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By:  Capelo (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte)                     H.C.R. No. 101
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 19, 2003; 
May 20, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on Health 
and Human Services; May 24, 2003, rereferred to Committee on 
Veteran Affairs and Military Installations; May 26, 2003, reported 
favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 26, 2003, sent 
to printer.)


HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

	WHEREAS, Advances in the effectiveness of prescriptive 
medication have substantially improved the quality of health care 
in the United States;  a key component of preventive health care, 
prescription drugs help patients live healthier, longer, and more 
productive lives without the need for costly long-term acute care; 
and
	WHEREAS, Since the passage of the Social Security Act of 
1965, which originally authorized Medicare, the increased use of 
new and improved prescription drugs has changed the delivery of 
health care in the United States; nonetheless, of the more than 40 
million people enrolled in Medicare, one-third have no prescription 
drug coverage, and the limited coverage available to the remaining 
two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries is often inadequate to meet 
their needs; and
	WHEREAS, Comprehensive reform of the Medicare program is 
necessary to provide affordable care for the elderly and disabled 
who suffer from chronic disease and comorbidity; the private sector 
has established a model for successful reforms by negotiating 
discounts on prescription drugs and by coordinating care with 
disease management, drug utilization review, and patient education 
programs, all of which aid in ameliorating medical problems; and
	WHEREAS, Despite the growing needs of the Medicare 
population, the United States Congress has thus far failed to 
remedy the inadequacies of the Medicare program; effective reform 
would adopt the successful strategies of the private sector and use 
the marketplace to foster competition among private plans, 
maintaining the financial viability of the program and offering 
greater choice of quality coverage to seniors and the disabled; and
	WHEREAS, Instead, the lack of a prescription drug benefit in 
particular has forced states to supplement Medicare by providing 
medicine to vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries through state 
Medicaid programs;  this "dually eligible" population, those who 
qualify for federal Medicare and state Medicaid, accounts for 42 
percent of Medicaid drug expenditures nationwide; and
	WHEREAS, The situation is critical in Texas, where the 
Congressional Budget Office reported the enactment of a Medicare 
drug benefit would mean a savings of nearly $2 billion in Medicaid 
funds between 2005 and 2012; alarmingly, the costs to state 
Medicaid programs are expected to increase as the non-elderly 
disabled and the elderly over age 85 who are most likely to be 
dually eligible are the fastest growing populations within 
Medicare; and
	WHEREAS, With state Medicaid programs already facing serious 
budgetary constraints that threaten to restrict patients' access to 
needed medical care and prescription drugs, it is more important 
than ever that the congress enact a Medicare prescription drug 
benefit as quickly as possible; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully request that the Congress of the United States 
enact financially sustainable, voluntary, universal, and privately 
administered outpatient prescription drug coverage as part of the 
federal Medicare program; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the 
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.



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