Page 1 of 1 Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 123 BY SENATOR HEITMEIER A RESOLUTION To declare the month of September 2013 as "Pain Awareness Month" in Louisiana. WHEREAS, in the United States over one hundred million adults suffer from chronic pain, including millions of adults with debilitating conditions like chronic lower back pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis; and WHEREAS, the suffering of chronic pain by adults in this country costs this nation up to six hundred thirty-five billion dollars a year in added expenses and lost productivity, including billions of dollars in state Medicaid expenditures; and WHEREAS, chronic pain is a major public health problem and a hidden driver of rising healthcare costs; and WHEREAS, significant barriers to adequate pain care exist, and millions of Americans are at risk of receiving inadequate pain care; and WHEREAS, system and organizational barriers, many of them driven by current insurance reimbursement policies, may obstruct patient-centered care. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby declare the month of September 2013 as "Pain Awareness Month" in Louisiana. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE