The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has resurrected its search for prime vendors under the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor (MSPV) 2.0 Program, re-issuing a formal solicitation on September 27, 2019. The VA canceled its original solicitation without warning on August 15, 2019.

The prime vendor solicitation is part of the VA’s efforts to reorganize its acquisition of medical supplies through the MSPV 2.0 Program. In last month’s blog, we discussed the broader changes underway in military health care procurement, including those impacting the VA. In the wake of the announcement of a strategic partnership between the VA and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) last month, it was unclear whether the MSPV 2.0 Program was still viable. The strategic partnership gives the VA access to DLA’s medical and surgical ordering system—and the products available in that system—which could render the VA’s efforts to develop MSPV 2.0 formulary duplicative. However, the prime vendor solicitation indicates that the VA is moving forward with MSPV 2.0. We will provide more information and analysis as it becomes available.