ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 215
BY REPRESENTATIVE BAGLEY
A RESOLUTION
To memorialize the United States Congress to pass the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of
2021.
WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health has reported that the obesity epidemic
is now the second-leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimated three
hundred thousand deaths per year nationally attributed to the epidemic; and
WHEREAS, obesity increases the risk for chronic diseases and conditions including
high blood pressure, heart disease, certain cancers, arthritis, mental illness, lipid disorders,
sleep apnea, and type two diabetes; and
WHEREAS, over thirty-four percent of rural Americans live with obesity while just
under twenty-nine percent of Americans who reside in metropolitan areas live with the
condition; and
WHEREAS, racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately
impacted by this epidemic with the highest prevalence of obesity occurring among
non-Hispanic blacks (forty-nine and six-tenths percent) followed by Hispanics (forty-four
and eight-tenths percent), non-Hispanic whites (forty-two and two-tenths percent), and
non-Hispanic Asian adults (seventeen and four-tenths percent); and
WHEREAS, currently, over one trillion four hundred billion dollars are expended
annually on direct and indirect costs for treating health conditions related to obesity; and
WHEREAS, on average, measured in 2019 dollars, the annual cost of health care for
a Medicare beneficiary with obesity is two thousand eighteen dollars more than the annual
cost of health care for a beneficiary of healthy weight; and
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WHEREAS, the overall improvement in public health resulting from coverage for
obesity treatments would lead to lower expenditures in emergency room care, ambulatory
care, inpatient stays, and prescriptions and is estimated to achieve net savings in healthcare
costs of approximately seven thousand dollars per person over ten years; and
WHEREAS, utilization of obesity treatments are predicted to generate Medicare
budget savings of between eighteen billion dollars and twenty-three billion dollars over ten
years; and
WHEREAS, less than one percent of Medicare beneficiaries with obesity are able
to access obesity care; and
WHEREAS, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021 (TROA) has been introduced
as H.R. 1577 and S. 596 in the One Hundred Seventeenth United States Congress; and
WHEREAS, this legislation is a real opportunity to help adults living with obesity
by making targeted therapies and medications more widely available through Medicare; and
WHEREAS, the Medicare coverage changes proposed by TROA would decrease
federal government spending by approximately twenty-five million dollars over the fiscal
year 2020 through 2029 budget period; and
WHEREAS, with cosponsors representing both the Democratic and Republican
Parties, TROA enjoys bipartisan support in both the United States Senate and House of
Representatives, and Senator Bill Cassidy and Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana
are among the cosponsors of this legislation; and
WHEREAS, organizations that have endorsed TROA include the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics, American Academy of PAs, American Association of Clinical
Endocrinologists, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American College of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, American Council on Excellence, American
Gastroenterological Association, American Medical Group Association, American
Psychological Association, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Black
Woman's Health Imperative, Eisai, Endocrine Society, Global Liver Institute, Healthcare
Leadership Council, MedTech Coalition for Metabolic Health, National Alliance of
Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, Novo Nordisk, Obesity Action Coalition, Obesity Medicine
Association, Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance, The Obesity Society,
Trust for America's Health, WW International, and YMCA of the USA.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby memorialize the United States Congress to pass the
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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