BILL ANALYSIS Ó ACR 128 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 4, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES Richard S. Gordon, Chair ACR 128 (Brown) - As Amended June 27, 2016 SUBJECT: Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month SUMMARY: Recognizes the month of September 2016 as Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month. Specifically, this resolution makes the following legislative findings: 1)Sickle cell anemia and sickle cell disease refer to a group of inherited disorders that affect red blood cells causing the person's body to produce abnormally shaped red blood cells that resemble a crescent or sickle of which do not last as long as round blood cells, causing anemia. 2)It is estimated that more than 90,000 Americans have sickle cell anemia; one in every 500 African Americans and one in every 36,000 Latino births are affected. 3)Sickle cell anemia can be a life-threatening condition, and access to comprehensive care can be limited by social, economic, cultural, and geographic barriers; and the average cost of hospitalization for sickle cell anemia in 2004 was $6,223 and the total cost for 84,000 hospital admissions was $488,000,000; of which 65 percent was covered by Medicaid funds. 4)In 1972, the Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon after pledging that his administration would "reverse the record of neglect of the ACR 128 Page 2 dreaded disease" by increasing funding for and expanding sickle cell anemia-related programs, including the development of comprehensive sickle cell anemia centers. 5)A potentially groundbreaking investigational drug, GMI 1070, designed to treat painful vaso-occlusive crises, which occur when red blood cells lump together and impede blood flow in sickle cell patients, has been found to be safe following clinical trials at the University of California, Davis. FISCAL EFFECT: None REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support None on file Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800