Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey

SOL #: HHS-CMS-RFI-2026-270043Sources Sought

Overview

Buyer

Health And Human Services

Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION GRANTS MGMT

BALTIMORE, MD, 21244, United States

Place of Performance

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

PSC

Health R&D Services; Health Care Other; Applied Research (AN42)

Set Aside

No set aside specified

Original Source

https://sam.gov/opp/0e79fcc9bf844db7a40bb6a3ac01d9d9/view

Timeline

Posted

Mar 9, 2026

Last Updated

Mar 17, 2026

Response Deadline

Mar 27, 2026, 4:00 PM

Qualification Details

Fit reasons

NAICS alignment with historical contract wins in similar service areas.
Scope strongly matches core technical capabilities and delivery model.

Risks

Past performance thresholds may require one additional teaming partner.
Potential clarification needed on staffing minimums before bid/no-bid.

Next steps

Validate eligibility requirements, assign capture owner, and schedule partner outreach to confirm teaming strategy before submission planning.

Quick Summary

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting market research through a Request for Information (RFI) to gather industry input for the future recompete of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) requirement. This RFI focuses on solutions and services to operate, modernize, and optimize CMS's hybrid cloud hosting environment, supporting emerging technologies and evolving federal cloud strategies. Responses are due March 27, 2026.

Purpose & Background

The MCBS is a continuous, multi-purpose longitudinal survey collecting data directly from Medicare beneficiaries to inform policy development, program evaluation, and understand healthcare utilization. CMS is expanding its hybrid cloud portfolio with planned FedRAMP High environments in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and commercial Microsoft Azure by Spring/Summer 2026, and elevating commercial AWS environments to ATO High. This RFI aims to gather knowledge for project planning and explore alternative solutions for MCBS administration and operation.

Key Information for Bidders

MCBS Redesign: CMS is implementing a significant redesign, including a new sampling approach launching in Fall 2026, to produce robust state-level estimates and allow rapid response to policy questions. Phased implementation over four years, full by Fall 2029.
Cloud Migration: CMS is migrating the MCBS system to a government-owned cloud. Industry input is sought on best practices for data migration, cloud hosting, and leveraging cloud-native tools.
Survey Methodology & Operations: CMS is interested in industry-preferred survey applications, business operations for case management, best practices for data capture (e.g., EOBs, patient portals), and methods for rapid survey question development.
Contracting Scope: Industry is asked to recommend whether a Statement of Work (SOW) or Statement of Objectives (SOO) with a Performance Work Statement (PWS) is more appropriate for the upcoming contract.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): CMS anticipates future AI uses in survey operations and data processing and seeks best practices for responsible AI use.

Contract & Timeline

Type: Sources Sought / Request for Information (RFI)
Set-Aside: None specified
Published: March 9, 2026
Response Due: March 27, 2026, 12:00 PM EST

Submission Details

Responses must be emailed in Microsoft Word format, 8.5x11 inches, 1" margins, Times New Roman or Aptos 12pt font, not exceeding 10 pages (excluding cover page).

Important Notes

This RFI is for market research purposes only and does not constitute a commitment to award a contract. Responses will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. Information received will solely inform future procurement decisions.