VA AND DoD Health Care: Factors Contributing to Reduced Pharmacy Costs and Continuing Challenges

摘要

The Congress has urged VA and DOD to work together to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of federal health care resources they use for pharmacy and other services. In May 1982, the Congress passed the VA and DOD health Resources Sharing and Emergency Operations Act (P.L. 97-174), which generally encouraged the two departments to enter into agreements to share health care services. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Congress increasingly emphasized that the departments cooperate in the purchase and distribution of pharmaceuticals. A 1999 report by a congressional commission concluded that VA and DOD should combine their market power to get better pharmaceutical prices through joint contracts. More recently, the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act (P.L. 106-117) required VA and DOD to submit a report on how joint pharmaceutical procurement can be enhanced and cost reductions realized. Finally, the Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-419) included a provision encouraging VA and DOD to increase to the maximum extent consistent with their respective missions their level of cooperation in the procurement and management of prescription drugs.