The Department of Veterans Affairs has been violating federal contracting rules while spending at least $6 billion a year to pay for medical care and supplies, a senior official for procurement has said, according to
The Washington Post.
In a 35-page internal memo sent to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, Jan Frye, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, accuses the agency's leadership of "gross mismanagement" and making a "mockery" of federal acquisition laws that mandate competitive bidding and proper contracting.
He said there is a culture of "lawlessness and chaos" at the Veterans Health Administration.
"Doors are swung wide open for fraud, waste and abuse," he wrote in the document obtained by the Post. "I can state without reservation that VA has and continues to waste millions of dollars by paying excessive prices for goods and services due to breaches of federal laws."
Frye details a range of abuses. For example, he said there is a widespread use of purchase cards for billions of dollars worth of medical supplies without contracts when they are intended for purchase of less than $3,000.
He also says that the VA has failed to engage in competitive bidding or sign contracts with outside medical care providers for care which the agency cannot offer, such as specialized tests, surgeries and other procedures, the Post reported.
Frye also alleges that the agency has run afoul of competitive bidding rules by purchasing billions of dollars worth of prosthetics, and in its acquisition of a wide range of daily medical and surgical supplies at the expense of ensuring quality and proper government oversight.
The practices, he said, "extend back many years."
"These unlawful acts may potentially result in serious harm or death to America's veterans," Frye wrote, according to the Post. "Collectively, I believe they serve to decay the entire VA health-care system."
A spokeswoman for the VA told the Post in a statement that some of the care paid for by the agency is not covered by federal acquisition law.
She added that the agency has the challenge of trying to manage rapid growth in medical care provided by outside vendors.
Last April, the VA was rocked by a report that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care at a facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The revelations triggered multiple federal investigations and the resignations of top officials.
By June, problems were also uncovered at a variety of other VA facilities across the country. An internal audit found that more than 120,000 veterans were affected by long wait times for care and that officials had been using unofficial lists to conceal true wait times,
CNN reported.
In August, Congress passed legislation to add $16 billion in additional funding for the VA, $10 billion of which was earmarked to extend private medical care to some veterans while $6 billion went toward increasing the number of VA staff.
A
report out last month found that despite the increase in funding and major reforms to the VA system, the number of patients facing long waits at VA facilities had not declined.
Fyre is scheduled to testify before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on Thursday about the alleged waste and fraud. The issue of purchase cards is expected to be a major focus of the questioning, the Post reported.
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