To the members of the United States Senate,

The American public is in the middle of a hidden healthcare crisis. Presently, over 76 million Americans are suffering from chronic pain. That is more than 1 in 4 Americans that live with pain on a regular basis.

Yet, our healthcare system is ill equipped to handle this crisis. Healthcare professionals are often inadequately trained in pain management, and due to excessive restrictions on pain medications, often times under treat pain due to fear of regulatory scrutiny. These, as well as many more factors contribute to a healthcare system that leaves an unacceptable number of people with under treated pain.

The effects that pain can have when it is untreated or under treated are far too great of a price to pay. Under treated pain is physiologically, psychologically, emotionally and socially damaging in ways that are often times difficult to understand and express. Every single American has the right to access timely and adequate pain care.

This is not only an issue of healthcare, though. This is an economic issue as well. Conservative estimates have placed the effect that pain has on our economy at over $100 billion per year. This is an issue that, given our current economic climate, we cannot afford to ignore any longer.

For these reasons, we the undersigned do hereby ask that you, the honorable members of the United States Senate do pass Senate Bill 660 (summarized below):



HATCH/DODD NATIONAL PAIN CARE POLICY ACT OF 2009

Pain is the most common reason Americans access the health care system and is a leading contributor to health care costs. Pain is also a leading cause of disability. Most painful conditions can be relieved with proper treatment, and providing adequate pain management is a crucial component of improving and maintaining quality of life for patients, survivors, and their loved ones. Yet people in pain often face significant barriers that can prevent proper assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of their pain. The National Pain Care Policy Act of 2009 is designed to address many of these barriers by improving pain care research, education, training, access, outreach and care. Companion legislation, H.R. 756, passed the House of Representatives on March 30, 2009 with strong bi-partisan support.

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE CONFERENCE ON PAIN
Section 2 authorizes an Institute of Medicine (or other appropriate entity) Conference on Pain to:
· Increase awareness of pain as a significant public health problem;
· Evaluate the adequacy of pain assessment, treatment and management;
· Identify barriers to appropriate pain care;
· Establish an action agenda to address barriers and improve pain care research, education, training and clinical care;
· Highlight disparities in pain care specific to populations that are disproportionately under-treated for pain; and
· Report to Congress on findings and recommendations.

PAIN RESEARCH AT NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Section 3 encourages an expanded program of pain research at NIH through the trans-institute Pain Consortium:
· Annual identification of pain research initiatives eligible for the Director’s “Common Fund;”
· Establishment of an Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee to assess progress, identify research gaps
and avoid duplication across pain research programs of the Federal agencies; and
· Coordinating Committee to include representation from NIH, CDC, other HHS agencies, DoD and VA, along
with private sector research experts and patient advocates.

PAIN CARE EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Section 4 creates a grant program to improve health professionals’ understanding and ability to assess and appropriately
treat pain:
· Authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to provide grants for development and
implementation of training programs to educate and train professionals in pain assessment and care.

PAIN MANAGEMENT PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Section 5 requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and implement a national outreach and
awareness campaign to educate consumers, patients, families and other caregivers on the:
· Significance of pain as a national public health problem;
· Risks to patients if pain is not properly assessed and treated;
· Availability, benefits, and risks of treatment and management options;
· Importance of having pain assessed and treated;
· Role of pain management specialists;
· Resources available to patients and other consumers to help in dealing with pain; and
· Prevalence and causes of disparities in pain management among underserved populations.
In designing the program, the bill emphasizes the need to reach underserved populations and to provide resources that will
reduce disparities in access to appropriate pain treatment.


We ask not only that you take the immediate action of passing S.660, but that you continue to make pain management a healthcare priority during all sessions of the 111th Congress of the United States of America.

For more information on this pressing healthcare crisis, please visit:

http://www.painfoundation.org

or
http://www.ncpa.org

Sincerely,

The Undersigned