H.R. 5418 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5418 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 29, 2018Mr. Bergman (for himself, Mr. Peters, Mr. Banks of Indiana, and Mr. Dunn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program using multiple prime vendors. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Veterans Affairs Medical-Surgical Purchasing Stabilization Act. 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) a prime vendor from solely designing the formulary of such supplies; and (B) a prime vendor from solely purchasing from such formulary. (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.