		  with applicable solicitation document requirements. When used alone,
		  "Responsive" means having the characteristics of substantially complying in all
		  material respects with applicable solicitation document requirements.
1.29 'Scope" means the range and attributes
		  of the goods or services described in the applicable solicitation document, or
		  if no solicitation document, in the contract.
1.30 'Signed" or 'Signature" means any mark,
		  word, or symbol attached to or logically associated with a document and
		  executed or adopted by a person, with the intent to be bound.
1.31 'Solicitation" means all documents,
		  whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized for soliciting bids,
		  offers, quotes, or proposals.1.32 'Solicitation Document" means an Invitation
		  to Bid, Request for Proposal, or other document issued to invite offers from
		  prospective contractors.
1.33
		  'Specification" means any description of the physical or functional
		  characteristics or of the nature of goods or services. Specifications generally
		  will state the result to be obtained and may, on occasion, describe the method
		  and manner of doing the work to be performed.
1.34 "Vendor" means a person who provides or
		  proposes to provide goods or services to the AHIM under a major procurement
		  contract. Vendor does not include an employee of the AHIM.
1.35 "Work" means the furnishing of all
		  materials, equipment, labor, and incidentals necessary to successfully complete
		  any individual requirement in a contract and successful completion of all
		  duties and obligations imposed by the contract.
1.36 "Written" or "Writing" means
		  conventional paper documents, whether handwritten, typewritten or printed, in
		  contrast to spoken words. It also includes electronic transmissions or
		  facsimile documents when required by applicable law or permitted by a
		  solicitation document or contract.