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Supervisors condition four-year extension for Health Advocates contract after bidding concerns
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee forwarded a DPH request to extend a $16.57 million contract with Health Advocates, adding a condition that no further extensions or amendments be allowed without an RFP; budget analysts urged competitive rebidding, while DPH defended the firm’s specialized recovery work.
The Budget & Finance Committee on Tuesday forwarded a resolution that would amend the Department of Public Health's contract with Health Advocates to provide uncompensated reimbursement-recovery services through 2013, but attached a condition that would bar further extensions or amendments without a competitive process.
Greg Sass, chief financial officer for the Department of Public Health, told the committee Health Advocates has worked with the department since 2002 and provides on-site staff, legal support and appeals representation that the department said produced roughly $13.7 million in recoveries since the contract began. He said the firm's scale and specialized practice serving hospitals with large Medi-Cal and undocumented populations make it unlikely that a competing vendor could match outcomes at lower cost.
The budget analyst urged a competitive rebid. Mister Rose told the committee the contract had been competitively bid in 2001 and again in 2006, when only one bidder submitted a proposal; based on that record the analyst recommended putting the work back out to bid rather than approving a four-year amendment.
Public commenters raised the same point. Douglas Yip, who said he is a 20-year San Francisco General Hospital employee, opposed a multi-year extension without a transparent follow-up audit and urged the board to rebid the work.
Supervisor McRaeamy moved to attach a condition that no further amendments or extensions beyond the approved period be permitted; Monique Smuta of the controller's office said the original RFP reserved up to a 10-year maximum but that any additional extension would require an RFP and city-attorney review. The committee accepted the motion without objection and forwarded the measure with its recommendation.
The committee record shows the action is an authorization to amend the existing contract; the actual appropriation and any payments would be handled in subsequent budget or contract-execution steps.
