American Heart Association announces its legislative priorities for the second session of the 107th Congress

American Heart Association
Monday, 28 January 2002

On the eve of the President's State of the Union address, and with Congress having begun its second session, the American Heart Association is urging both lawmakers and the Administration to complete work on a number of landmark measures that will significantly advance the nation's cardiovascular health in the 21st century.

Top legislative priorities for the association include:

- Completion of the doubling of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget, including at least a doubling of funding for heart disease and stroke research and activities, which remain disproportionately under funded. The increase would set the NIH appropriation for FY 2003 at $27.3 billion. This will be the fifth installment in the five-year, bipartisan effort to double the NIH's budget.

- Appropriation of $60 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Cardiovascular Health State Program and the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry. Currently, only six states receive comprehensive funding under CDC's state cardiovascular health program, which is tailored to meet specific state needs for preventing and controlling heart disease and stroke.

- Passage of the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act of 2001 (STOP Stroke Act -- S.1274/H.R. 3431). The bill will help ensure that stroke is more widely recognized by the public and treated more effectively by healthcare providers. The bill was introduced last year in the Senate by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.; and in the House by Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., and Rep. Charles Pickering, Jr., R-Miss.

- Passage of the Community Access to Defibrillation Act of 2001 (Community AED Act -- S.1275/H.R. 3462). The bill authorizes funds for communities to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and to establish public access to defibrillation (PAD) programs to help improve cardiac arrest survival rates. The bill was introduced in the Senate in 2001 by Sen. Bill Frist and Sen. Edward Kennedy; and in the House by Rep. Lois Capps and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill

- Passage of the Medicare Cholesterol Screening Coverage Act of 2001 (S.1761/H.R. 3278), which adds total blood cholesterol screening as a covered benefit for all Medicare beneficiaries. Currently only two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries are able to access this preventative test. The bill was introduced last year in the Senate by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Co., and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; and in the House by Rep. David Camp, R-MI., and Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-LA.

Other legislative priorities in which the association has a major interest include: a Patients' Bill of Rights that provides unrestricted access to emergency and specialty health care; legislation supporting the Physical Education for Progress (PEP) program, as well as other physical activity, nutrition and anti-obesity initiatives; and supporting meaningful federal tobacco control by advancing legislation granting full regulatory authority over tobacco products by the Food and Drug Administration.

"Passage of these measures is essential if we are to meet the cardiovascular health goals set out in Healthy People 2010, the government's public health blueprint for the first decade of the new century," said David Faxon, M.D., president of the American Heart Association.

"Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading killer in America for both men and women, accounting for more than 40 percent of all deaths in the country according to the latest statistics," said Faxon. "All told, nearly 62 million Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease, with almost one million of them dying each year."

While CVD is a leading threat to the nation's health, it is also a leading threat to the economic health of the nation, Faxon noted. "It is estimated that cardiovascular diseases of all types, which include heart disease, stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertensive disease, and congestive heart failure, will cost the nation approximately $330 billion in medical care and lost productivity in 2002, more than any other disease."

Faxon noted that heart disease alone is the leading cause of premature, permanent disability among American workers, accounting for nearly 20 percent of Social Security disability payments.

He added, "Stroke, the nation's 3rd largest killer, will cost Americans nearly $50 billion in medical costs and lost productivity in 2002. Currently about 4.6 million Americans live with the consequences of stroke. Approximately 600,000 of us will suffer a new or recurring stroke this year, and some 167,000 will die."

For more information, or to contact American Heart Association, see their website at: www.americanheart.org