Federal Supply Schedules Providing Medical Supplies and Equipment for COVID-19

Key Takeaways:

• VA manages nine Federal Supply Schedules related to medical supplies and services for all federal agencies.
• To date during the second quarter of FY 2020, $1.7M has run through Schedule 65 II A - Medical Equipment & Supplies for COVID-19 response.
• $884K of federal spending has run through Schedule 65 VII-Invitro Diagnostics, Reagents, Test Kits, & Test Sets.
• State and local governments can now purchase off Federal Supply Schedules.

Under delegated authority from GSA, the VA manages nine multiple award schedule programs for medical equipment, supplies, pharmaceuticals, and services for the entire federal government under the VA Federal Supply Schedule (VA FSS) program. The VA FSS Service supports the health care needs and requirements of the VA and other federal agencies by providing access to over 1 million commercial products and services through the supply schedules.

FSSs and Multiple Award Schedules are long-term indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts awarded to commercial companies through full and open competition. These schedule contracts provide federal agencies access to millions commercial products and services at fair and reasonable prices. The VA FSS program covers almost 1,700 contracts totaling nearly $14B in spending annually.

Federal agencies are spending on several of these contracts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The GovWin IQ Federal Spending Analysis function provides a view into spending to date.  Below is the list of medical FSSs managed by VA and contract spending to date in the second quarter of FY 2020 related to the COVID-19 outbreak:

Schedule Category	Schedule Title	FY 2020 Spending to Date Related to COVID-19
65 I B	Drugs, Pharmaceuticals, & Hematology Related Products
65 II A	Medical Equipment & Supplies	$1.7M
65 II F	Patient Mobility Devices
65 II C	Dental Equipment & Supplies
65 VII	Invitro Diagnostics, Reagents, Test Kits, & Test Sets	$884K
65 V A	X-Ray Equipment & Supplies
66 III	Cost-Per-Test, Clinical Laboratory Analyzer
621 I	Professional & Allied Healthcare Staffing Services	$15k
621 II	Medical Laboratory Testing & Analysis Services

The schedule for medical equipment and supplies shows the most spending to date at $1.7M, followed by the schedule for invitro diagnostics, reagents and test kits at $884k.

Additionally, the president’s declaration of a national emergency due to COVID-19 gives states, tribes, territories, localities and the District of Columbia the ability to order against FSSs, including VA Schedules. The VA Office of Acquisition and Logistics sent a letter to all VA FSS vendors notifying them that state and local governments can now buy from FSSs using the GSA Disaster Purchasing Program. The letter also notified vendors of national emergency purchasing flexibilities for VA which include raising the micro-purchase threshold (MPT) to $20k and the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) to $750K for goods and services purchased or performed in the U.S. This change will be in effect until June 30, 2020.