HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 37

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Brian F. Egolf

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY AND VALUE OF ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, heart disease is the leading cause of death in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, in 2006, diseases of the heart and stroke claimed nearly four thousand lives, accounting for over one-fourth of all deaths in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, although the death rate from cardiovascular disease has been declining in New Mexico over the last fifteen years, an increase in such risk factors as obesity and diabetes could reverse this trend if action is not taken; and

     WHEREAS, in New Mexico, from 1996 to 2000, Native American and Hispanic men and women had higher rates of death from diseases of the heart than people of other ethnic backgrounds in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, in 2007, an estimated three hundred ninety million dollars ($390,000,000) was spent in New Mexico on treatment related to heart disease, while lost productivity accounted for an additional seven hundred eighty million dollars ($780,000,000); and

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, the cost of stroke in New Mexico amounted to an estimated seventy million dollars ($70,000,000), and lost productivity due to stroke amounted to an estimated additional one hundred thirty million dollars ($130,000,000); and

     WHEREAS, according to the federal centers for disease control and prevention, nearly eighty-five million dollars ($85,000,000) of the treatment expenditures for heart disease and stroke in New Mexico in 2007 was estimated to have been paid by medicaid; and

     WHEREAS, the centers for disease control and prevention funds a state heart disease and stroke prevention program in funding cycles of five years; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is one of eight states currently not receiving federal funding to implement this program; and

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, New Mexico applies for funding from the centers for disease control and prevention every time the funding opportunity is available; however, the state has not been funded due to the low incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke relative to other states; and

     WHEREAS, the next opportunity to apply for funding from the centers for disease control and prevention will occur in 2012; and

     WHEREAS, as the population of New Mexico ages and the incidence of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases rises, the amount expended for direct medical costs related to heart disease and stroke as well as expenditures related to lost productivity will continue to rise; and

     WHEREAS, the public health division of the department of health has numerous prevention programs and activities that address aspects of cardiovascular disease and stroke, including diabetes prevention, obesity prevention, tobacco prevention and a stroke advisory council, but there is no consolidated program targeted at reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in the state; and

     WHEREAS, a cardiovascular prevention program could result in significant cost savings and a healthier and more productive state;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested to study the feasibility and value of establishing a comprehensive cardiovascular disease program in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this study calculate the amount of funding that would be needed to implement a cardiovascular disease prevention program and identify barriers to and opportunities for obtaining federal funding for this program through the centers for disease control and prevention; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this study include projections of the future cost of medical care and lost productivity due to cardiovascular disease and stroke in New Mexico, including population trends and demographic information that may suggest an increase in the incidence of these diseases in the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this study estimate the amount of savings that could be achieved, including savings to the medicaid program, through implementation of a cardiovascular disease prevention program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that findings and recommendations from this study be reported to the interim legislative health and human services committee by November 2010 and that copies of the report be distributed to the legislative council service's library; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health.

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