Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 1.djvu/583

 PUBLIC LAW 100-322—MAY 20, 1988

102 STAT. 545

(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5024 the following new item: "5025. Procurement of health-care items.". (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—(1) Subsection

QaXD of section 5025 of title 38 USC 5025 38, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall take effect noteone year after the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) Subsection (b)(3) of such section shall apply to health-care items procured for use by the Veterans' Administration after September 30, 1990. SEC. 404. MULTIYEAR PROCUREMENT OF CERTAIN MEDICAL ITEMS.

(a) AUTHORITY FOR MULTIYEAR CONTRACTS.—Chapter 1 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: "§ 114. Multiyear procurement for certain medical items 38 USC 114. "(a) The Administrator may enter into a multiyear contract for the procurement of supplies or services for use in Veterans' Administration health-care facilities if the Administrator makes each of the following determinations: "(1) Appropriations are available for obligations that are necessary for total payments that would be required during the fiscal year in which the contract is entered into, plus the estimated amount of any cancellation charge payable under the contract. "(2) The contract is in the best interest of the United States by reason of the effect that use of a multiyear, rather than oneyear, contract would have in— "(A) reducing costs; "(B) achieving economies in contract administration or in any other Veterans' Administration activities; "(C) increasing quality of performance by or service from the contractors; or "(D) encouraging effective competition. "(3) During the proposed contract period— "(A) there will be a continuing or recurring need for the supplies or services being procured; "(B) there is not a substantial likelihood of substantial changes in the need for such supplies or services in terms of the total quantity of such supplies or services or of the rate of delivery of such supplies or services; and "(C) the specifications for the supplies or services are expected to be reasonably stable. "(4) The risks relating to the prospective contractor's ability to perform in accordance with the specifications and other terms of the contract are not excessive. "(5) The use of a multiyear contract will not inhibit small business concerns in competing for the contract. "(6) In the case of the procurement of a pharmaceutical item for which a patent has expired less than four years before the date on which the solicitation of offers is issued, there is no substantial likelihood that increased competition among potential contractors would occur during the term of the contract as the result of the availability of generic equivalents increasing during the term of the contract.

�