ENROLLED
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 162
BY REPRESENTATIVES BARROW, JACKSON, POPE, SIMON, STOKES, WHITNEY,
AND WILLMOTT AND SENATORS ALLAIN, DORSEY-COLOMB, AND
MILLS
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality
to study and make recommendations related to the prevention, screening, and
treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome and to submit a written report of its
findings and recommendations to the House and Senate committees on health and
welfare no later than March 1, 2016.
WHEREAS, R.S. 40:2018 established the Commission on Perinatal Care and
Prevention of Infant Mortality and provided for certain functions that are to be carried out
by the commission which include all of the following:
(1) Research and review all state regulations, guidelines, policies, and procedures
that impact perinatal care and, when appropriate, making recommendations to the secretary
of the Department of Health and Hospitals and to the legislature; and
(2) Provide, through comparison of available data and research, for a plan that the
state of Louisiana can adopt to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, sick infants, and
infant mortalities; and
(3) Propose a plan for an equitable system of financing comprehensive health and
social services for indigent pregnant women and infants that incorporates the Medicaid
program in the most efficient and cost-effective manner available to public and private
hospitals in the state of Louisiana; and
(4) Compile and analyze information on existing infant mortality education
programs and make recommendations for the implementation of public policies, for
proposed legislation, and for a statewide program to combat the problem of infant mortality
to coordinate and improve the services of the state, local governments, private and voluntary
agencies, community organizations, and schools which serve to educate high risk candidates
and their families; and
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(5) Educate women of child-bearing age to be able to choose food wisely and
understand the hazards of smoking, alcohol, pharmaceutical products, and other drugs during
pregnancy and nursing; and
WHEREAS, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a constellation of physiologic
and neurobehavioral signs exhibited by newborns exposed to addictive prescription or illicit
drugs taken by a mother during pregnancy and infants with NAS generally experience
prolonged hospital stays, serious medical complications, and their treatment is very costly;
and
WHEREAS, there has been a significant increase in the national prevalence of NAS
with the diagnosis of NAS increasing from over one per one thousand hospital births in 2000
to over three per one thousand hospital births in 2009; and
WHEREAS, many healthcare providers believe that there has also been a significant
increase of cases of NAS in Louisiana, although there is a lack of accurate and robust data
to verify; and
WHEREAS, public health experts generally believe that the rise in NAS births goes
hand-in-hand with a significant increase in prevalence of mothers dependent on or using
opiates at the time of delivery and compounding this problem is the fact that the population
of pregnant women with opioid dependence is varied, and their circumstances span the
spectrum from heroin addiction, polydrug abuse, prescription opioid abuse, MAT
(methadone maintenance or buprenorphine maintenance), and chronic opioid use prescribed
for medical indications; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the state that a deeper understanding of this
problem is developed and more accurate and robust data is compiled which will allow the
state to adopt meaningful recommendations and reforms to address this growing epidemic
affecting so many children of our state.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality to
study and make recommendations related to the prevention, screening, and treatment of
neonatal abstinence syndrome and to submit a report of the data and recommendations to the
House and Senate committees on health and welfare no later than March 1, 2016.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby urges and
requests the Department of Health and Hospitals to provide all necessary data to adequately
determine the prevalence and cost of NAS to the state of Louisiana and to require the Bayou
Health managed care plans to make available to the commission all current treatment
protocols and guidelines currently in effect regarding NAS.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Medicaid Quality Committee shall provide
the requisite clinical expertise and recommendations to the commission for purposes of
assisting in the development of recommendations concerning the prevention, screening, and
treatment of NAS.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission shall seek the input and
guidance of the office of behavioral health of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality and the secretary of the
Department of Health and Hospitals.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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