General Dynamics to support CMS program under $84M contract

A unit of General Dynamics Information Technology will provide information technology and operational support to a Health and Human Services Department retiree drug subsidy program under a task order worth up to $84 million.

General Dynamics’ VIPS business sector unit won the task order from HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to support the Retiree Drug Subsidy program, the company said today. The task order has an initial value of $16 million for the first year and $84 million over five years if all options are exercised.

VIPS, which has had contracts with CMS since 2005, will provide managed services support with both IT and operational components, the company said. This will include support for application processing, electronic data interchange support, payment and overpayment processing and appeals processing. VIPS also will provide program management and internal controls to ensure compliance with federal acquisition policies and the Medicare operations manual.

In addition, VIPS will perform IT system maintenance and data center services. VIPS operates a data center for CMS that houses a public Web site, a secure web portal and a business intelligence subsystem. Those systems were all designed and accredited to meet the CMS Office of Information Systems' Technical Reference Architecture and applicable federal security requirements.

The retiree drug subsidy is part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. It gives subsidies to employees and unions that sponsor prescription drug programs for seniors.

General Dynamics Information Technology is a unit of General Dynamics. General Dynamics, of Falls Church, Va. ranks No. 4 on Washington Technology's 2009 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors in 2009.