text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis 
  Research, Cure, and Care Act of 2011''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are autoimmune, 
          chronic, inflammatory, painful, and disabling diseases that 
          require lifelong timely and appropriate medical intervention 
          and care and have no cure.
              (2) Current studies indicate that the prevalence of 
          psoriasis in the United States ranges between two and three 
          percent, affecting approximately 7.5 million men, women, and 
          children of all ages, approximately 17,000 individuals in each 
          congressional district, and has an adverse impact on the 
          quality of life for virtually all affected.
              (3) Psoriasis often is overlooked or dismissed because it 
          is not typically a direct cause of death. Psoriasis is commonly 
          and incorrectly considered by insurers, employers, 
          policymakers, and the public as a mere annoyance--a superficial 
          problem, mistakenly thought to be contagious, due to poor 
          hygiene, or both. As such, treatment for psoriasis is often 
          incorrectly categorized as ``cosmetic'' and not ``medically 
          necessary''.
              (4) Psoriasis is connected with an elevated risk for other 
          serious, chronic, and life-threatening comorbid conditions, 
          including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. 
          A higher prevalence of stroke, atherosclerosis, chronic 
          obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Crohn's disease, 
          lymphoma, metabolic syndrome, and liver disease are also found 
          in people with psoriasis as compared to the general population. 
          Up to 30 percent of people with psoriasis also develop 
          potentially disabling psoriatic arthritis.
              (5) The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded a 
          study that found that psoriasis may cause as much physical and 
          mental disability as other major chronic diseases, including 
          cancer, arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and 
          depression.
              (6) Psoriasis is associated with elevated rates of 
          depression, anxiety, and suicidality (suicidal thoughts, 
          suicide attempts, and completed suicides). Individuals with 
          psoriasis are twice as likely to have thoughts of suicide as 
          people without psoriasis or with other chronic conditions.
              (7) The risk of premature death is 50 percent higher for 
          people with severe psoriasis. This translates to people with 
          severe psoriasis dying four years earlier, on average, than 
          people without psoriasis.
              (8) The economic consequences of psoriasis, both for 
          individuals and the health care system, are significant. Total 
          direct and indirect health care costs of psoriasis are 
          calculated at $11,250,000,000 with work loss accounting for 40 
          percent of the cost burden. People with psoriasis have 
          significantly higher health care resource utilization and costs 
          than the general population. Additionally, psoriasis patients 
          with comorbidities are more likely to experience urgent care, 
          have greater rates of hospitalization, more frequent outpatient 
          visits, and incur greater costs than psoriasis patients without 
          comorbidities.
              (9) Early diagnosis and treatment of psoriatic arthritis 
          may help prevent irreversible joint damage.
              (10) Treating psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis presents a 
          challenge for patients and their health care providers. A wide 
          range of treatment options is available; however, adverse side 
          effects and success varies from patient to patient. The same 
          treatments do not work for every patient and a treatment that 
          may have been effective for a period of time can stop working.
              (11) Despite a number of recent breakthroughs that have led 
          to some new treatments, too many people with psoriasis and 
          psoriatic arthritis still cannot live normal lives. For many of 
          these individuals, existing treatments are not effective or 
          appropriate or may not be accessible due to cost and insurance 
          barriers.
              (12) Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis constitute a 
          significant national health issue that deserves a comprehensive 
          and coordinated response by States and the Federal Government 
          with involvement of the health care provider, patient, and 
          public health communities.
  
  SEC. 3. NATIONAL PSORIASIS AND PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS DATA COLLECTION.
  
      (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
  through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
  is authorized to undertake psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis data 
  collection efforts, including incorporating questions into public 
  health surveys, questionnaires, and other databases in existence as of 
  the date of the enactment of this Act to collect information, with 
  respect to psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, regarding--
              (1) the prevalence of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in 
          the United States;
              (2) the age of onset;
              (3) health-related quality of life;
              (4) health care utilization;
              (5) burden of such disease (such as with respect to 
          employment);
              (6) direct and indirect costs;
              (7) health disparities, including with respect to age, 
          gender, race, and ethnicity; and
              (8) comorbidities and the natural history of such disease.
  Such data collection efforts may include the consideration and 
  development of a patient registry, which would include individuals of 
  all ages.
      (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out subsection (a), 
  there are authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000 for each of fiscal 
  years 2012 through 2017.
  
  SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS FOR COLLABORATIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH 
                ON PSORIASIS AND PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS AND COMORBID 
                CONDITIONS.
  
      It is the sense of the Congress that--
              (1) the psoriasis research community has made significant 
          strides in proving the seriousness of psoriasis as an 
          autoimmune disease and in advancing the identification of 
          commonalities between psoriasis and other diseases;
              (2) the nonprofit and private sector psoriasis research 
          communities are to be commended for planning a 
          multidisciplinary scientific meeting in 2012 to discuss future 
          directions of psoriasis and comorbid research, identify 
          initiatives necessary to fill any gaps, leverage public and 
          private investments in psoriasis research, and facilitate 
          progress in interdisciplinary research related to psoriasis and 
          its comorbid conditions;
              (3) the National Institutes of Health is encouraged to 
          continue to work with the organizations and private sector 
          stakeholders who convene the multidisciplinary scientific 
          meeting to discuss future directions of psoriasis and comorbid 
          research;
              (4) the nonprofit and private sector meeting conveners 
          should disseminate to the public, Congress, and other relevant 
          public and private policymaking and research entities a report 
          that includes findings from the scientific meeting and 
          suggestions regarding next steps, including recommendations 
          from the National Institutes of Health and other relevant 
          Federal agencies; and
              (5) utilizing the information produced by the scientific 
          meeting regarding future directions of psoriasis and comorbid 
          research, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
          through the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and 
          in conjunction with the National Institute for Arthritis, 
          Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases and other institutes and 
          centers of the National Institutes of Health, is encouraged to 
          explore the development of a virtual Center of Excellence for 
          Collaborative Discovery in Psoriasis and Comorbid Research or 
          some other mechanism through which public and private sector 
          findings regarding psoriasis and its comorbid conditions can be 
          regularly shared and leveraged.
target: Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Research, Cure, and Care Act of 2011 - Authorizes the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to undertake psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis data collection efforts to collect information regarding: (1) the prevalence of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in the United States; (2) the age of onset; (3) health-related quality of life; (4) health care utilization; (5) the burden of such disease; (6) direct and indirect costs; (7) health disparities, including with respect to age, gender, race, and ethnicity; and (8) comorbidities and the natural history of such disease. Allows such data collection efforts to include: (1) incorporating questions into public health surveys, questionnaires, and other databases in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act; and (2) the consideration and development of a patient registry.
  
  Encourages the Director of the National Institutes of Health to explore the development of a virtual Center of Excellence for Collaborative Discovery in Psoriasis and Comorbid Research or some other mechanism through which public and private sector findings regarding psoriasis and its comorbid conditions can be regularly shared and leveraged.
feat_title: To authorize and support psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis data collection, to express the sense of the Congress to encourage and leverage public and private investment in psoriasis research with a particular focus on interdisciplinary collaborative research on the relationship between psoriasis and its comorbid conditions, and for other purposes.