Mid-week update

Happy Summer Solstice!

The Hill reports that on Monday Congressional leaders announced that a compromise had been reached on the Food and Drug Administration user fee bill. This is a big deal for big Phrma. Nevertheless, it's also good news for health plans and consumers because the bill includes new user fee programs for all types of generic drugs which hopefully should get the FDA off the dime onapproving a regulatory pathway for bio-similar specialty drugs.  As the FEHBlog has noted that pathway was created in the EU several years ago.

Modern Healthcare reports on a House Ways and Means Health subcommittee hearing on a June 2012 Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report to Congress. In the FEHBlog's view, the report and the hearing illustrate the problems faced by a public option like traditional Medicare in keeping current.

The AMA News reports that Consumer Reports included a 24 page insert in its July 2012 issue being mailed to Massachusetts residents. The insert provides ratings on internist and pediatric practices with three or more primary care doctors in that state. The ratings are based on surveys of over 64,000 Massachusetts residents. "Survey questions covered six general areas of the patient experience: communication; coordination of care; how well physicians get to know patients; the patient’s experience with office staff; whether the physician advised the patient on staying healthy; and pediatric care." Consumer Reports is working with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and others  to test different methods of rating primary care doctors in the U.S. "The magazine already has ratings of thoracic and heart surgeons, hospitals and insurance companies."