[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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