The California Health Benefit Exchange has awarded a $1.1 million, 2-year contract to Folsom-based Visionary Integration Professionals (VIP) to independently oversee the development of the California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERS), an official from the Exchange confirmed today.
Known as Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), oversight services include working with the system integration and project management contractors to report on the progress and any challenges faced by the project.
The contract is for VIP to provide IV&V, to assess and review project activities and deliverables, said David Panush, director of Government Relations for the Exchange in an email. Findings will be reported to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, he said.
The CalHEERS project includes the development of a new Web portal set to go live on October 1, 2013. Californians will have access to the portal to determine available subsidies, compare insurance plans and enroll in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. The Exchange estimates that 4.4 million California residents will benefit from subsidies or health insurance coverage as a result of the CalHEERS portal.
Earlier this year, the Exchange awarded the $9.3 million project management contract to First Data Government Solutions.
In May, Accenture won the $359 million contract to develop and operate CalHEERS.
