Amended FDA User Fee Bill Would Cut Deficit by $370M, CBO Estimates

An amended version of a House bill (HR 5651) that would reauthorize and modify FDA's prescription drug and medical device user-fee programs would reduce the federal deficit by $370 million, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate, The Hill's "Healthwatch" reports (Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 5/29).

Last week, CBO said an earlier version of the bill, approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would increase the deficit by $247 million over a decade. The new score puts the House bill much closer to the Senate version of the bill, which CBO said would reduce the deficit by $363 million over a decade.

The House is slated to vote on the amended version of the bill on Wednesday, under a suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority to pass. The revised bill, which was amended by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), modified a provision aimed at getting generic drugs to the market more quickly (Ethridge, CQ Today, 5/29).