A Summary of Preaward Reviews of VA Federal Supply Schedule Nonpharmaceutical Proposals Issued in FY 2021

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews nonpharmaceutical proposals submitted to the VA National Acquisition Center for Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts. Specifically, the OIG reviews nonpharmaceutical proposals for FSS contracts that have an anticipated annual value of $10 million or more for high-tech medical equipment, $3 million or more for all other FSS contracts, or $100,000 or more for dealers/resellers without significant sales to the public, or as requested by VA. These reviews help contracting officers negotiate fair and reasonable prices. This report summarizes the reviews of nonpharmaceutical proposals conducted during fiscal year (FY) 2021. The 26 proposals covered six FSS schedules with a cumulative estimated contract value of about $1.4 billion, with a total of 25,753 offered items. Contract negotiations for 22 of 26 nonpharmaceutical proposals had been completed as of May 17, 2022, and the OIG’s recommendations assisted contracting officers in obtaining $41 million in contract savings for VA. The OIG found that commercial sales practices disclosures were accurate, complete, and current for nine of the 26 proposals. The remaining 17 proposals could not be reliably used for negotiations until the noted deficiencies, such as identified lower prices, were corrected. The OIG also reviewed vendor commercial selling practices and made recommendations for lower prices than offered for 17 of 26 proposals (65 percent), resulting in adjusted recommended cost savings of approximately $182 million. Finally, the OIG evaluated and suggested alternative tracking customers for 10 of the 26 proposals. A vendor’s proposed tracking customer may not be suitable if the customer does not have similar buying patterns as the FSS or does not have adequate coverage of the offered items. This report does not propose any additional recommendations that necessitate any action or VA response.