The Department of Veterans Affairs is currently planning for the next five-year contract to continue its controversial 2018 plan to insource the warehousing and distribution of positive airway pressure (PAP) devices and accessories, commonly prescribed to the millions of veterans with sleep apnea. Jon Williams recently wrote a column for Federal News Network discussing how poorly this plan has gone so far and why VA should return to relying on veteran-owned small businesses in the private sector for the warehousing and distribution of these critical products.
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We owe our veterans the best-possible care and to do that VA must be a good steward of the resources needed to provide sleep therapy treatment. Continuing the DLC’s failed experiment at replicating the private sector warehouse and distribution system is not the most efficient and cost-effective way for VA to provide PAP devices and accessories to veterans. Neither is continuing to use single-award contracts per product for the next five years. Instead, VA should abandon the DLC, leverage the warehouse and distribution systems already in place with VOSBs in the private sector, and use the existing FSS contracts to achieve lower prices by promoting competition for orders among VOSBs.
Excerpt taken from the article “It’s Time to DOGE the VA’s Misguided Medical Devices Contract” by Jon Williams for Federal News Network. Visit this link to view the full article.
About Jon Williams
Jon is an experienced legal advisor to government contractors on a wide range of federal procurement matters, including bid protests, claims, small business program compliance, manufacture and nonmanufacturer compliance, subcontracting plans, Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act compliance, Inspector General and other agency investigations, and suspension and debarment proceedings.
