VA and other government agencies spend billions of taxpayer dollars annually through VA’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracting program. The FSS program provides the government a simplified process for acquiring commercial supplies and services in varying quantities while obtaining volume discounts. This report is a synopsis of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) 19 FSS pharmaceutical proposal reviews completed before VA awarded the contracts (preaward reviews) during fiscal year 2019 in order to help VA obtain the best pricing. OIG preaward reviews of FSS pharmaceutical proposals are internal reports for VA contracting officers that are unpublished due to protected sensitive commercial pricing information. The OIG is publishing this summary to provide more information on the impact of these reviews. Preaward reviews provide VA with information on whether commercial pricing disclosures are reliable for negotiations. The reviews also make pricing recommendations based on the offeror’s commercial selling practices. Preaward reports are used by contracting officers to negotiate fair and reasonable prices for the government and taxpayers. The OIG determined that commercial pricing disclosures were not reliable for negotiations for 14 of the 19 proposals and recommended VA obtain revised disclosures before awarding the contracts. The OIG’s lower FSS pricing recommendations collectively reflected more than $1 billion in estimated cost savings to VA. Nearly $203 million has been sustained by VA as of May 8, 2020. The 19 proposals included 862 offered drug items.
| Report Date | Agency Reviewed / Investigated | Report Title | Type | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | A Synopsis of Preaward Reviews of VA Federal Supply Schedule Pharmaceutical Proposals Issued in Fiscal Year 2019 | Review | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of the Treasury | BILL AND COIN MANUFACTURING: Audit of Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s Implementation of Security Features and Meaningful Access for the Blind and Visually Impaired into New Note Design | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Environmental Protection Agency | EPA Needs to Improve Oversight of Research Assistance Agreements | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Smithsonian Institution | Collections Management: The National Museum of African American History and Culture Needs to Enhance Inventory Controls Over Its Collections | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of Defense | Audit of Protective Security Details in the Department of Defense | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of Agriculture | Controls Over Crop Insurance Section 508(h) Products | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of Health & Human Services | 2019 Performance Data for the Senior Medicare Patrol Projects | Inspection / Evaluation | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Internal Revenue Service | Interim Results of the 2020 Filing Season: Effect of COVID-19 Shutdown on Tax Processing and Customer Service Operations and Assessment of Efforts to Implement Legislative Provisions | Audit | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of State | Compliance Follow-Up Review: Targeted Review of Leadership and Management at the National Passport Center | Other | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
| Department of State | Management Assistance Report: Department of State Guidance Does Not Comply With Federal Travel Regulations | Other | Agency-Wide | View Report | |
