MCI Diagnostic Center, LLC (B-422777; B-422777.2)

Category: Cost or price evaluation

Date: October 21, 2024

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422777%2Cb-422777.2

You should not care.

MCI Diagnostic Center, LLC, an SDVOSB, contended that VA’s price reasonableness determination was flawed, alleging the agency’s IGCE was based on the incumbent contract without accounting for potential scope differences. The protester argued that VA’s reliance on the IGCE made protester’s higher proposal price seem unreasonable, ultimately leading to disqualification.

In its decision, GAO found that VA had reasonably compared MCI’s price against the IGCE, which was derived from historical costs and an estimated increase in service use. Since MCI’s bid was 30.49% above the IGCE, GAO concluded that VA had acted within its discretion to deem MCI’s proposal unreasonably high. Furthermore, GAO did not find fault with the agency’s choice of methodology, stating that VA’s business judgment in selecting the IGCE method for price evaluation aligned with FAR guidance

Digest

Protest that the agency’s determination of price reasonableness was unreasonable is denied where the agency compared the protester’s price to an independent government estimate that was based on the agency’s historical costs for the requirement and a reasonable estimate regarding increased future usage.