Maximus files lawsuit over $6.6B call center recompete
Gettyimages.com / Boonchai Wedmakawand
By
Ross Wilkers
The company is reiterating its claim that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is going to far with its inclusion of a labor harmony agreement in the solicitation.
Maximus has decided to go to the judicial branch with its argument against how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is conducting the recompete of the potential $6.6 billion Contact Center Operations contract.
In a lawsuit at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the company is reiterating its claim that CMS is illegally inserting a labor harmony agreement into the solicitation for the new contract.
The 80-page complaint was filed on Monday and a redacted version was released Friday. CMS has exercised the current contract’s third option year through to September 2025 to ensure the continuance of customer contact services for 1-800-MEDICARE and the Federal Marketplace for buying health insurance.
Maximus won the current contract in 2022, but CMS officially started the recompete process in the spring with its release of a final solicitation that detailed a two-phase evaluation process. Phase one bids were due by June 21 with the second round of proposals having a submission deadline of Sept. 13.
Maximus first took its arguments to the Government Accountability Office, which partially ruled in favor of one of the company’s points that parts of the harmony requirement were ambiguous and CMS should rewrite them.
But GAO denied Maximus’ claim that the labor harmony agreement violates federal procurement law and that the provision restricts competition.
GAO also dismissed Maximus’ arguments that the provision violates both the Labor Management Relations Act and National Labor Relations Act.
Neither of those two laws pertain to procurement, so GAO said it does not have jurisdiction to hear those complaints.
By going to the Court of Federal Claims, Maximus is seeking a ruling that would have greater authority than that of GAO and essentially starting a new protest. Maximus can include all of its challenges including the portions GAO previously dismissed.
CMS wants to include the labor harmony agreement in the new contract because of rallies and demonstrations by call center workers against Maximus in four states. The agency said those bring potential risks to execution of the contract.
In pushing back against that harmony agreement, Maximus says labor laws require the federal government to remain impartial and CMS is not staying that way.