ENROLLED 2015 Regular Session HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 81 BY REPRESENTATIVE SIMON A RESOLUTION To commend the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association and to recognize Tuesday, May 12, 2015, as Louisiana Orthopaedic Day at the state capitol. WHEREAS, the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana hereby commends the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association for providing vital medical care and services for the citizens of our state; and WHEREAS, the mission of the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association is to encourage, develop, and increase knowledge and awareness of orthopaedic surgery among the association's present and future members and to foster and assure the highest quality of musculoskeletal healthcare through all of the following means: (1) Education of orthopaedic surgeons, other healthcare practitioners, and the public. (2) Promotion of research concerning orthopaedic medicine. (3) Effective communication with other healthcare professionals and the public; and WHEREAS, these and other functions of the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association serve to foster, develop, support, and augment charitable, scientific, and educational efforts; and WHEREAS, the association also monitors legislation, regulations, administrative rulings, and court decisions affecting the practice of orthopaedic surgery, and provides timely reports with respect thereto to the association's board of directors; and WHEREAS, the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association promotes high moral and ethical standards, along with fellowship and good will among its members; and WHEREAS, bone and joint health problems are among the most prevalent and debilitating health challenges that Americans face, both in human and economic terms; and Page 1 of 2 HR NO. 81 ENROLLED WHEREAS, unencumbered access to orthopaedic care is vital to ensuring that our workers, communities, and economy remain healthy and strong; and WHEREAS, the indirect economic benefit for the annual number of approximately six hundred thousand patients who have a total knee replacement is roughly twelve billion dollars over those patients' lifetimes; and WHEREAS, approximately eighty-five percent of that economic benefit is associated with increased employment and earnings, with the remaining fifteen percent of the benefit associated with fewer missed work days and lower disability payments; and WHEREAS, for an average knee replacement, the total of all medical costs for surgery and rehabilitation is slightly greater than twenty thousand dollars, but these expenses are more than offset by indirect savings of over thirty-nine thousand dollars resulting from that procedure; and WHEREAS, the quality orthopaedic care that the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association promotes is of immense value to this state. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association for providing vital medical care and services and does hereby express sincere gratitude to Louisiana's orthopaedic surgeons for their contributions to the health and welfare of the citizens of our state. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby recognize Tuesday, May 12, 2015, as Louisiana Orthopaedic Day at the state capitol. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the president, the executive director, and the legislative chairman of the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Page 2 of 2