2021 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 245
BY SENATOR BARROW
A RESOLUTION
To memorialize the Congress of the United States to enact the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act
(TROA).
WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health has reported that obesity is now the
second leading cause of death nationally, with an estimated three hundred thousand deaths
a year 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 2 diabetes; and
WHEREAS, 34.2% of rural Americans live with obesity compared to 28.7% of those
who live in metropolitan areas; and
WHEREAS, racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately
impacted, with the highest prevalence of obesity among non-Hispanic blacks (49.6%),
followed by Hispanics (44.8%) and non-Hispanic whites (42.2%), and non-Hispanic Asian
adults (17.4%); and
WHEREAS, currently, $1.42 trillion is spent each year on direct and indirect costs
for health conditions related to obesity; and
WHEREAS, on average in 2019, a Medicare beneficiary with obesity cost two
thousand eighteen dollars more than a healthy-weight beneficiary; and
WHEREAS, overall improvement in health conditions from covered obesity
treatments would lead to lower expenditures in emergency room care, ambulatory care,
inpatient stays, and prescriptions, resulting in net savings between six thousand seven
hundred dollars and seven thousand one hundred dollars over ten years per person; and
WHEREAS, utilization of obesity treatments will generate Medicare budget savings
between eighteen 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
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WHEREAS, the proposed Medicare coverage changes would decrease federal
government spending by approximately twenty-five million dollars over the fiscal years
2020-2029 budget window; and
WHEREAS, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) authored by Louisiana
United States Senator Bill Cassidy is a real opportunity to help adults living with obesity by
making targeted therapies and medications more widely available through Medicare; and
WHEREAS, the TROA legislation enjoys bi-partisan support, being co-sponsored
by five Republicans in the United States Senate and five Democrats in the United States
Senate; and
WHEREAS, the following organizations have endorsed TROA: 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 & 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, SECA, Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, The
Obesity Society, Trust for America's Health, WW International, and YMCA of the USA.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby memorialize the Congress of the United States to enact the Treat and Reduce
Obesity Act (TROA).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted
to the secretary of the United States Senate, the clerk of the United States House of
Representatives, and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
Congress.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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