State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SJ0057

 
                                               LRB9216344BHbh

 1                       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, Cancer is  a  leading  cause  of  morbidity  and
 3    mortality in the State of Illinois and throughout the Nation;
 4    and

 5        WHEREAS,  Cancer  is  disproportionately a disease of the
 6    elderly,  with  more  than  half  of  all  cancer   diagnoses
 7    occurring  in persons age 65 or older, who are thus dependent
 8    on the federal Medicare program for provision of cancer care;
 9    and

10        WHEREAS,  Treatment  with  anti-cancer   drugs   is   the
11    cornerstone  of  modern  cancer care; elderly cancer patients
12    must have access to potentially life-extending drug  therapy,
13    but  the  Medicare  program's coverage of drugs is limited to
14    injectable drugs  or  oral  drugs  that  have  an  injectable
15    version; and

16        WHEREAS,  The  Nation's investment in biomedical research
17    has begun to bear fruit with a compelling array of  new  oral
18    anti-cancer  drugs  that  are  less toxic, more effective and
19    more cost-effective than  existing  therapies,  but,  because
20    such drugs do not have an injectable equivalent, they are not
21    covered by Medicare; and

22        WHEREAS,  Non-coverage  of  these  important new products
23    leaves many Medicare beneficiaries confronting the choice  of
24    either  substantial out-of-pocket personal costs or selection
25    of more toxic, less effective treatments that are covered  by
26    the program; and

27        WHEREAS,  Medicare's  failure  to  cover oral anti-cancer
28    drugs  leaves  at  risk  many  beneficiaries  suffering  from
29    blood-related cancers like leukemia, lymphoma,  and  myeloma,
30    as well as cancers of the breast, lung, and prostate; and

31        WHEREAS,  Certain  Members  of the United States Congress
 
                            -2-                LRB9216344BHbh
 1    have recognized the necessity of Medicare  coverage  for  all
 2    oral  anti-cancer  drugs  and  introduced  legislation in the
 3    107th Congress to achieve that result (H.R.  1624:  S.  913);
 4    therefore, be it

 5        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
 6    ASSEMBLY  OF  THE   STATE   OF   ILLINOIS,   THE   HOUSE   OF
 7    REPRESENTATIVES  CONCURRING HEREIN, that we respectfully urge
 8    the Congress  of  the  United  States  to  adopt  legislation
 9    requiring  the Medicare program to cover all oral anti-cancer
10    drugs; and be it further

11        RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution  be  transmitted
12    to  the President of the United States, Members of the United
13    States Congress, the Secretary of Health and Human  Services,
14    and  the  Administrator  of  the  Centers  for  Medicare  and
15    Medicaid Services.

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