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92_SR0336
LRB9214438RHrh
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Quality patient medical care includes access to
3 all FDA-approved prescription medicines; and
4 WHEREAS, New medicines are being developed and approved
5 to treat diseases that were not treatable or were poorly
6 treated in the past, such as medicines for high blood
7 pressure (11 medicines in development), Alzheimer's Disease
8 (21 medicines in development) and Prostate Cancer (5
9 medicines in development); and
10 WHEREAS, Many new medicines are being developed for
11 diseases and conditions that uniquely affect populations most
12 likely to lack health insurance or be enrolled in Medicaid,
13 including the elderly (18 medicines in development for heart
14 failure) and the disabled (22 medicines in development for
15 rheumatoid arthritis); and
16 WHEREAS, Some patient populations may face greater risks
17 from low-quality medical care for specific diseases and
18 conditions, such as African Americans who are more likely
19 than whites to develop serious complications from high blood
20 pressure or less aggressive treatment for cancer; prior
21 authorization or other limitations on quality health care may
22 aggravate these poor medical outcomes by preventing access to
23 the best quality medical care, including prescription drugs;
24 and
25 WHEREAS, Many people without health insurance or enrolled
26 in Medicaid have limited health literacy which in turn limits
27 their ability to recognize and argue for quality medical
28 care, including the drugs their health care providers
29 recommend; and
30 WHEREAS, Prior authorization and other limitations that
31 interfere with health care providers' choices for medical
-2- LRB9214438RHrh
1 treatments discourage doctors, nurses, and other health care
2 providers from serving the Medicaid population; and
3 WHEREAS, State agencies may select preferred drugs that
4 do not require prior approval based on the medicines'
5 effectiveness within the general population without regard to
6 their effectiveness for specific sub-populations, such as
7 African Americans or Hispanic Americans; and
8 WHEREAS, The uninsured and Medicaid patients may be
9 discouraged from beginning, or continuing, the recommended
10 treatment process by delays in treatments that occur when
11 health care providers must navigate the Medicaid or other
12 State prior approval and appeal procedures; and
13 WHEREAS, Treatment delays while providers obtain required
14 approvals also add to the concerns of patients and their
15 families that they are receiving "second class medical care";
16 therefore, be it
17 RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
18 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we support
19 legislation to ensure access to quality patient prescription
20 drug and other health care by recognizing the central role of
21 the patient's health care provider in the selection of
22 medicines and other medical treatment options.