,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cgcg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #aa1 
#bjah,mr4 ,cassidy introduced the       
following bill2 which was read twice and
 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 vendors1 and for other   
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,veterans ,affairs  
,medical-,surgical ,purchasing          
,stabilization ,act4  #b4 ,procurement  
of supplies under ,medical ,surgical    
,prime ,vendor program  7a7 ,vendors ,in
 procuring certain medical1 surgical1   
and dental supplies or laboratory       
supplies for medical centers of the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 the  
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
carry out the ,medical ,surgical ,prime 
,vendor program1 or a successor program1
 in a manner that--  7#a7 requires the  

,secretary to award contracts to        
multiple regional prime vendors instead 
of a single nationwide prime vendor2 and
  7#b7 prohibits a prime vendor from    
solely designing the formulary of such  
supplies4  7b7 ,clinically driven       
sourcing  7#a7 ,expertise ,in carrying  
out the formulary of supplies under the 
,medical ,surgical ,prime ,vendor       
program1 or a successor program1 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 decisions4  7#b7 
,lists ,not later than #cj days after   
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
and quarterly thereafter with respect to
 any updates1 the ,secretary shall      
submit to the ,committee on ,veterans'  
,affairs of the ,senate and the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the

 ,house of ,representatives a list of   
each employee described in paragraph    
7#a7 and the relevant medical expertise 
of the employee1 listed by the          
categories of items in the formulary    
described in such paragraph4