[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE ASTHMA OBESITY LINKAGE

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 7, 2003

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, in honor of National Asthma and Allergy 
Awareness Week, I am today introducing the ``Medicaid Obesity Treatment 
Act of 2003'' to elevate the visibility of a national health epidemic 
that is wreaking havoc upon our Nation. Scientific evidence 
demonstrates a strong correlation between obesity and asthma, 
particularly among children.
  This bill, which is similar to legislation I introduced last year 
with Congressman James Greenwood, will provide Medicaid coverage for 
medically necessary treatments for chronically obese beneficiaries. 
With this legislation, I hope to raise the level of attention to this 
devastating illness and to provide medically necessary treatments to 
millions of overweight children who suffer from obesity comorbidities 
such as asthma. If the Congress passes this legislation, The Medicaid 
Obesity Treatment Act will be the first legislation ever enacted to 
address the need to ensure access for all Americans to drug therapies 
designed to treat obesity and its related comorbidities, and I am proud 
to be its sponsor.
  According to the Surgeon General, the prevalence of overweight and 
obesity has almost doubled among America's children and adolescents 
since 1980. It is estimated that one out of five children is obese. The 
epidemic growth in obesity acquired during childhood or adolescence is 
particularly threatening to the national health because it often 
persists into adulthood and increases the risk for some chronic 
diseases, such as asthma, later in life.
  Obesity has truly become a national health care crisis. The National 
Center for Health Statistics reports that 60 percent of Americans over 
20 years of age are overweight or clinically obese. Weight-related 
conditions represent the second leading cause of death in the United 
States, and result in approximately 300,000 preventable deaths each 
year.
  Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital recently discovered a 
new gene involved in asthma that may provide a link between the 
development of asthma and obesity. The study, released at the 60th 
anniversary meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & 
Immunology, examined the gene which belongs to a family of similar 
proteins that have been found to cause insulin resistance and obesity 
in mice. Another recent study by the Harvard School of Medicine of 
16,862 children, ages 9 to 14, found that those who were the most 
overweight were two to three times as likely to have asthma as the 
least overweight subjects.
  Whether obesity is caused by genetics, environment, lifestyle, diet 
or a combination of these elements, its effect is devastating for all 
persons who suffer from it. However, science has made great strides in 
recent years to combat it. Several new drugs offer great promise in the 
fight to prevent and treat obesity and its related comorbidities.
  My bill will revisit a thirteen year old provision that allows states 
to exclude Medicaid coverage for weight loss drugs, even in cases where 
these drugs have the potential to save obese patients' lives or to 
improve their related conditions like asthma. The notion that obesity 
is merely a lifestyle choice and not a disease is no longer valid 
scientifically, and must be stricken from the law. Medically necessary 
medicine for the treatment of chronic obesity and its related illnesses 
should be covered under Medicaid like any other medically necessary 
drug. This is the purpose and goal of my bill.
  Although this expansion in Medicaid coverage might incur some 
marginal cost to the overall program, requiring states to cover proven 
obesity medication may actually reduce Medicaid expenditures as a 
result of decreases in the costs associated with treating asthma and 
other obesity-related comorbidities. Given the numerous benefits of 
reducing obesity, we should be providing access to life saving anti-
obesity treatments, just as we provide medications for other life 
threatening diseases.
  Obesity and asthma represent related growing health crises that must 
be addressed with more than just words. This bill offers an important 
first step towards eliminating obesity, and I encourage my colleagues 
to join me in supporting it.

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