Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR86 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.C.R. No. 86
	1	+	By: J. Johnson of Harris (Senate Sponsor - Miles) H.C.R. No. 86
	2	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 19, 2021;
	3	+	May 19, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
	4	+	Human Services; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following
	5	+	vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
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4	9		HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
5	10		WHEREAS, Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited
6	11		hemoglobin disorder, but despite its high mortality rates and
7	12		severe economic impact, the need for effective therapies remains
8	13		unmet; and
9	14		WHEREAS, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
10	15		estimates that sickle cell disease affects approximately 100,000
11	16		Americans, occurring among about 1 in every 365 African American
12	17		births and 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births; and
13	18		WHEREAS, Sickle cell disease can affect any organ, including
14	19		the kidneys, lungs, and spleen; vaso-occlusive crises are common
15	20		among patients, causing recurrent episodes of acute pain and
16	21		leading to irreversible end-organ damage, poor quality of life, and
17	22		stroke; the life expectancy among sufferers is reduced, tragically,
18	23		by some 25 to 30 years; and
19	24		WHEREAS, According to a 2018 study, sickle cell disease
20	25		imposes a nearly $3 billion economic burden on the U.S. healthcare
21	26		system each year, of which 57 percent is attributed to hospital
22	27		inpatient costs; more than 70 percent of patients are insured under
23	28		state Medicaid programs; and
24	29		WHEREAS, The sickle cell disease patient community has long
25	30		been medically underserved; in 1972, then-president Richard Nixon
26	31		signed the Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act and pledged to end neglect
27	32		of the disease, but today, patients still encounter social,
28	33		economic, cultural, and geographic barriers to quality care,
29	34		including inconsistent treatments, high reliance on emergency care
30	35		and public health programs, limited participation in clinical
31	36		trials, and lack of access to the limited number of medical
32	37		providers with appropriate knowledge and experience; and
33	38		WHEREAS, With rapid advancement in such technologies as gene
34	39		editing, sickle cell disease stakeholders are working diligently to
35	40		expand availability of the transformative therapies that are
36	41		currently building clinical momentum; in 2018, the National
37	42		Institutes of Health launched the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
38	43		Institute Cure Sickle Cell Initiative to accelerate the development
39	44		of therapies to cure the disease; at the end of the following year,
40	45		the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for a
41	46		new treatment, and it has granted Orphan Drug designation to sickle
42	47		cell disease therapies in order to encourage scientific innovation;
43	48		and
44	49		WHEREAS, The costs of sickle cell disease are enormous in
45	50		both human and economic terms, but medical science provides hope of
46	51		a long-awaited cure; now, therefore, be it
47	52		RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas
48	53		hereby express support for equitable access to transformative
49	54		therapies for sickle cell disease.
50		-	J. Johnson of Harris
51		-	______________________________ ______________________________
52		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
53		-	I certify that H.C.R. No. 86 was adopted by the House on May
54		-	18, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 3 present, not
55		-	voting.
56		-	______________________________
57		-	Chief Clerk of the House
58		-	I certify that H.C.R. No. 86 was adopted by the Senate on May
59		-	24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
60		-	______________________________
61		-	Secretary of the Senate
62		-	APPROVED: __________________
63		-	Date
64		-	__________________
65		-	Governor
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