House committee passes Denham’s bill to reduce medical waste removal costs at VA sites

A bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) that would create safer, cheaper removals of hazardous medical waste at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities received unanimous approval on July 12 by the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“My bill will improve care and increases safety in VA facilities across the country,” said Rep. Denham about the Department of Veterans Affairs Creation of On-Site Treatment Systems Affording Veterans Improvements and Numerous General Safety Enhancements Act, in short known as the VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act, H.R. 5974, which he introduced on May 25.

“With this common sense change, the VA can redirect valuable resources to improve care for those who have worn the cloth of our nation,” said the congressman. U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Mike Bost (R-IL), Charlie Crist (D-FL) and Ann Kuster (D-NH) cosponsored H.R. 5974.

If enacted, the bill would direct the Secretary of the VA to use on-site regulated medical waste treatment systems at certain VA facilities, among other provisions, according to the congressional record.

H.R. 5974 specifically would require the VA Secretary to develop “a uniform regulated medical waste cost analysis model to be used to determine the cost savings associated with the use of an on-site regulated medical waste treatment system at department facilities,” according to the draft text of the bill.

Such a model would be designed to calculate savings based on the cost of treating regulated medical waste at an off-site location under a contract with a non-department entity, compared to the cost of treating regulated medical waste on-site with capital costs amortized over a 10-year period, according to the congressional record.

H.R. 5974 then would require the VA Secretary to identify VA facilities that would benefit from the cost savings associated with using such on-site regulated medical waste treatment systems over a five-year period.

On-site sterilization machines would compress hazardous medical waste to make the bio-waste safe before it’s loaded into trucks and driven to regional disposal centers, resulting in system-wide savings of millions of dollars a year.

Implementing the technology for such on-site machines also would align the VA with Centers for Disease Control best practices for infection control, according to a statement from Rep. Denham’s staff.

“We should always seek to streamline VA’s day-to-day operations because it ensures veterans see more resources devoted to improving their quality of life and care,” Rep. Kuster said. “Efficient use of VA dollars is critical to improving care for our veterans in New Hampshire and across the country.”
The measure, approved on the committee’s voice vote, now advances to the full House for consideration.