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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