Bill Text: NJ SR76 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress to allocate additional funding to understand, prevent, and treat neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-09-26 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [SR76 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-SR76-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator DIANE B. ALLEN
District 7 (Burlington)
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Congress to allocate additional funding to understand, prevent, and treat neonatal abstinence syndrome.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging the United States Congress to allocate additional funding to understand, prevent, and treat neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Whereas, Use of opiates during pregnancy can result in a drug withdrawal syndrome in newborns called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS); and
Whereas, NAS is characterized by inconsolable irritability, vomiting, high blood pressure, and increased muscle contractions. Serious cases can lead to seizures and cause long-term developmental issues for children born with the syndrome; and
Whereas, From 2000 to 2012, there has been a five-fold increase in the proportion of babies born with NAS in the United States, when an estimated 21,732 infants were born with NAS. This rate is equivalent to one baby suffering from opiate withdrawal born every 25 minutes; and
Whereas, Newborns with NAS are more likely than other babies to have low birthweight and respiratory complications; and
Whereas, In 2012, newborns with NAS stayed in the hospital an average of 17 days, compared to 2 days for other newborns, and the hospital costs for these newborns were $66,700, on average, compared to $3,500 for those without NAS; and
Whereas, The rise of NAS births in the United States is directly correlated with a significant increase in the prevalence of pregnant mothers dependent on or using opiates at the time of delivery; and
Whereas, From 2000 to 2009, the number of delivering mothers using or dependent on opiates rose nearly five-fold, to an estimated 23,000; and
Whereas, The population of pregnant women with opioid dependence is varied, and the causes of their dependence span the spectrum from heroin addiction and prescription opioid abuse to methadone maintenance and chronic opioid use prescribed for medical indications; and
Whereas, As a result of the heroin and opioid epidemics, some counties in New Jersey (Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, and Sussex) have reported that more than one in 100 babies were born with NAS in 2014, a figure that has doubled since 2008. Statewide in 2014, about 6.4 of every 1,000 babies born were diagnosed with NAS; and
Whereas, The increased incidences of NAS in New Jersey mirror substance abuse trends throughout the State; in counties hardest hit by the heroin and opioid epidemics (Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland counties), more than one out of every 50 babies are born with NAS; and
Whereas, Although NAS is treatable with a combination of opioid weaning and various therapeutic practices to soothe an infant struggling with withdrawal, NAS results in longer, more costly, and more complicated hospital stays for both the infant and their mothers; and
Whereas, It is estimated that it costs hospitals $1.5 billion to care for infants with NAS, with 81 percent of the costs being paid by state Medicaid programs; and
Whereas, As a result, states, including New Jersey, see and will continue to see the impact of NAS on their Medicaid expenditures and budgets; and
Whereas, From fiscal years 2008 through 2014, federal agencies allocated almost $21.6 million for research projects related to prenatal opioid use or NAS, including those with a focus on the prevention and understanding of NAS, treatment of NAS, or both; and
Whereas, NAS is emerging as a significant public health problem as the number of pregnant women with opioid dependence, the number of babies born with the syndrome, and the associated healthcare expenditures, particularly state Medicaid costs, increases; and
Whereas, Additional funding allocated by Congress for research projects related to understanding and preventing NAS and to state Medicaid programs to treat NAS is necessary to mitigate its impact on this country and the State of New Jersey; now, therefore;
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges Congress to allocate additional funding for research projects related to understanding and preventing NAS and to state Medicaid programs to treat NAS in order to mitigate its impact on this country and the State of New Jersey.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the presiding officers of the Congress of the United States and each of the members of the United States Congress elected from the State of New Jersey.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges Congress to allocate additional funding for research projects related to understanding NAS and to state Medicaid programs to treat NAS in order to mitigate its impact on this country and the State of New Jersey.
