HLS 21RS-4028 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 215
BY REPRESENTATIVE BAGLEY
HEALTH: Memorializes congress to pass the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021
1 A RESOLUTION
2To memorialize the United States Congress to pass the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of
3 2021.
4 WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health has reported that the obesity epidemic
5is now the second leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimated three
6hundred thousand deaths per year nationally attributed to the epidemic; and
7 WHEREAS, obesity increases the risk for chronic diseases and conditions including
8high blood pressure, heart disease, certain cancers, arthritis, mental illness, lipid disorders,
9sleep apnea, and type two diabetes; and
10 WHEREAS, over thirty-four percent of rural Americans live with obesity while just
11under twenty-nine percent of Americans who reside in metropolitan areas live with the
12condition; and
13 WHEREAS, racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately
14impacted by this epidemic with the highest prevalence of obesity occurring among
15non-Hispanic blacks (forty-nine and six-tenths percent) followed by Hispanics (forty-four
16and eight-tenths percent), non-Hispanic whites (forty-two and two-tenths percent), and
17non-Hispanic Asian adults (seventeen and four-tenths percent); and
18 WHEREAS, currently, over one trillion four hundred billion dollars are expended
19annually on direct and indirect costs for treating health conditions related to obesity; and
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HR NO. 215
1 WHEREAS, on average, measured in 2019 dollars, the annual cost of health care for
2a Medicare beneficiary with obesity is two thousand eighteen dollars more than the annual
3cost of health care for a beneficiary of healthy weight; and
4 WHEREAS, the overall improvement in public health resulting from coverage for
5obesity treatments would lead to lower expenditures in emergency room care, ambulatory
6care, inpatient stays, and prescriptions and is estimated to achieve net savings in healthcare
7costs of approximately seven thousand dollars per person over ten years; and
8 WHEREAS, utilization of obesity treatments are predicted to generate Medicare
9budget savings of between eighteen billion dollars and twenty-three billion dollars over ten
10years; and
11 WHEREAS, less than one percent of Medicare beneficiaries with obesity are able
12to access obesity care; and
13 WHEREAS, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021 (TROA) has been introduced
14as H.R. 1577 and S. 596 in the One Hundred Seventeenth United States Congress; and
15 WHEREAS, this legislation is a real opportunity to help adults living with obesity
16by making targeted therapies and medications more widely available through Medicare; and
17 WHEREAS, the Medicare coverage changes proposed by TROA would decrease
18federal government spending by approximately twenty-five million dollars over the fiscal
19year 2020 through 2029 budget period; and
20 WHEREAS, with cosponsors representing both the Democratic and Republican
21Parties, TROA enjoys bipartisan support in both the United States Senate and House of
22Representatives, and Senator Bill Cassidy and Representative Garrett Graves of Louisiana
23are among the cosponsors of this legislation; and
24 WHEREAS, organizations that have endorsed TROA include the Academy of
25Nutrition and Dietetics, American Academy of PAs, American Association of Clinical
26Endocrinologists, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American College of
27Occupational and Environmental Medicine, American Council on Excellence, American
28Gastroenterological Association, American Medical Group Association, American
29Psychological Association, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Black
30Woman's Health Imperative, Eisai, Endocrine Society, Global Liver Institute, Healthcare
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HR NO. 215
1Leadership Council, MedTech Coalition for Metabolic Health, National Alliance of
2Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, Novo Nordisk, Obesity Action Coalition, Obesity Medicine
3Association, Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance, The Obesity Society,
4Trust for America's Health, WW International, and YMCA of the USA.
5 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
6Legislature of Louisiana does hereby memorialize the United States Congress to pass the
7Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
9presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
10United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 215 Original 2021 Regular Session Bagley
Memorializes the United States Congress to pass the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021
(H.R. 1577 and S. 596 of the 117
th
U.S. Congress).
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