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Senate Resolution

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A resolution to encourage the Agency for Health Care

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Administration and the Department of Health to consider

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disease management of chronic obstructive pulmonary

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disease.

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     WHEREAS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also

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known as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is the fourth leading

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cause of death in the United States and unlike many diseases

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yielding to advances in medicine, COPD death rates are not

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declining but are the top five causes whose prevalence and death

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rate are rising, and

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     WHEREAS, COPD is a chronic progressive disease that impacts

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over 910,644 residents of Florida and affects 32 million persons

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in the United States, and

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     WHEREAS, the number of women dying from the disease has

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surpassed the number of men who have lost their lives to the

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disease, and

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     WHEREAS, the primary risk factor for COPD is smoking,

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approximately 80 to 90 percent of COPD deaths are caused by

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smoking, and female smokers are nearly 13 times as likely to die

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from COPD as women who have never smoked, and

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     WHEREAS, male smokers are nearly 12 times as likely to die

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from COPD as men who have never smoked, and

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     WHEREAS, other risk factors for COPD include air pollution,

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second-hand smoke, a history of childhood respiratory infections,

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and heredity, and

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     WHEREAS, the health care cost of COPD in Florida was $948

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million in 2002, and there were more than 51,482 hospitalizations

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due to the disease, an increase of 71.6 percent from 1992, and

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     WHEREAS, COPD is a primary cause of hospitalization among

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the aged population throughout the United States, and 65 percent

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of hospital discharges in 2005 were in the 65-years-or-older

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population, and

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     WHEREAS, the annual cost to the nation for COPD in 2007 was

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estimated to be approximately $42.6 billion, including $26.7

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billion in direct health care expenditures, $8 billion in

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indirect morbidity costs, and $7.9 billion in indirect mortality

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costs, and

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     WHEREAS, early diagnosis and management of COPD can

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effectively reduce the overall financial burden of the illness

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within public programs, such as Medicaid, as well as in the

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private sector, and

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     WHEREAS, there is no cure for COPD, but proper management of

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the disease can lead to improved quality of life and self-

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sufficiency on the part of COPD patients cared for within public

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programs to slow the damage to the heart and lungs of such

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patients, NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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     That the Senate encourages the Agency for Health Care

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Administration and the Department of Health to consider disease

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management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in an effort

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to reduce the financial and clinical burden of COPD illness upon

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the Medicaid program and the residents of Florida.