[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
[ House Amendment 001 ] | [ House Amendment 002 ] |
91_HB1835 LRB9103347DJcd 1 AN ACT to amend the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois 2 by adding Section 55.91. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is 6 amended by adding Section 55.91 as follows: 7 (20 ILCS 2310/55.91 new) 8 Sec. 55.91. Obesity study. 9 (a) The General Assembly finds as follows: 10 (1) A causal relationship exists between obesity and 11 a number of serious disorders, including hypertension, 12 dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes (type 13 two), gallbladder disease, respiratory dysfunction, gout, 14 and osteoarthritis. 15 (2) The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive 16 and Kidney Diseases has provided information which 17 indicates that nearly 80% of patients with diabetes 18 mellitus are obese and the incidence of symptomatic 19 gallstones soars as a person's body mass index increases 20 beyond a certain level. 21 (3) The information also reveals that nearly 70% of 22 diagnosed cases of cardiovascular disease are related to 23 obesity; obesity more than doubles a person's chances of 24 developing high blood pressure; almost half of breast 25 cancer cases are diagnosed among obese women; and 42% of 26 colon cancer cases are among obese individuals. 27 (4) Obesity ranks second only to smoking as a 28 preventable cause of death and results in some 300,000 29 deaths annually. 30 (5) It is estimated that 35% of the adult population 31 is obese and the prevalence of obesity grew a shocking -2- LRB9103347DJcd 1 34% during the past 10 years. 2 (6) A 1997 study by Kaiser Permanente indicated that 3 the total direct costs of obesity-related diseases in the 4 United States in 1990 was $45.8 billion; the Kaiser study 5 concluded that there is a significant potential for a 6 reduction in health care expenditures through obesity 7 prevention efforts. 8 (7) There is an urgent need for state health care 9 groups and medical societies to place obesity at the top 10 of Illinois' health care agenda. 11 (8) Many physicians do not treat obesity because 12 they mistakenly believe there is no treatment for it. 13 (9) The National Institute of Health, the American 14 Society for Bariatric Surgery, and the American Obesity 15 Association recommend that patients who are morbidly 16 obese receive responsible, affordable medical treatment 17 for their obesity. 18 (10) The diagnosis of morbid obesity should be a 19 clinical decision made by a physician based on proper 20 medical protocols. 21 (11) The recent breakthroughs in drug therapy can 22 treat obesity successfully and the New England Journal of 23 Medicine recently emphasized the legitimate use of 24 pharmacotherapy as a component of treatment of medically 25 significant obesity. 26 (12) The new breakthroughs in obesity treatment are 27 not widely known and efforts must be made to inform the 28 general public and health care professionals that 29 pharmacotherapy can be used as an effective and 30 cost-effective treatment for obesity. 31 (13) There is also great concern regarding what 32 effect obesity in children may have on overall health in 33 children, health care costs for children, and treatment 34 modalities to address the problem of obesity in children. -3- LRB9103347DJcd 1 (14) The study by the Department of Public Health as 2 provided in this Section is critical to raise the 3 awareness of the public and private sectors that obesity 4 is a disease of epidemic proportions that is treatable 5 and that proper treatment will reduce health care costs 6 and improve the quality of life for a large number of our 7 citizens. 8 (b) The Department of Public Health shall study the 9 effect of obesity, in both adults and children, on costly 10 health complications such as diabetes, hypertension, heart 11 disease, and stroke and shall make recommendations for 12 improving public and private sector awareness of the problem 13 of obesity and suggested treatment modalities. The 14 Department shall report the findings of the study and the 15 recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly 16 within 6 months after the effective date of this amendatory 17 Act of the 91st General Assembly. 18 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 19 becoming law.