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February 2, 2017 By AMK

Number of new U.S. government vendors drops to 10-year low

An 8 percent bounce in fiscal 2016 contract spending couldn’t keep the number of first-time federal vendors from falling to a 10-year low.

Despite a $34 billion, year-over-year spending jump to $475 billion in fiscal 2016, agencies signed contracts with only 15,925 first-time sellers in 2016, according to Bloomberg data. This was just 13 percent of the government’s 124,000-vendor pool, and the second-lowest new vendor share in at least a decade.

The dramatic decline in new vendors since fiscal 2007 raises concerns about the health of the federal government’s industrial base and its ability to fulfill critical national security, scientific, health and environmental missions that depend on a steady flow of private-sector innovation and competitiveness.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/number-new-u-s-government-vendors-drops-10-year-low/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: consolidation, contract consolidation, health IT, health services, industrial base, small business

June 8, 2015 By AMK

VA says using contracts for private medical care would be too burdensome

The Veterans Affairs Department spends billions of dollars on private medical care without contracts and, although the process does not comply with acquisition regulations, using contracts would be too burdensome, said a VA official during congressional testimony.

The FAR“VA acknowledges that our long-standing procurement processes for care in the community need improvement,” said Edward Murray, VA’s acting secretary for management at a June 1 House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations hearing.

The VA is expected to spend about $10 billion on healthcare outside of the VA health system in fiscal 2015, said Murray. Lawmakers were concerned by the amount of money spent on private healthcare – VA cites distance to health centers and a shortage of clinicians as barriers to care – and the lack of contracts.

“If the atom bomb can be built and wars conducted under the acquisition regulations, surely VA can deliver patient care under them as well,” Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.).

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/va-says-using-contracts-private-medical-care-would-be-too-burdensome/2015-06-02

See webcast of June 1, 2015 House Veterans Affairs subcommittee at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/62985463 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: contract administration, contract vehicle, FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulation, federal regulations, health services, VA

June 4, 2015 By AMK

Supreme Court holds that wartime act does not delay statute of limitations on false claims

Government contractors and health care companies have become increasingly concerned about the application of the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (“WSLA”), 18 U.S.C. § 3287, and the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) and False Claims Act (“FCA”) relators’ arguments that the statute extends indefinitely the limitation period applicable to civil FCA cases. 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733. Supreme Court

On May 27, 2015, the Supreme Court rejected the unwarranted extension of the WSLA and properly limited the reach of that statute (and suspension of limitations periods) to the context of criminal law. The decision in Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Carter (“KBR”) is an important victory for Government contractors, health care companies and other recipients of federal funding. It provides protection against stale claims, which should be barred by the statute of limitations. It is particularly noteworthy because it removes the risk of stale FCA claims that would otherwise be time barred and that have no connection to wartime activities, such as health care claims, or lawsuits related to other civilian agency programs, e.g., the Department of Agriculture program discussed in United States v. BNP Paribas SA.

The WSLA was enacted shortly after World War I and was reenacted during World War II. Until 2008, it permitted the period of limitations to be suspended during wartime and for three years after the end of hostilities. Prior to 2008, it was not clear whether the WSLA was triggered by the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as there had been no declaration of war. Congress expanded the WSLA in 2008 to apply when Congress enacts a “specific authorization for the use of the Armed Forces” and increased the suspension period to five years after the termination of hostilities. Given the ongoing conflicts in which the U.S. has been involved during the past decade, questions have arisen about whether the suspension of the limitations period has become indefinite and is being used for matters that have no connection to wartime.

In KBR, the Supreme Court reversed the Fourth Circuit and held that the WSLA does not toll the statute of limitations in civil fraud cases. In KBR, a former employee who had worked for the company in Iraq, brought a civil False Claims action as a relator, claiming that the contractor had billed the Government for work that was never performed. The Government did not intervene in the case. Before the Supreme Court, Carter and the Government (as amicus) argued that, even though the WSLA is part of Title 18, it applied to civil fraud matters. The Government noted that until 1944, the WSLA applied to offenses that were “now indictable under existing law”—and that the “now indictable” language was removed in 1944. (The district court’s decision BNP Paribasprovides a detailed history of the WSLA.) The Government’s amicus brief also defended application of the WSLA to civil cases based on policy considerations, such as asserting that its time and resources are overtaxed during wartime and that fraud often requires a substantial amount of time to uncover and pursue.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=400298

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: DOJ, false claims, False Claims Act, health services, Justice Dept., Supreme Court, Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act, WSLA

February 19, 2015 By AMK

GAO’s ‘high-risk list’ now includes IT acquisition

The Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List, which calls Congress’ attention to problematic, risky or troubled programs, is about to receive two high-profile additions.

Multiple Capitol Hill sources with knowledge of the list confirmed to Nextgov that IT acquisition and operations and veteran health care are being included on the watchdog’s list.

The news is hardly surprising, given the steady stream of criticism and negative headlines those two areas have generated since GAO last updated its biennial High-Risk List in February 2013.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2015/02/it-acquisition-and-veteran-health-care-added-gaos-high-risk-list/104832/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: GAO, health services, information technology, IT, risk, VA

July 10, 2014 By AMK

VA forming cadre of specially-trained acquisition workers

The Veterans Affairs Department is recognizing and rewarding the success of its acquisition workers.

VA is professionalizing the acquisition workforce in a way comparable only to the Defense Department.

“We are establishing a professional acquisition corps in order to provide the benefits to VA by having a very specified cadre of highly-trained contracting officers and program managers who have a demonstrated history of high performance, and are qualified to lead VA’s most critical and high visibility programs and procurements,” said Ford Heard, VA’s associate deputy assistant secretary for Procurement Policy, Systems and Oversight and deputy senior procurement executive, during an interview on Federal News Radio’s In- Depth with Francis Rose.

“From a VA perspective, we are basically a soup to nuts organization as far as what is being procured in VA.  Not only is it IT.  Not only is it high professional quality healthcare services, but all the facility management requirements that anyone of our healthcare facilities would utilize. So, what we are actually doing is building this acquisition corps to really benefit veterans in the service we offer, and the opportunities for our employees to advance and receive training that they would not normally get under past circumstances.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/538/3654616/VA-forming-cadre-of-specially-trained-acquisition-workers 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition training, acquisition workforce, health services, IT, technology, VA

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