House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Florida, introduced the legislation in July. The VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act emerged in response to a federal appeals board reversing disciplinary actions against VA executives involved in an employee relocation scam earlier this year.

“This bill is trying to give the [VA] secretary the tools he needs in order to hold employees accountable,” said Miller. He described the lack of employee accountability as. “the biggest obstacle standing in the way of VA reform.”

The measure would reduce the amount of time workers have to respond to proposed disciplinary action or termination. It would also set a time limit for the appeals board to decide a case involving VA employees. Senior executives would no longer be able to appeal to an independent review board. In addition, the VA secretary would have the power to overturn rulings that are in favor of employees.

While supporters said the reform legislation is necessary for improving the culture within the department, not everyone is certain firing more employees is the right step. The VA and a federal employee union expressed concerns about the proposal’s constitutionality. President Barack Obama’s administration issued a statement saying that focusing on firing or demoting employees without adequate protections is misguided. It would strip VA employees of their rights.

A similar accountability measure has been stalled for months in Senate. VA Secretary Robert McDonald said the department supports the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee’s bill. The less-punitive proposal would give the VA secretary more authority to discipline senior executives.

Chronic Hepatitis C infections can destroy the liver. Eventually, sufferers will require a liver transplant or will die from the disease. The VA is the nation’s single largest care provider for Hepatitis C, with 174,000 veterans currently documented as having the virus and as many as 42,000 undocumented cases.

In July, the VA gave the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee a $17.6 billion wishlist of resources. At that time, VA officials stated that the high cost of Sovaldi was cutting into their resources. Congress approved the new funding, but none of the funding was specifically earmarked for Sovaldi.

Sovaldi was developed by Gilead Sciences and approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year.

The drug cures 90 percent of Hepatitis C cases. Patients who are cured of the disease no longer carry the virus or show symptoms, making it by far the most effective treatment available.

But the cure comes at a high cost. Each pill costs $1,000, with a full 12-week course clocking in at $84,000. If all 3.2 million Americans with Hepatitis C were treated, the total cost of treatment would exceed the amount that the United States currently spends on all drugs.

Sovaldi may be at the frontline of a new trend of specialty drugs that provide dramatic results for specific illnesses but come with huge, perhaps uncarryable, costs. Experts worry that Sovaldi and other drugs could eventually strain Medicaid, Medicare and the prison system, as well as the VA.

In the fiscal year that ended on September 30, the VA spent $220 million on Sovaldi. The agency was able to negotiate the price of one tablet down to $543 from $1,000.

Gilead recently came under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, which inquired as to how Gilead came to set the high price of the drug. Gilead blamed the high price on the amount it spent developing the drug.

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