8/31/2021 Update: Refresh 7 was released as expected today.
If your company currently holds a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Contract, or is considering a GSA Schedule, you should know GSA intends to issue changes to the contract this month in the form of a solicitation refresh.
Refresh 7, which is expected to be released on August 31st, will expand what can be offered through the GSA Schedule and incorporate other changes into the contract. This latest refresh comes just three months after Refresh 6, which most notably addressed COVID-19 related waivers and officially introduced the Verified Products Portal (VPP).
Refresh 7 will include several updates, including:
- Two New Special Item Numbers (SINs)
- Three Revised SINs with Expanded Scope
- Price Proposal Template Changes
New GSA Special Item Numbers
GSA plans to add the following two SINs with the release of Refresh 7 later this month. These new SINs will be classified under the Professional Services Large Category.
- New SIN 524292INS, Third Party Administration of Insurance and Pension Funds, will include medical billing and coding services. SIN 524292INS will fall under the Financial Services Subcategory.
- New SIN 541990, All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (Non-IT), will include services not covered under other existing SINs and will be TDR Eligible. SIN 541990 will fall under the Technical and Engineering Services (Non-IT) Subcategory.
SIN 524292INS, Third Party Administration of Insurance and Pension Funds
- Large Category: Professional Services
- Subcategory: Financial Services
- SIN 524292INS Description: Provides financial services related to third party administration of insurance and pension funds, such as claims adjudication and processing and other administrative services to insurance carriers, employee benefit plans, and self-insurance funds. Additionally, medical coding, medical billing, medical claims and appeals, insurance claim processing, managing and distribution claims reimbursements may be performed. Ancillary support services may include providing customer service education and outreach, project and program management, compliance and dispute resolution support, provider outreach, and data reporting support, benefit design, prescription drug formulary, enrollment assistance, consolidated billing, identification of billing mistakes, stop loss coverage, and state and federal billing.
SIN 541990, All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (Non-IT)
- Large Category: Professional Services
- Subcategory: Technical and Engineering Services (Non-IT)
- SIN 541990 Description: Services provided include professional, scientific, and technical services not covered under other SINs. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: appraisal services (except real estate), crisis management, emergency preparedness, emergency management, commodity inspector services, mathematical (both theoretical and applied) and statistical (both theoretical and applied) professional services, performance, and impact evaluation services (related to a scientific or technical project), public health planning services, and weather forecasting services.
Revised GSA SINs
- SIN 561611, HR Support: Pre Employment Background Investigations, will be revised to expand the scope from Pre-Employment Background Investigations to Background Investigations.
- SIN 562112, Hazardous Waste Disposal Services, will be revised to expand the scope to include disposal services for medical and pharmaceutical waste.
- SIN 532111, Automotive Equipment Rental and Leasing, Rental Supplemental Vehicle Program (RSVP), will be revised to allow for the rental of vehicles up to 4 years old/60,000 miles, as opposed to the current 2 years old/40,000 miles.
During the Refresh 7 webinar last week, GSA shared that they have been receiving interest in adding medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal services to the Schedule. GSA plans to offer an Ordering Guide for agencies interesting in purchasing these types of waste disposal services through the GSA Schedule. The ordering guide may be released after Refresh 7 in early September.
GSA Requirements for Pharmaceutical & Waste Disposal Services
If your company would like to offer medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal services through the GSA Schedule, you will be required to meet the additional requirements listed below.
- A copy of most recent audits (external or internal) to show compliance with regulatory requirements (or detailed explanation of how compliance is assured if no audits have been conducted); and
- A copy of all current federal, state, and local certifications; and
- A description of your company’s compliance training/certification program
Price Proposal Template Changes
GSA Refresh 7 will include several changes designed to improve the Price Proposal Templates and eliminate category/SIN specific templates that are no longer needed.
- Revision of Services Price Proposal Template
- Revision of Products Price Proposal Template
- New Price Proposal Template for SINs 541930, Translation and Interpretation Services, and SIN 611630,
Linguistic Training and Education - Removal of the Supplement for IT Offer and Modification Requirements (both the TDR and Non-TDR versions)
Need Help Adding a New or Revised SIN?
Our team here at FEDSched has more than 35 years of GSA Contract experience. Whether your company is looking to obtain a GSA Schedule to provide medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal services to the federal government or are looking to add SIN 541990, SIN 524292INS, or one of the revised SINs to your GSA Contract, we can help.
