[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H4257-H4258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL-SURGICAL PURCHASING STABILIZATION ACT
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 5418) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
to carry out the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program using multiple
prime vendors, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5418
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Affairs Medical-
Surgical Purchasing Stabilization Act''.
SEC. 2. MEDICAL SURGICAL PRIME VENDOR PROGRAM.
(a) Vendors.--In procuring certain medical, surgical, and
dental supplies or laboratory supplies for medical centers of
the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall carry out the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor
program, or successor program, in a manner that--
(1) requires the Secretary to award contracts to multiple
regional prime vendors instead of a single nationwide prime
vendor; and
(2) prohibits a prime vendor from solely designing the
formulary of such supplies.
(b) Clinically Driven Sourcing.--
(1) Expertise.--In carrying out the formulary of supplies
under the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program, or successor
program, the Secretary shall ensure that each employee of the
Department of Veterans Affairs who conducts formulary
analyses or makes decisions with respect to including items
on the formulary has medical expertise relevant to the items
for which the employee conducts such analyses or makes such
decisions.
(2) Lists.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter with respect
to any updates, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Senate a list of each employee described in paragraph (1) and
the relevant medical expertise of the employee, listed by the
categories of items in the formulary described in such
paragraph.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 5418, as
amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5418, as amended, the
Veterans Affairs Medical-Surgical Purchasing Stabilization Act. This
legislation was introduced by General Bergman and is cosponsored by
Representatives Peters, Banks, Dunn, and Kuster.
VA's medical-surgical prime vendor program is an ambitious effort to
save money by establishing a medical-surgical formulary in leveraging
the Department's massive buying power. Unfortunately, the results have
fallen far short of expectations.
I held a hearing on this subject last December and continue to
monitor it closely.
The formulary was originally created with little clinical input, and
it does not contain what clinicians need.
{time} 1600
Over the past year, physicians, surgeons, and nurses have been
organized into teams to reevaluate the formulary. At one point, a group
of clinicians was essentially put in a room for a week to concentrate
on the task, but the formulary remains troubled.
Now, VA is restructuring the program to put the prime vendors in
charge of negotiating the supplier contracts, but it remains crucial
that VA get the formulary right. This is a matter of safety as well as
finances.
H.R. 5418, as amended, would put clinicians with appropriate
expertise back in charge of the formulary, which is the first step
toward stabilizing the Medical-Surgical Prime Vendor Program.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5418, as amended,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5418, as amended. The Veterans
Affairs Medical-Surgical Purchasing Stabilization Act ties into what we
were just discussing.
For many years, we have heard complaints that the VA formulary did
not meet the needs of VA healthcare providers, thus making the delivery
of healthcare to our Nation's heroes even more challenging.
As VA worked toward a solution, the Government Accountability Office
recommended that clinicians who treat veterans should be at the center
of the decision making.
Involving clinicians at every step of building a medical supply
formulary is the same best practice employed by other private sector
and nonprofit hospitals.
We have got wonderful physicians on this committee. It makes sense
that they should be there. I have heard it time and time again over the
years that we get better results when we do that.
That is why this committee was concerned when VA proposed that it
would outsource the development of its medical-surgical supply
formulary to vendors who had no experience treating patients. This
proposal goes against best practices in the private and nonprofit
healthcare industry.
This legislation would prevent VA from outsourcing formulary
development. It would also ensure VA follows best practices and sticks
to a timeline so that VA facilities and vendors have a predictable,
functional medical supply.
Now VA must demonstrate it is willing to put the right leadership and
resources in place to appropriately manage the project and ensure the
actual end users of the formulary, the clinicians treating veterans,
have the supplies as needed.
Mr. Speaker, again, another good piece of legislation, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), the Oversight and Investigation
Subcommittee chairman.
Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, the Medical-Surgical Prime Vendor Program
is VA's system of contracts to
[[Page H4258]]
purchase and distribute medical and surgical supplies.
VA attempted to create a centralized MSPV formulary to standardize
the products its clinicians can buy as an idea to concentrate VA's
buying power to extract savings from fewer suppliers.
But the formulary was developed with inadequate input from
experienced clinicians, and as a result, it contains unwanted supplies
while omitting necessary products.
Because of these problems, usage of MSPV has failed to meet its
objectives, putting some of the prime vendors and suppliers under
financial strain, and threatening the stability of the program.
H.R. 5418 preserves the MSPV's current structure, consisting of
multiple regional prime vendors, and it prohibits a move to a single
nationwide prime vendor.
The bill also requires that each VA employee making decisions related
to the structure have medical expertise relevant to those items.
H.R. 5418 ensures medical professionals have the tools and resources
they need to deliver world-class care to our veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, this is a good piece of legislation, I support
its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, it is hard for me to believe we
are going to pass a piece of legislation that has this much common
sense in it.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5418, as amended,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Reed). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5418, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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