[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 195 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 195


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2008

  Received and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
                              and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress that a National Dysphagia 
                 Awareness Month should be established.

Whereas dysphagia, or difficulty with swallowing, is a medical dysfunction that 
        affects as many as 15,000,000 Americans;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that 
        1,000,000 people in the United States annually are diagnosed with 
        dysphagia;
Whereas the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has estimated that 60,000 
        Americans die annually from complications associated with dysphagia;
Whereas based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mortality data, this 
        is more than the total number of Americans dying from all forms of liver 
        disease, kidney disease, and HIV/AIDS combined--and nearly as many as 
        those dying from diabetes, the number 6 killer of Americans;
Whereas the most common complication arising from dysphagia is aspiration 
        pneumonia--caused by food or saliva entering the windpipe and into the 
        lungs;
Whereas one in 17 people will develop some form of dysphagia in their lifetime, 
        including 50 to 75 percent of stroke patients and 60 to 75 percent of 
        patients who undergo radiation therapy for head and neck cancer;
Whereas as many as half of all Americans over 60 will experience dysphagia at 
        some point;
Whereas complications due to dysphagia increase health care costs by resultant 
        hospital readmissions, emergency room visits, extended hospital stays, 
        the necessity for long-term institutional care, and the need for 
        expensive respiratory and nutritional support;
Whereas the cost of managing a patient with a feeding tube, which for many has 
        been the primary treatment option for this condition, is reported to 
        average over $31,000 per patient per year;
Whereas the total annual cost to Medicare just for enteral feeding supplies for 
        outpatients was more than $670,000,000 in 2003, nearly 6 percent of the 
        total Medicare budget for that year;
Whereas including the monies spent in hospitals, the total cost of dysphagia to 
        the health care system is well over $1,000,000,000 annually;
Whereas the condition of dysphagia is a vastly underreported condition and not 
        widely understood by the general public; and
Whereas observing June 2008 as National Dysphagia Awareness Month would raise 
        public awareness about dysphagia and the need for early detection and 
        treatment: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that a National Dysphagia 
Awareness Month should be established.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 26, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.

                               By Robert F. Reeves,

                                                          Deputy Clerk.