The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded Accenture Federal Services with a five-year, $563 million contract to continue Accenture’s work on the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) in support of the overall Health Insurance Marketplace website HealthCare.gov.
Accenture delivered technology solutions and systems to support this year’s enrollment, expand outreach to issuers and support the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), including:
- Completing all transition activities in an accelerated timeline
- Executing architecture changes to increase capacity
- Implementing usability improvements and re-enrollment capability to support the 2015 enrollment period
In January, CMS announced it had awarded Accenture a letter contract for the initial phase of work on the FFM, to include 24/7 support of the Marketplace application, eligibility and enrollment functions, and the generation and transition of enrollment forms. Accenture mobilized more than 500 people in six weeks to develop and execute the work identified in the letter contract and to assist CMS in defining the work necessary to enhance Healthcare.gov.
As the 2014 enrollment period closed successfully with Accenture’s support, work began to prepare for the 2015 enrollment. Accenture focused on simplifying the process for issuers to update plans, and implemented tools and processes to expedite the resolution of citizen inquiries. At the same time, Accenture worked with CMS to find new ways to streamline and improve the customer experience. CMS later expanded Accenture’s scope of work to include enhancements and additional functionality of the FFM, the SHOP and state-based exchange transitions. All of these efforts helped create a successful launch of the 2015 Open Enrollment season that continues through February 15, 2015.
“Our work in all of these areas will continue under the new contract, as we continuously enhance the capability supporting citizens, issuers and CMS – focused on simplifying and streamlining the customer experience,” said Matt Tait, the senior managing director who leads Accenture’s work on the project.