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Regular Session, 2011
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 97
BY SENATOR MILLS
COMMITTEE STUDIES. Requests study of the effects of local sales tax on complex
biologics administered in a physician's office, infusion clinic, or outpatient setting.
A RESOLUTION1
To urge and request the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the Senate2
Committee on Health and Welfare to meet and function as a joint committee to study3
the effects of local sales taxes on complex biologics administered in a physician's4
office, infusion clinic, or outpatient setting have on local revenue and health care5
access.6
WHEREAS, the general health and welfare of a Louisiana resident is important to7
the viability of the state's workforce, and the continued improvement of the state's health8
rankings; and9
WHEREAS, access to medicine is important to the treatment of diseases; and10
WHEREAS, numerous new therapies for serious illnesses such as rheumatoid11
arthritis, chronic kidney disease, and osteoporosis have recently been developed; and12
WHEREAS, many of these new medications are biologics which are made using13
living cells to produce complex proteins that can be used to treat diseases; and14
WHEREAS, these treatments are typically conducted in a physicians's office,15
infusion clinic, or other outpatient facility where patients are not typically kept as bed16
patients for twenty-four hours or more; and17
WHEREAS, the physicians and health care facilities keep an inventory of18 SR NO. 97
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medications for administration to patients; and1
WHEREAS, the end users of these administered complex biologics is the patient and2
not the physician, nurse, or health care professional; and3
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Constitution prohibits the state from assessing a sales and4
use tax on prescription medications; and5
WHEREAS, some local taxing authorities currently levy a sales and use tax on these6
medications; and7
WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of only four states allowing any taxation on these8
medications; and9
WHEREAS, the physicians, nurses, and other health care providers in Louisiana10
must purchase these medications from a wholesale distributor; and11
WHEREAS, national health insurance contracts do not provide for reimbursement12
of sales and use taxes; and13
WHEREAS, there has been no conclusive study conducted to determine the fiscal14
or health care impact of local taxation of these complex biologics administered to patients15
in a physicians's office, infusion clinic, or other outpatient facility; and16
WHEREAS, the Legislative Fiscal Office has determined that exempting complex17
biologics from local sales tax should be considered a minimal local revenue loss, and no18
anticipated direct material effect on governmental expenditures.19
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana20
does hereby urge and request the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the21
Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to meet and function as a joint committee to22
conduct a parish-by-parish analysis of the sixty four parishes in Louisiana to determine the23
fiscal impact of sales and use taxes assessed by a local taxing authority on complex biologics24
administered in a physicians's office, infusion clinic, or other outpatient facility where25
patients are not typically kept as bed patients for twenty-four hours or more, as well as26
impacts to access to health care within each parish.27
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall report their findings of the28
analysis to the Senate on or before by January 1, 2012.29
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Michelle Broussard-Johnson.
DIGEST
Mills SR No. 97
Requests the Senate Committees on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the Senate Committee
on Health and Welfare to jointly study the effects of local sales tax on complex biologics
administered in a physicians's office, infusion clinic, or outpatient setting.
Requires report of findings of a 64-parish analysis on or before January 1, 2012.